In this interview with ABC News senior White House correspondent Martha Raddatz, Brookings senior fellow and Saban Center for Middle East Policy director Martin Indyk discusses the state of the Mideast and U.S. policies in the region. Indyk focuses on several key issues, including Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations, the ascendance of Iran, the future of the U.S. mission in Iraq and its regional consequences, among others.
According to Indyk, over seven years of U.S. inaction on the Mideast peace process has significantly undermined previous advances in the Arab-Israeli dynamic. As a result, Indyk says, both the Israelis and Palestinians have become much less able to make the compromises needed to achieve a final negotiated settlement. Indyk warns that a two-state solution is in “danger of slipping away.”
While the parties are unlikely to achieve a peace treaty by the end of the Bush Administration, Indyk says that the president at a minimum needs to pass on a functioning peace process to his successor. “That would be a signal contribution to our interests in the Middle East,” according to Indyk.
Back to Balancing the Middle East », by Martin Indyk and Tamara Cofman Wittes
Watch Brookings experts discuss provocative issues with ABC News senior White House correspondent Martha Raddatz in Opportunity 08’s On the Issues series. The video dialogues will examine the topics that are important to our nation and the world and are shaping the presidential campaign.
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