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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Violence and Diplomacy in the Middle East

    With sectarian violence in Iraq reaching a new scale of brutality, there are multiple warnings that the entire Middle East region may be coming apart. President Bush and Vice President Cheney are engaged in a week of crisis diplomacy aimed at saving Iraq's civilian government.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    With sectarian violence in Iraq reaching a new scale of brutality, there are multiple warnings that the entire Middle East region may be coming apart. President Bush and Vice President Cheney are engaged in a week of crisis diplomacy aimed at saving Iraq's civilian government. While Cheney has returned from Saudi Arabia, President Bush has left Washington on a trip that will end in meetings with Iraq's Prime Minister al-Maliki. Meantime, Iraqi President Talabani is meeting with Iranian leaders, and Israel's Prime Minister Olmert is making peace offerings to the Palestinians. Both parties in Congress want pressure on the regime with the goal of promoting withdrawal of American troops. Will America's allies try to influence Sunni insurgents? Will the US talk with Iran about controlling Shiite militias? We'll ask a variety of experts, are there any good options left?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Violence and Diplomacy in the Middle East
    1. 0:00British Announce Troop Withdrawal from Iraq
    2. 0:00Violence and Diplomacy in the Middle EastYou’re reading this
    3. 0:00Russian Agents with a License to Kill
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Frances Anderton

      architecture critic and author

    • KCRW placeholder

      Vanessa Romo

      LA School Report

    • KCRW placeholder

      Andrea Brody

      Senior Producer, KCRW's Life Examined and To the Point podcast

    • KCRW placeholder

      Fawaz Gerges

      London School of Economics and Politics

    • KCRW placeholder

      Fouad Ajami

      Stanford University

    • KCRW placeholder

      Mansour Farhang

      Professor of Political Science at Bennington College

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Violence and Diplomacy in the Middle East
    1. 0:00British Announce Troop Withdrawal from Iraq
    2. 0:00Violence and Diplomacy in the Middle EastYou’re reading this
    3. 0:00Russian Agents with a License to Kill
    Back to To the Point