Making Sense of the Arab-Israel Nightmare

If you just read the wires coming out of the Holy Land, the Israeli-Palestinian situation is a confused mess. Israel is negotiating with Syria, Hamas, and the PLO; Olmert is one step ahead of an indictment, and more and more Israeli politicians are calling for a military strike on Iran.

What have been lost within the noise of the 24-hour news cycle are the larger strategic issues confronting the United States in our inconstant role as mediator: how do the various Palestinian factions come together as an acceptable, effective partner in negotiations? Are Israelis finally ready to come to terms with the land-for-peace equation? Can a new U.S. president focus enough energy on Israel-Palestine when Iraq and Iran loom so large?

America does not have unlimited time to get a deal. The developments of the past couple weeks-including the revelations of indirect talks between Syria and Israel, and the recent, albeit failing, cease-fire between Israel and Hamas-provide further evidence of America's diminished capacity to influence events in the region.

These questions, explored in Aaron Miller's new book, "The Much Too Promised Land," will be the point of departure for a lively conversation on Friday at the New America Foundation with three Middle East experts and former policy advisers representing American, Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on the conflict.