This report in The New York Times offers details on President Obama’s visit with Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt, today at the White House:

Mr. Obama welcomed the 81-year-old Egyptian president for his first White House visit in five years, continuing a concerted effort to improve bilateral relations that had been damaged not only by the Iraq war but also by Bush administration criticism of Egypt over matters of democracy and human rights. Mr. Mubarak responded with warmth. He said that the American president had “removed all doubts about the United States in the Muslim world,” referring to what he called Mr. Obama’s “great, fantastic” speech delivered in Cairo in June. “We are moving in the right direction” on restarting peace talks, Mr. Mubarak said.

That sounds very encouraging, but how much movement in the right direction is really going on? The report notes a few minor signs that Israel is making conciliatory efforts on the settlements issue in line with President Obama’s vision for Mideast peace. For the sake of balance and reciprocity, the following sentence should read: The Palestinians and Israel’s Arab neighbors are also making conciliatory efforts. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case.  The report notes that President Obama  has called for confidence-building measures (granting overflight rights to Israeli civilian aircraft, increasing cultural cooperation and allowing Israel to open interest sections in foreign embassies abroad) by all sides. This call has been rebuffed by Egypt and other Arab peace partners. In fact, it appears that President Obama’s Cairo speech has not had a positive impact in shaping opinion in the Arab world. This BBC News review of Arab commentary finds deep skepticism about President Obama’s efforts to promote Mideast peace:

Intensive diplomatic efforts by top US officials in the Middle East this week failed to convince Arab commentators that Washington really wants to put pressure on Israel to stop the expansion of Jewish settlements. Most writers pointed out that the talks the US peace envoy George Mitchell, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and National Security Adviser Jim Jones had in the region, including in Israel, Syria and Egypt, did not achieve the declared “good progress” towards peace.

So while I’m looking for signs that Obama’s meeting with Mubarak today will inspire Egyptian leadership to rally concrete steps for peace in the region, I’m not optimistic. What more can the U.S. do to move all parties closer to the elusive goal of Mideast peace?

Photo Credit: The New York Times