I hear they haven’t cured cancer, either

From today’s New York Times editorial about Obama’s foreign policy team:  Another failing of the Bush administration was that neither the president nor his two secretaries of state were “closers” who could set a foreign-policy goal (Israeli-Palestinian peace, for instance) and then develop and execute a strategy to achieve it. We have more faith that ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

From today's New York Times editorial about Obama's foreign policy team:  Another failing of the Bush administration was that neither the president nor his two secretaries of state were “closers” who could set a foreign-policy goal (Israeli-Palestinian peace, for instance) and then develop and execute a strategy to achieve it. We have more faith that the Obama-Clinton duo will do so. Look, there's a lot of fault to find in the current administration, but if the bar for success is closing the deal on an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, well, then every administration in American history has failed.  I have marginally greater confidence that an Obama-Clinton team can move the ball forward on a peace deal.  I have no faith in any American administration to actually achieve real peace in the region anytime soon.    There's a difference between having an ideological affinity for a politician and consuming multiple shots of Kool-Aid within a single minute.  I think this editorial falls under the latter category. As Anton Ego would say, the NYT editorial team could use some perspective.  They should go read this Robert D. Kaplan essay.

From today’s New York Times editorial about Obama’s foreign policy team

Another failing of the Bush administration was that neither the president nor his two secretaries of state were “closers” who could set a foreign-policy goal (Israeli-Palestinian peace, for instance) and then develop and execute a strategy to achieve it. We have more faith that the Obama-Clinton duo will do so.

Look, there’s a lot of fault to find in the current administration, but if the bar for success is closing the deal on an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, well, then every administration in American history has failed.  I have marginally greater confidence that an Obama-Clinton team can move the ball forward on a peace deal.  I have no faith in any American administration to actually achieve real peace in the region anytime soon.    There’s a difference between having an ideological affinity for a politician and consuming multiple shots of Kool-Aid within a single minute.  I think this editorial falls under the latter category. As Anton Ego would say, the NYT editorial team could use some perspective.  They should go read this Robert D. Kaplan essay.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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