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In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

11/20/08
Pakistan: Learning the Right Lessons from Iraq  —Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.
11/13/08
The View from Gaza  —Taghreed El-Khodary, New York Times journalist in Gaza and Harvard University Nieman Fellow (2005-2006). Interviewed by Middle East Bulletin.
11/04/08
Getting on the Right Track  —Dalia Rabin, chairperson, Rabin Center, and daughter of the late Yitzhak Rabin. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

Keeping Focus on Long-Term Objectives

“[W]hile we do need to have a cooperative approach that involves many of our friends and allies in meeting with the Pakistanis, … as we work out with them a rough division of labor, the U.S., I believe, ought to be taking the lead in addressing the issues in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. And given the difficulty of doing so, I suspect that we will not have a great deal of difficulty in convincing them to allow us to take the lead there. But as we all know, there is a real tension between our short-term tactical aims in trying to capture or kill terrorists across the border and militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and our longer- term counterinsurgency pacification goals. We very much need to be focusing on the end state. What is it that we want this area to look like? ... In that context we need to have a common agenda with the Pakistani government and very much to include the military on counterinsurgency in that area. There needs to be, therefore, a focus on combining military efforts with economic, development and political development in those areas.”
—Robert L. Grenier, managing director and chairman for Global Security Consulting, Kroll, event, “Partnership for Progress: Advancing a New Strategy for Prosperity and Stability in Pakistan and the Region,” Center for American Progress, November 17, 2008

Middle East Analysis

On Ability and Responsibility

December 7, 2007

That idea—Palestinian statehood—seems as far from reality today as it ever has. Yet it would be wrong, or at least too early, to portray Annapolis as a useless photo op. More than anything, it served as a reminder of how much power and prominence the United States still has in the Middle East. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have shown that laments about America’s decline and the rise of Iran as the regional mover and shaker are premature. When Washington decided to hold a Middle East peace conference, the entire world came calling. Saudi Arabia led a 12-member contingent of Arab foreign ministers to Annapolis. Even Syria, Iran’s key ally, agreed to show up in the end. …

Now Annapolis has launched a triple process: negotiations over the "core issues" of borders, Jerusalem and refugees; Palestinian institution-building under the guidance of Tony Blair, and reciprocal measures on the ground according to the 2003 Roadmap, which requires the Palestinians to halt terror and the Israelis to reduce the settlements. Progress on all three tracks will be possible only with strong U.S. prodding.

Will Bush and Rice deliver? Until now, their attempts to get involved in the Middle East have been creative but suffered from a lack of stamina and luck. Serious peacemaking requires insistence, persistence and a refusal to hide behind that old American mantra "We can’t achieve peace if we want it more than the participants do." If Bush really intends to fulfill his pledge of Palestinian statehood while in office, he will have to do much more than host an occasional conference. He’ll have to give his full backing to Rice and her diplomacy, and not hesitate to call the Israelis and Palestinians to order. Such efforts are unlikely in an American election year, when pressuring Israel is generally regarded as politically impossible. Given the gravity of the regional situation, however, and the dwindling time he has left, Bush may be tempted to intervene in earnest. If Annapolis was any guide to his intentions, we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Access the full article>>