The Final Year: End-of-Term Presidents and the Middle East

Between the Iraq war, Iranian nuclear ambitions, chaos in Gaza, the uncertain Annapolis peace process, stalemate in Lebanon, and the high price of oil, President Bush faces a weighty Middle Eastern agenda in his last year of office. With Americans mulling over candidates for 2009 and a Democratic Congress potentially opposing various initiatives, what can the president realistically achieve in 2008? And what does history teach us about U.S. presidents dealing with Middle East issues under similar circumstances?

To help divine the future by looking to the past, The Washington Institute invited Martin Indyk and Harvey Sicherman to address a special policy forum on February 8, 2008.

Martin Indyk is director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. He served as assistant secretary of state for Near East policy and ambassador to Israel during the Clinton administration, including the period encompassing the 2000 Camp David summit.

Harvey Sicherman is president and director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. He served as a special assistant to Secretary of State Alexander Haig (1981-1982) and was a member of the Policy Planning Staff under Secretary of State James Baker (1991-1992).