Paul Salem, director, Carnegie Middle East Center, event, “Can Syria and Israel be Serious About Peace? And What Should the U.S. Do About It?” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, September 25, 2008:
“What should the U.S. do about this? … Well, the possibility of a peace treaty between Syria and Israel is real. It’s not— it’s not, perhaps, easy or likely, or whatnot, but it’s … a real possibility and should be taken seriously. And both sides are clear that it’s only the U.S. in the end, can take the talks to the next level and could potentially come out with a peace treaty in 2009 or 2010. So both are signaling that it’s the U.S. that needs to, at some point, engage if this is to be taken further.
"A peace treaty between Israel and Syria and what might follow … Lebanon and so on, is certainly desirable from the U.S. perspective and its interests in the region. And I would say the U.S. should have and has more of an interest today after its involvement in Iraq and the Middle East. It has much more a national interest in Syrian-Israeli peace and in the peace process and other elements of the long-standing situation than it did in ’96 or 2000, when these issues were sort of, somewhat remote, not as urgent as they are today. The U.S., today, is the largest Middle Eastern country in the sense it has the largest army there, the most—it is the biggest player in the Middle East. It is no longer an outside player. Hence, its interest in addressing conflicts in the region are American interests as well as interests of other players in the region."