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As we wait to see if Hillary Clinton has accomplished anything in her Middle East trip (I’m betting no), here are a couple of things to read: Nathan Brown of George Washington University and the Carnegie Endowment says the two-state solution is at a dead end (a possibility I worried about here) and offers his ...

Walt-Steve-foreign-policy-columnist20
Walt-Steve-foreign-policy-columnist20
Stephen M. Walt
By , a columnist at Foreign Policy and the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University.

As we wait to see if Hillary Clinton has accomplished anything in her Middle East trip (I’m betting no), here are a couple of things to read:

As we wait to see if Hillary Clinton has accomplished anything in her Middle East trip (I’m betting no), here are a couple of things to read:

Nathan Brown of George Washington University and the Carnegie Endowment says the two-state solution is at a dead end (a possibility I worried about here) and offers his “Plan B." He calls for a long-term ceasefire (i.e., five to ten years) to permit the rebuilding of Palestinian institutions, to press for moderation of Hamas’ demands, and to force Israel to choose between building settlements and making peace. I have my doubts about his proposal, which sounds like the Oslo process to me insofar as it leaves the final destination unclear and focuses on interim agreements. Like Oslo, this leaves too much latitude for spoilers on either side (including the new Israeli prime minister?). Nonetheless, Brown is surely right to begin thinking about where we go if the two-state solution really does become out of reach.

Writing in Tikkun, Jerome Slater provides a systematic critique of Israel’s conduct in its recent attacks on Gaza, and demolishes a lot of Israeli talking points. Doug Lieb of the American Jewish Committee has a response in the same issue, but you really owe it to yourself to read Slater’s fully documented version, available here. 

Stephen M. Walt is a columnist at Foreign Policy and the Robert and Renée Belfer professor of international relations at Harvard University. Twitter: @stephenwalt

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