By
Joel DavisWednesday, March 4th 2009
The United States is continuing to act as a Mideast peace broker, with Secretary of State Clinton making her first visit to the region and setting the stage for what will inevitably be many future visits. This AP report notes that her visit has raised expectations for the “two state solution” while signaling that the U.S. intends to pursue a regional peace strategy rather than focusing exclusively on Israel and the Palestinians:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised Tuesday to work with the incoming Israeli government, but delivered a clear message that could put her at odds with the country’s next leader: Movement toward the establishment of a Palestinian state is “inescapable.”
Clinton also said the U.S. would soon send two envoys to Syria. It was the most significant sign yet that the Obama administration is ready to mend relations with the Damascus regime. The U.S. withdrew its ambassador in 2005, accusing Syria of supporting terrorism.
“We have no way to predict what the future with our relations concerning Syria might be,” Clinton said. “There has to be some perceived benefit of doing so for the United States and our allies and our shared values. But I think it is a worthwhile effort to go and begin these preliminary conversations.”
Nathan Brown, an analyst for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, suggests dramatically that the peace process represented by the U.S. and the Quartet has failed and that it’s time for a new plan. In Palestine and Israel: Time for Plan B he suggests his own road map to peace focusing on a, “short-term cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that can pave the way for a sustainable armistice.” So, is that we the U.S. should strive for, a new cease-fire agreement? That seems a rather meager vision for Mideast peace. Perhaps the new overture to Syria, coming at a time when the U.S. is also making overtures to Iran, suggests that a new grand bargain can be made, a regional security agreement that is both audacious, and yes, hopeful, bringing Israel, the Palestinians, the Syrians and Iran to the peace table. At some point, Obama and Clinton will have to choose, grand strategy or pragmatic, though, meager gains? As rockets continue to fall on Israel, I wonder what choice Israel would make?