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Source: http://www.cfr.org/israel/us-shift-mideast-crisis-management/p24974
U.S. Shift to Mideast Crisis Management
(Council on Foreign Relations) Robert Danin - Senator George Mitchell's resignation as the Obama administration's Middle East envoy makes formal what was clear for some time - the president's goal of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement by September is unattainable and negotiations are not about to resume any time soon. With unrest and violence raging throughout the Middle East, Palestinians focused domestically on a Fatah-Hamas unity deal, and efforts afoot to gain full membership for Palestine as a state at the United Nations in September, the president's stated goal of a peace treaty by September 2011 is well beyond the horizon. Now, Washington faces the looming challenges of a Palestinian government that it may not be able to talk to and a potential diplomatic crisis in September that could spark renewed violence on the ground. The writer is a Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.