By Daoud Kuttab

A real possibility exists for a Middle East peace in President Obama’s second term. Palestinians and Arabs are ready to make major concessions and the Israelis know that time is not on their side if they still want a democratic state with a Jewish majority.

The world had an exaggerated expectation of America’s first African American president in terms of what he could do in his first term. Now a politically mature second term president, who has proven that he can take care of world terrorists, can also help deliver peace without having to worry about any new elections. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Reelected U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to be able to conduct policy with much more vigor.

While on domestic and economic issues he will need to work with a Republican House (the Senate will be Democratic), foreign relations is where the executive branch (the White House and the State Department) has the ability to apply his policies.

America’s first African American president who grew up in several parts of the world should be able to produce a foreign policy much closer to his heart and beliefs without having to worry about another election.

Second-term U.S. presidents, who naturally care about their legacy, often look overseas to find ways for history to remember them.

War and peace cannot be addressed in any part of the world more than in the Middle East, where the U.S. is fighting a war in Afghanistan and will continue to need to win the hearts and minds of Arabs and Muslims. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Politics and economics are always intertwined. In Jordan, this was clearly the case when the government raised energy prices.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour went to great lengths on Jordan TV Tuesday night to explain to the Jordanian public why his government was forced to hike prices of gasoline, kerosene, diesel and cooking gas. But the problems facing the Ensour government are much deeper than simply the budget deficit or subsidized prices.

Ensour is correct to blame some of the problems on the Arab Spring, but he is wrong as to how the Arab Spring exacerbated the situation. He tried to blame the blowing up of the Egyptian gas pipe and the demonstrations of the hirak (movements) in Jordan for the financial crisis. However, the prime minister, who was opposed to the recently approved Elections Law, made no mention of this restrictive law that made an important sector of the society refuse to participate in the upcoming elections. Continue Reading »

By Daoud Kuttab

Once again we are witnessing a sharp escalation of violence without any pretense of looking for a political horizon. Israel is shelling Gaza from land, sea and air without even thinking about a political perspective.

Pundits and activists will argue over who is to blamefor the current round of violence. Was it theassassination of the Hamas military leader Ahmed Jaabari or the attack on the Israeli army jeep near the border? Also questioned will be the goals of the Israeli offensive, but in all the tough talk, no one is even considering to look further than the military solution.

Palestinian leader Mahmood Abbas made a short television appearance Friday insisting that the PLO is planning to go to New York on the 29th of November seeking a vote for an upgraded status for Palestine. Continue Reading »