Epstein Secrets

me. In fact, the Assad regime is the only faction in the four-way conflict that has clearly committed to attend the talks, which Secretary of State John F. Kerry has been laboring to organize for more than a year. Even the U.S.- backed civilian groups in Syria's opposition haven't confirmed that they are comi

ericans put their ideas on the table, when we can then assess matters on the basis of facts, rather than leaks and rumors. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's intense pursuit of this issue—this is his tenth visit to the region since assuming office—reflects a deeper motivation that is both striking and

is tenth visit to the region since assuming office—reflects a deeper motivation that is both striking and somewhat unclear. The best explanation on Kerry's energy on this issue that I have heard from Americans close to the Obama administration is that the persistence of the Arab-Israeli and Palestini

tioning itself as protector of Christians in the Middle East, for one, a self- anointment that dates back to the Treaty of Kutchuk-Kainardji during Ottoman Empire and led to several attempts at imperial adventurism, from Greece to Syria to Bulgaria, which did indeed result in a Russian intervention in the 187

d extremism. And they certainly have not been reassured by what Washington has been telling them about its talks with Iran. For Secretary of State Kerry and others to simply say that the U.S. won't make any agreement with Iran that endangers America's allies in the region sounds to them like blowing

come a point when folks will start to wonder whether there's truly anything there. We're already into the second three months of Secretary of State John Kerry informal nine-month clock for making a deal. On Iran, the pressure won't come from any fixed clock as much as it will from an impatient U.S. Congr

ctly compatible — an inspiring example for Arab countries like Egypt. Instead, Turkey's role inspired reservations among Egyptians; after all, the Ottoman Empire had ruled over Egypt. And, on the Turkish side, there was a sense of superiority vis-à-vis the Arab world. The collapse of the Soviet Union awakene

nest Broker"? John Cassidy EFTA00684045 April 16, 2014 -- Was there ever a more predictable end to a Middle East peace effort than the demise of John Kerry's recent initiative? Earlier this year, in a rare effort to be optimistic, I suggested this could be the Secretary of State's year, noting that "his

hat all sides know this may well be the last chance for a peaceful settlement." I should have stuck with my dour Yorkshire skepticism. Even before Kerry could get the two sides to sit down and negotiate, the Israeli government gave him the bum's rush, approving a new wave of settlement construction

shrewdly enough to understand that their opponents' greater military power wouldn't actually come into play. Once Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire collapsed, the western allies of World War One could have imposed almost any settlement they liked on eastern Europe, had they been willing to back

ity) in rather tense times, when a handful of our people were besieged in the embassy in Cairo, with an angry mob at the door. Secretary of State Kerry, and • President Obama — went to great lengths — and paid a considerable political (and often personal) price — to help us achieve a breakthroug

s at the height of a historic earthquake, in multiple dimensions, the like of which hasn't been seen since the end of WWI and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. In the Middle East — within three • years, the "Arab spring" turned into the "Islamic winter" — borders have vanished and centuries of conflict