American Priorities

Establishing American foreign policy priorities is difficult, given the number of events competing for attention. Events not under our control often dictate changes in policies and changes in the order of priorities. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has to orchestrate among Iraq, the collapse of the governing coalition in Pakistan, Russia’s invasion of Georgia and NATO’s lack of timely response. She also has to consider Iran’s progress on nuclear capability, North Korea, Venezuela, Afghanistan and the resurgent Taliban.

Establishing American foreign policy priorities is difficult, given the number of events competing for attention. Events not under our control often dictate changes in policies and changes in the order of priorities. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has to orchestrate among Iraq, the collapse of the governing coalition in Pakistan, Russia’s invasion of Georgia and NATO’s lack of timely response. She also has to consider Iran’s progress on nuclear capability, North Korea, Venezuela, Afghanistan and the resurgent Taliban. Not to mention Lebanon under Hezbollah and Hezbollah in Latin America, the Jordanian government’s three meetings with Hamas and two trips to Moscow, Syria’s request for Russian missiles and Russian warships in the Syrian port of Tartus.

Number one on her list is… trumpets, please –

An Israeli-Palestinian agreement on the establishment of Palestine and the possibility of a Moscow “peace conference” later in the fall; Russia being a member of the Middle East Quartet. Speaking on her plane, Secretary Rice said, “We continue to have the same goal, which is to reach (a Palestinian-Israeli) agreement by the end of the year.”

She told reporters that Israel’s prisoner release and the lifting of some checkpoints in the West Bank were good, “but on both sides, in terms of Palestinian security and judicial reform, and in terms of movement and access, the Israelis and the Palestinians have work to do.” Asked about a role for Hamas, she said, “Gaza has to be resolved… on the basis of Abu Mazen’s program for it, which is that legitimate Palestinian Authority institutions have to be reinstated.” Asked if Hamas’s desire for a political role motivated its participation in the ceasefire, she said, “I think there are multiple incentives and motivations for the calm that is there,” and mentioned reconsidering the November 2005 agreement as a mechanism for re-opening the Gaza border crossings.

As if time had stood still. Abu Mazen couldn’t implement the border crossing agreement in 2005 when he was the only legitimate Palestinian leader and he was in Gaza with an army. Abu Mazen can’t “resolve” Gaza on the basis of his program – he lost the legislative election and lost the civil war and has no power in Gaza at all. What power he has on the West Bank is the result of Israeli military and intelligence operations disrupting Hamas’s efforts to replicate its Gaza successes. The cease-fire has allowed Hamas to import more weapons, mine the borders and consolidate its position among the militias of Gaza – preparing for the next round of war against Israel, not peace.

And isn’t the Quartet one of those institutions in which Russia should be ignored, like coordinating with the G-7 on aid to Georgia rather than the G-8? Shouldn’t we have the Middle East Trio rather than the Quartet?

Having made Palestinian independence – the need for which is unclear – her priority, Dr. Rice has misplaced the longstanding American priority on Arab (and Palestinian) recognition of the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the region and the security that would attend recognition. It was a big mistake.