Director of Programs at the Middle East Institute
Director of Programs at the Middle East Institute and author of The Truth about Camp David: The Untold Story about the Collapse of the Middle East Peace Process
PROFILE
Clayton Swisher
Guest
FROM Clayton Swisher
To the Point
Another Roadblock to Peace in the Middle East Two weeks ago in Mecca, Saudi Arabia brokered a "unity government" deal between the Palestinian factions, Islamist Hamas and secular Fattah. That was good news for Palestinians exhausted by bloody fighting between the two, but bad news for peace between the Palestinians and Israel--and for Condoleezza Ric e, who left a three-way summit today empty handed. Is peace among the Palestinians killing hopes for peace between the Palestinians and Israel? Did Secretary Rice jump too soon in hopes of a much-needed diplomatic breakthrough?
To the Point
Israel, the Palestinians and anti-Americanism in the Muslim World Last week UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the Israeli-Palestinian issue "carries a powerful symbolic and emotional charge... like no other conflict in the world." There was a sense of optimism, when President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinians would form a "unity government" to negotiate the end of the economic and political blockade imposed by Israel and the western powers. But with Hamas and Fatah bitterly divided over recognizing Israel's right to exist, there may be no "unity government" with which to negotiate. We update the Palestinians' internal struggles and look at the mood in Israel after the bombing of Lebanon. We also get some history of the Israeli-Palestinian issue and why it's the source of so much anti-Americanism around the world.
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To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.