The Foreign Service Journal, March 2003

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 27 and growing opposition, not only among its allies but even among Americans. It also came as the situation in Palestine was becoming more and more chaot- ic, mostly as a result of uncondi- tional American support to Israel and indifference to the Palestinian people. Many aver that it was no coincidence that Mr. Powell gave his speech just a few days before his meeting with the other members of the “Quartet,” at which he stalled, on behalf of Israel, on formulating a solution to the Palestinian problem. The proposal must also be put in the context of the oft- denied but clear intention of going to war against Iraq. The proponents of this viewpoint conclude that the American initiative is little more than a perfunctory, if not necessarily cynical, public-relations exercise. Even Mr. Powell himself does not appear quite convinced by his proposed support to the Middle East: “We should be quite realistic as we move forward about the obstacles that are ahead, about the time that it will take to see real change take root, and about the limited role that outsiders can play,” he warned at the conclusion of his speech. This seems to be a diplo- matic way of saying that not much should be expected from the initia- tive or its promoter. Out of Sight, Out of Mind Allowing the Palestinian issue to revert back to the pre-Oslo status, and keeping the region in a state of ten- sion and turmoil that prevents societies from directing their energies and resources toward a rapidly deterio- rating situation, are not the only causes of disappoint- ment in Secretary Powell’s performance. Many of us liv- ing in North Africa feel that our region gets little atten- tion from the State Department, and then only in the F O C U S At least the Maghreb continues to figure on Mr. Powell’s agenda; it may even be rising in his order of priorities.