Obama's Visit to Region Brings New Hope for Peace
US President Barack Obama spoke at his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 2009 of his desire to achieve peace in Israel-Palestine; now is his chance, Daoud Kuttab writes.
Just when it appeared that the United States was about to wash its hands from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, new information is emerging from Washington indicating the opposite.
Many observers of U.S. foreign policy understand that in an election year, the U.S. is unable to articulate a coherent (and possibly confrontational with the pro-Israel lobby) strategy in regards to the Palestinian conflict. The day after President Barack Obama won a hard-fought electoral battle in which the Israeli prime minister clearly and publicly favored his opponent, many expected that the U.S. president would immediately shift to a more genuinely neutral policy towards the Middle East conflict. That may still happen, but foreign policy, like everything else, can’t be carried out without a well thought-out strategy, action plan and most importantly individuals who will carry the baton and implement it.
