It is a grand conceit of many American politicians that their advice and assistance is not only wanted everywhere around the world, but that no conflict will ever be resolved until they've become involved. After demonstrating that US intervention in the Middle East, in particular in Iraq, has done more to screw things up than if it had never happened at all, it seems that some counties are openly flouting that doctrine. And so they've decided to figure things out on their own.

So the region's powers - US allies Jordan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, and its foes Syria and Iran - are engaging in new diplomatic efforts, largely aimed at preventing Iraq's fighting from causing broader turmoil.

While in some cases the talks are only tangentially about Iraq, this high-level dialogue appears to reflect a new reality: With US prestige crippled by the war, regional actors are bypassing the West to forge partnerships and find solutions on their own.

Thursday, Jordan's King Abdullah II, who has recently been more vocal about restarting Arab-Israeli negotiations, invited Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah, locked in deadly street battles this past week, to hash out their differences in Jordan on Sunday.

In Beirut, Arab League negotiator Amr Moussa seems to be making some progress at ending the political crisis between the country's ruling coalition and the Shiite militant party Hizbullah.

But in all cases, Iraq is the volatile backdrop, specifically its potential to become a proxy arena for the region's problems.

A good example is Israel. Watching the unfolding tragedy in Iraq and with its own war this summer against the Shiite militants of Hizbullah in mind, it's reaching out to the Jordanians, the Saudis, and the Lebanese to find solutions to its own security problems.

"In the late 1990s, Israel's worldview was that 'we are the military superpower in the region and we are very closely allied with the world's only superpower. So we have very little to worry about,' " says Gidi Grinstein, a former peace negotiator for the Israeli government and now president of the Reut Institute, a Tel Aviv think tank.

Now, he says, "you have America in a situation of very serious overstretch, unable to get a decisive victory across the region ... we have to look for new partners, alliances, and means of cooperation.

So with the US seemingly incapable of getting anything right in the region, and the prospect of an Iran-dominated Iraq on the horizon, the regional players have decided that maybe it's in their own best interest to solve their problems to prevent Iran from becoming a Middle Eastern superpower.

This is a very positive development, even if these limited negotiations don't immediately solve any problems. The fact that they're talking at all is remarkable. The US should not take this as a sign that an isolationist foreign policy is the most productive, but rather as a warning that being too involved can have negative consequences of its own. The cost is not having any sort of say in how these negotiations will work out.

MschfMayhemSoap

Phoenix, AZ

April 2006

DEC 21, 2006 08:31 PM

you realize We'll just invade all those countries next for talking without permission...

Because they've GONE OVER OUR HELMET!

DaGhost

Ireland

December 2003

DEC 21, 2006 09:26 PM

So our failure in Iraq has been the catalyst for these countries to do what they should have been doing all along.

In a screwed up way that could be another victory for us.

realistic67

Vancouver, BC

August 2005

DEC 22, 2006 02:32 AM

Holy Shit....Thank god the people and powers who actually live there are finally seeing the light of day. As apposed to being led by the nose by foreign governments. Full of Pirates mascarading as Saints.

I hope something really comes of this endevour... (Allthough I'm not holding out too much hope.)

And with it the realization that the world Supercop of N.A. and Britain is not all it pretends to be, especially with it's current double headed, narssacistic Leadership. Maybe, just maybe they'll figure out, out of all of this. How to be a sphere of influence inside the modern world. And put N. America and Britain back in it's place.

Nature Abhores a vacumn....

ASSH0LE

Las Vegas, NV

June 2003

DEC 22, 2006 01:03 PM

Well, our policies heretofore have been rather counterproductive.

We seem to encourage the Israelis to do whatever they feel. And they've done exactly that, to their detriment (witness their disastrous invasion of Lebanon).

SockPuppet

I'm lost

July 2006

DEC 22, 2006 04:08 PM

mm. Well, those are steps in the right direction. I hope something positive comes of them.

emotedcreations

Germany

July 2006

DEC 23, 2006 11:37 PM

This is honestly the best news I've heard in a long long long time. I'm very interested in whether there is any tangible outcome. Merry fucking NOT christmas to me...

BOARDS:

TOPICS:

United Kingdom

November 2003

DEC 21, 2006 04:36 PM

Phoenix, AZ

April 2006

DEC 21, 2006 08:31 PM

Ireland

December 2003

DEC 21, 2006 09:26 PM

Vancouver, BC

August 2005

DEC 22, 2006 02:32 AM

Las Vegas, NV

June 2003

DEC 22, 2006 01:03 PM

I'm lost

July 2006

DEC 22, 2006 04:08 PM

Germany

July 2006

DEC 23, 2006 11:37 PM