While you're waiting for the 2008 Season of Philo lectures to kick off...

Vali Nasr, lecturer at Philo's 2007 Annual Oration, has just published an incisive article in the upcoming issue of Foreign Affairs (January/February). Nasr, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, levies an informed critique of current policy towards Iran that assumes a kind of monolithic politics in the Middle East.



Here's an excerpt:
"Washington's reliance on reviving the Middle East peace process as the linchpin of its strategy to contain Iran is also problematic. Bush administration officials are assuming that resumed diplomacy between Israel and its neighbors will assuage the Arab street, rally Arab governments behind the United States, and lay the groundwork for a united Arab-Israeli front against Iran. But this hope disregards the fact that in their current state, Palestinian and Israeli politics will not support the types of compromises necessary for a credible breakthrough. Both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are too weak to press their constituencies toward the painful concessions that a viable peace compact would require. The expectations of Arab leaders far exceed those of Israel and the United States: while they have been openly demanding final-status negotiations, Secretary Rice has been talking only about creating momentum toward peace."


You can read the full article here.
Sic Itur ad Oratory