Unique Opportunities, Heroic Efforts
By Aaron David Miller
President, Seeds of Peace
New York

In almost three decades of studying and working on Middle Eastern issues, I’ve rarely seen a period fraught with more opportunity and danger than the one now at hand. On Israeli-Palestinian peace there are unique opportunities to defuse and stabilize a deadly conflict, but it will take heroic efforts on the part of Israelis, Palestinians, Arabs and Americans to move beyond stabilization and move toward a solution. The Bush Administration is uniquely well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities. Much depend on whether the President sees this as a priority issue.
At the same time, there are developments in train which, over time, could potentially transform the region. The traditional debate in the Arab world between the haves and the have-nots is joined by a more salient tension between the cans and the cannots (those who can participate in the governments of their societies and those who cannot). The potential for authoritarian regimes to thwart popular pressure for greater openness and participation in decision making is huge. But the hunger for political change may well be unstoppable. Consider only this: the fairest and freest elections ever held in the Arab world occurred this year in West Bank, Gaza, and Iraq, areas now under Israeli and American political occupation.
Seeds of Peace is now more well positioned than ever to continue its work in empowering leaders in the next generation. Our goal to create a network of prospective young professionals who will lead their communities and nations is now more relevant than ever. The Middle East and South Asia are changing and our Seeds graduates in those conflict areas will, over time, help to shape those changes.

 

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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