Impotent America?

America's inability to broker an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reveals an important truth about the limits of US power: while America can act as a fire brigade that prevents conflicts from spilling over into wider wars, or as a midwife to peace agreements, it cannot initiate anything in the absence of political will on the part of clashing national movements.

JERUSALEM – Israel’s 60th anniversary has come and gone. So, too, has President George W. Bush’s final visit to the Middle East. Amidst the celebrations and the soul-searching, no meaningful breakthrough in the deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian negotiations is visible.

https://prosyn.org/c84B0Ko