Kerry Calls for 'Negotiated Outcome' in Syria
Al-Monitor’s coverage and analysis of the upcoming visits by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to the Middle East, Kerry’s call for a negotiated outcome in Syria and Tunisia’s worsening crisis.
Kerry, Obama Visits Offer Hope, Caution
There is truth in the old saw that the United States cannot want peace more than those in the region want it themselves. Geoffrey Aronson writes this week that Secretary of State John Kerry venturing to the Middle East to listen and seek advice on how best to move the Israeli-Palestinian process forward is akin to seeking advice from inmates on the running of an asylum.
There is some déjà vu here. The Obama administration came into office in 2009 with a similar vigor. President Barack Obama appointed George Mitchell as U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace on Jan. 22, 2009, just two days after the president took office. Mitchell also began with a “listening tour” in the region. The process went nowhere.
A significant difference from 2009 is that Kerry’s visit will precede a trip to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan by President Obama himself next month.
