Things are Moving, but the US is Absent by Rami Khouri

Published: May 3, 2008, 9:14 am

Things Are Moving, But The Us Is AbsentBy Rami KhouriIn The Daily Star (Lebanon), Opinion April 30, 2008One of the important developments in Middle Eastern diplomacy that becomes more obvious with every passing month is the continued marginalization of the United States. As the Bush administration and the American presidential candidates find themselves focusing most of their Middle East-related attention on the complex challenges the US invasion of Iraq has created, other important regional issues seem to be moving into the hands of local players and mediators.The more the US is marginalized diplomatically as a would-be mediator because of its shortsighted tendency to nearly blindly support Israel's positions, buttress Arab autocrats, and oppose the large, populist Islamo-nationalist movements, the more the other mediators from the Middle East make progress in resolving or reducing the intensity of conflicts.Two cases in particular are noteworthy: the indirect Hamas-Israel

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