Annapolis will achieve little

This Middle East summit is a distraction that will achieve little

James Forsyth

21 November 2007

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The Annapolis Middle East summit won’t produce anything more than a commitment to hold another meeting. But the real worry is that Condoleezza Rice’s intense focus on the Israel Palestine question could distract her from more pressing matters in Iraq, Pakistan and North Korea.

For Rice, it would have been the fulfilment of her second-term dream of creating a new international order to replace the one that she, against type, had helped to rip up with the invasion of Iraq. A Secretary of State who had brought peace to the Middle East might not have been able to resist the entreaties of the Republican party to run for the presidency against Hillary, and the journey that had started in segregated Alabama could have ended in the Oval Office.

But, instead, Blair is already out of office, desperately seeking redemption as an envoy to the Middle East, and Rice is trying to avoid another war in the region before she too departs the scene. Rather than burnishing their legacies, the two statesmen are struggling to pull together a quorum for a summit where getting the ‘family photo’ taken will be a real achievement.

The lead-up to the gathering in Annapolis, Maryland, has hardly inspired confidence. The Bush administration initially scheduled the event as a three-day meeting sometime in ‘fall’. At the beginning of this week the consensus was that it would be a one-day affair on Friday 23 November. By the time it was finally announced on Tuesday, it had morphed into an event on Tuesday the 27th with a dinner on the Monday night in Washington. This Thanksgiving summit is a very moveable feast.

The guest list remains far from certain too: invites were only officially sent out on Tuesday (the joke doing the rounds is that all the participants might end up staying in a room together — but by accident rather than design). The Israelis and the Palestinians will definitely be there, but questions remains about how senior the Saudi delegation will be, and whether the Syrians will turn up or not.

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Julian Cox

November 23rd, 2007 2:26pm Report this comment

With her outrageous demand that Jerusalem, the one and undivided, historical capital of the Jewish homeland be divided, I sincerely hope that Condoleezza Rice is not only distracted but develops a nasty case of Attention Deficit Disorder. Who needs enemies when we have friends like her?

William Garrett

November 23rd, 2007 9:09pm Report this comment

To Julian Cox (comment) Palestine has not been a Jewish homeland for 2000 years. To assume that the Jews have a right to return and throw out the indigenous inhabitants displays racial arrogance. The Jews were treated like rubbish by Nazi Germany but now they treat the Palestinians in a like manner. For shame.

Julian Cox

November 24th, 2007 12:52pm Report this comment

William Garrett, following your argument, the English must surely give London back to the Welsh. I am talking about dividing Jerusalem into two political polities. I am not talking about the ethnic cleansing of those Arabs (and others) presently living (and voting) there. Jeruslem was never the capital of an Arab state. The comparison of Israel's behaviour toward Arabs with Nazi Germany's toward its Jews is a calumny that makes me question not only your anti-Semitic racism but the Spectator's decision to reproduce your odious views. For shame....

A. Resnick

November 26th, 2007 1:41am Report this comment

The Arab countries don't want peace with Israel, they want to destroy it. How does one enter into peace talks with a opponent who only desires your annihilation.

Alex Haver

December 2nd, 2007 2:14pm Report this comment

Mr. Alan Resnick's comment goes to show that he, most likely, hangs out w/ a wrong crowd, otherwise he would have noticed that at one time both Jordan and Egypt tried to destroy Israel. Today, however, they have solid diplomatic relations.

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