Analysis: What more can Obama do

Palestine Chronicle - George S. Hishmeh- Barack Obama must be very disappointed these days since he was hardly applauded in the American media which reviewed his domestic and foreign policies, especially his stance on the Middle East, at the beginning of the century’s second decade.

In foreign affairs, his “signature issue” throughout his first two years has been the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, which disappointingly remains in limbo, despite his key appointment of former senator George Mitchell as his Middle East peace envoy just as he stepped triumphantly into the White House.

The then popular American president was hoping to reach a settlement within a year after the direct talks where launched last September. Even his regrettable attempt at appeasing Israel with a significant arms and financial deal had failed to prompt the right-wing Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon its colonial expansion into the Palestinian territories, occupied after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Surprisingly, there was hardly a review in the American media about U.S. Middle East policies, in the past or the future, an indication that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict may not be all that prominent for its readers. But more likely, all reviewers were at loss as to what to expect from Obama after his “shellacking” in the mid-term elections.

However, there is no doubt the Middle East, especially settling the Arab-Israeli conflict, is one of the key issues that will affect U.S. role in world affairs, a point the president recognized as self-evident in his early appointment of Mitchell. Another key issue, is the continued commitment of U.S. troops to the region – Iraq and Afghanistan – for many months to come.

But how can Obama surmount his “biggest disaster” to date in the Middle East – the Palestinian-Israeli conflict – irrespective of the surprising Republican control of the House of Representative? He has simply to outmaneuver his opponents in Congress as was the case with his unexpected appointment last week during a Congressional recess of a new ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, who was named to that position several months ago but Congress did not take any action because of the influence of some pro-Israel representatives.

Another step he ought to take is to work more closely with European leaders and the United Nations, especially the so-called Quartet on the Middle East, composed of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia, which has been sidelined by the Obama administration. The Quartet’s special envoy is the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Read more