(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University) Zvi Magen - Russia has recently taken a renewed interest in the Middle East peace process. Its self-confidence is returning, and it apparently assesses that the international standing of the U.S. is weakening and the current peace process has reached a dead end. The Russians thus propose to revive the idea of the multilateral channel, since the present current bilateral track has lost its effectiveness. To the Russians, the idea of the Quartet is a reasonable international channel. However, it must be upgraded to include additional players such as China and India (the possibility of adding representatives from the Middle East has also been raised). It is also critical to the Russians that the Quartet's current envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair, be replaced with a Russian envoy. Russia is convinced that it would be able to act more energetically in the Israeli sector because of its positive relations and its improving image as a fair broker, even though it has no real leverage. The writer is a research fellow at the INSS.
2010-12-24 08:21:36Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive