Word: rice
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...point here is to get the Iranians to change their behavior, to get them to change their strategy, to get them to negotiate in good faith on their nuclear program," Rice says. "I've heard people say, 'Well, you're escalating.' Well, this is responding, really, to a series of Iranian moves that are dangerous for American interests and dangerous for the international system...
...Whether Rice can steer the U.S. away from a military confrontation with Tehran is one of the two big challenges that will define the final years of her tenure--and the legacy she leaves for her successor. The other is even more daunting: making peace in the Middle East. Those who have spoken to her say her determination to seek a comprehensive settlement between Israel and the Palestinians is real. A senior Arab official says that on her trip to the region last month, Rice pledged to help set up a Palestinian state by the end of Bush's term...
...Rice's chances for success aren't great. Olmert's job-approval ratings are even more dismal than Bush's, and Abbas is struggling to prevent clashes among rival factions from escalating into civil war. And then there's the trouble with Rice herself. She did herself few favors in Arab eyes by failing to restrain Israel's bombing campaign against Lebanon last summer. Her refusal to negotiate with Syria baffles diplomats in the region, who believe the U.S. is missing an opportunity to peel Damascus away from its alliance with Iran. And Rice's relationship with Abbas, in particular...
...student of history, Rice is grimly aware of how many diplomatic reputations have sunk in the morass of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. But if the U.S. intends to contain the twin threats it faces in the Middle East--an ethnic implosion in Iraq and a nuclear Iran--it needs help from the rest of the neighborhood, which will be easier to secure if Rice can make headway on the Palestinian issue. "Even if the prospects for a deal are very low, getting the process going is helpful throughout the region," says a U.S. foreign-policy veteran. "It gives breathing space...
...most optimistic diplomats, including Rice, hope that U.S. engagement on Palestine could lead to other areas of cooperation among "moderate" Middle East forces, all of whom have an interest in checking the influence of Shi'ite Iran and subduing radical Sunni groups aligned with al-Qaeda. If that happens, the U.S. may be able to build a security arrangement that could limit some of the damage done by the misadventure in Iraq. "What [the Bush team] may be stumbling toward is grand strategy by accident, that includes diplomacy, economic muscle, military force and all of your capacity to lead other...