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Wooing the Gods of the Peace Process

(Foreign Policy) Aaron David Miller - The arc of President Barack Obama's peace process efforts is leading inexorably to American "bridging" proposals - ideas on the core issues meant to literally bridge the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian positions - if not a U.S. plan to reach a framework accord on all the big issues. Obama will be told four things by those who are pushing him to be bold and decisive. First, the parties were "this close" to an accord at the last Camp David summit in 2000. Second, that a tremendous amount of work has been done in the past 10 years by Israelis and Palestinians on the core issues which have brought the parties closer than they've ever been. Third, that everyone knows the broad outlines of an agreement. And, fourth, that trying and failing is better than not having tried at all. Myth merges uneasily with fact here, and bad analysis and logical lapses seem to rule the day. First, on no issue were the two sides "this close" or even nearly so at Camp David in 2000. Second, a great deal of work has been done on the core issues - but by negotiators who risked very little because they were unempowered to negotiate. Third, the fact that we have a better idea of what a solution might be in no way makes it easier to get there. And, fourth, as for the old college try, failure costs, and sometimes it makes matters worse. The writer is a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
2010-12-22 09:07:48
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