(Commentary) Michael J. Totten - President Obama admitted in an interview with TIME that he was "too optimistic" about his ability to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that it's "just really hard." Most Westerners who get involved in the Middle East come away disappointed and disillusioned after a while. One common problem is a kind of projection, a belief that the region is more like our part of the world than it actually is. The Arab-Israeli conflict may not be as intractable as the one between Sunnis and Shias - that has lasted for more than 1,000 years - but nobody can fix this right now. The Middle East doesn't need a diplomatic process; it needs a revolutionary transformation of its political culture. This is not going to happen because Obama tweaks our foreign policy.
2010-01-27 08:35:38Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive