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The New U.S. Administration and the Middle East
(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Robert Satloff - President Obama in his second term is likely early on to focus on a "grand deal" with Iran, testing the Iranians to see if there is a political settlement before he needs to decide on other means to prevent the Iranians from achieving a nuclear weapons capability. He will also increase the lethality and the amount of weaponry going to the opposition in Syria. A second Obama term is unlikely to follow the pattern of the first and have a missionary approach to Arab-Israeli peacemaking. He will lower his sights and lower his horizons toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but ensure that the Palestinian Authority does not collapse. The writer is executive director of The Washington Institute.