Jim Lobe Gets Different Takes on Israel Election

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Inter-Press’ Jim Lobe, who also writes the LobeLog blog, has a good piece of analysis out about the impact of the recent elections in Israel on the Middle East peace process. Lobe interviews Marc Ginsberg, Aaron David Miller, M.J. Rosenberg and me. Miller is the most pessimistic.

Mustafa Barghouti on Israel Elections

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Former Palestinian presidential candidate (and likely future candidate) Mustafa Barghouti stopped by my office today for a short discussion on his impressions of what is possible and what is not in the aftermath of yesterday’s national elections in Israel. As usual, Barghouti paints a compelling picture of limited options and stark realities.

Atlantic Council Scores with Hagel

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The Atlantic Council is an organization whose energy and impact have largely followed the trajectory of the transatlantic relationship. For many years, when that relationship was driven by the clarity and purpose of the Cold War, the Atlantic Council was strong, active, and had significant impact.

Lautenberg: Don’t Hide Those Who Have Died in Combat

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Tonight, I toasted Senator Frank Lautenberg when I learned that he had sent President Barack Obama a letter asking that the media no longer be blocked from greeting, reporting on, and photographing the returning flag-draped caskets of American service men and women killed in combat abroad.

Israel Moves to the Right — Will Have Fragile Government

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My New America Foundation colleague Daniel Levy, who is in Tel Aviv and voted today, is quoted in the segment below and offers two take-aways from the results of Israel’s elections, the winner of which is still being sorted out and will be disputed no matter the outcome.

Obama Must Make Saudi Arabia a Major Priority

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In June 2008, I asked Flynt Leverett — former top Middle East analyst and policy practitioner at the CIA, State Department and George W. Bush’s National Security Council — what he thought the next President of the United States should do “on day one” when it came to the nation’s foreign policy priorities.