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Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-12-29/kerry-yearns-for-peace-in-a-vanished-middle-east
Obama, Kerry Seek Peace for a Middle East that No Longer Exists
(Bloomberg) Eli Lake - Secretary of State Kerry's speech was that of a man trapped in the past, a prisoner of a peace process from a bygone time. Since George H.W. Bush, U.S. presidents have pushed and prodded the two sides to agree that there should be two states for two peoples. Kerry's speech hit familiar notes. Palestinians must end incitement. Israel must stop building settlements. Time is running out. But 2016 is not 1999. Back then the establishment view was that a two-state solution was the key to unlocking stability for the region. Nobody believes this anymore as today the Middle East is coming unglued. Iran is meddling. Russia has entered the region for the first time since the 1970s. The jihadist Islamic State still has its caliphate in Raqqa, Syria. These conflicts have nothing to do with settlements in the West Bank. It's worth marveling at the spectacle of Kerry's dire warnings about the survival of a peace process disconnected from the wars raging all around it.