Possibilities of a Future Middle East Policy

In the final months of its term, the Bush Administration has spent more time attempting to support negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli representatives.

But in recent weeks, the domestic political debates have spread into foreign policy. In a speech on the floor of the Israeli Knesset, President Bush attacked those who advocate direct diplomacy with hostile nations. Before the speech, his aids told reporters that the comments would be aimed at the presumed democratic candidate, Barack Obama. The following week, Israel disclosed that it has been conducting secret, high-level negotiations with Syria —a country considered a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. and Israel .

Don Wagner is the Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at North Park University . He's author of the book Dying in the Land of Promise: Palestine and Palestinian Christianity from Pentecost to 2000. I spoke with him about how the next President might change US Middle East Policy. 

Jerome asked Don Wagner whether a deal between the Israelis and Palestinians would require a complicated alignment of the political planets among the US and the two parties….