The Foreign Service Journal, December 2006

D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 45 he latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon this past summer only reinforces the urgent need for the Bush administration to adopt a new diplomatic approach, both toward the Middle East and in all its foreign relations. In this essay I would like to offer some thoughts on what such a new framework should encompass. The most obvious change we should make is to emphasize the role and effectiveness of diplomacy, while resisting the F O C U S O N M I D D L E E A S T P E A C E T OWARD A N EW F OREIGN P OLICY A GENDA T ERRORISM IN THE M IDDLE E AST IS NOT THE CAUSE OF THE VIOLENCE WE FACE , BUT THE RESPONSE TO OCCUPATION BY THOSE TOO WEAK TO USE ANY OTHER TACTIC . B Y R OBERT V. K EELEY T Adam Niklewicz