Obama as negotiator

Thomas Friedman writes in today's New York Times of an interview with President Obama about his trip to the Middle East, his message and his objectives.

It reveals, once again, the measure of this man we have elected as our president. If anyone can lead the world to progress in this quagmire, he seems best equipped by his ability to tell the truth to each side and to tell it with respect and, yes, empathy.

Here is his approach, in a nutshell:

If you go right into peoples’ living rooms, don’t be afraid to hold up a mirror to everything they are doing, but also engage them in a way that says ‘I know and respect who you are.’ You end up — if nothing else — creating a little more space for U.S. diplomacy. And you never know when that can help.

Another excerpt from the interview:

A key part of his message, he said, will be: “Stop saying one thing behind closed doors and saying something else publicly.” He then explained: “There are a lot of Arab countries more concerned about Iran developing a nuclear weapon than the ‘threat’ from Israel, but won’t admit it.” There are a lot of Israelis, “who recognize that their current path is unsustainable, and they need to make some tough choices on settlements to achieve a two-state solution — that is in their long-term interest — but not enough folks are willing to recognize that publicly.

”There are a lot of Palestinians who “recognize that the constant incitement and negative rhetoric with respect to Israel” has not delivered a single “benefit to their people and had they taken a more constructive approach and sought the moral high ground” they would be much better off today — but they won’t say it aloud. . . .

What a nigh/day difference from our previous POTUS and VPOTUS, who could only think in terms of aggressive threats and deception.

Ralph