Epstein Secrets

the Israeli-Palestinian issue still offers a greater possibility for a consequential role. But that depends almost entirely on whether Israel and the Palestinian Authority come to own their negotiations and really want to get something done. That America's report card looks pretty good doesn't mean we should be happy

ublic in 1949. Beginning in the 1850s, Russians seized advantage of Chinese disarray to pressure the Qing's northern frontier, from restive Muslim Xinjiang in the west to the Amur River in the east. Two "unequal treaties" in 1858 and 1860 gave Russia more land than it had conceded to the Manchus two hu

rusted, diminishing even further the European Union's role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Second, such a move could only undermine Fatah and the Palestinian Authority, which view Hamas as an enemy to be defeated rather than as a genuine partner. Third, peace talks would themselves be impossible if Hamas were part

framework of international norms. It's well-known that China does not condone any criticism of Chinese policies regarding Taiwan or the regions of Xinjiang and Tibet. Less understood is under what conditions China may accept infringements on sovereignty far from its own territory. It is tempting to re

their fault of their politicians; Israel, they point out, still controls many aspects of life in the territory despite granting greater autonomy to the Palestinian Authority in recent years. "People understand they are living in a culture of prison; what is left to them is to improve life within the walls of the prison,

ng seized and has never relinquished Aksai Chin —"the desert of white stone"—a strategic corridor that links Tibet to the western Chinese region of Xinjiang. "The India-China war took place through a complex series of actions misunderstandings," says Kishan S. Rana, a former Indian diplomat and honorary

l chance asking: Do Israel's politicians even know who the Palestinians they are trying to make peace with are? Is it the negotiating delegation of the Palestinian Authority? Or do the Israelis look beyond the negotiation room? I do not doubt for a moment that Israeli politicians and their advisers and analysts know ver

uslim-populated former Soviet republics of Central Asia. China similarly worries that upheaval in Afghanistan could exacerbate Islamic extremism in Xinjiang; India thinks the same could happen in Kashmir. And Shiite Iran almost went to war with the Taliban, an extremist Sunni movement, in 1997; its lead