Jon Alterman
Jon Alterman
agreement bit guess please together work
My guess is that the U.S. will say we are doing what we can. The Saudis will say please do more and there will be an agreement to work together to do a little bit more.
replaced
The roadmap is inoperative and nothing has replaced it.
government imagine people tough
I can't imagine that we are going to get to a constituted government before more violence, more bluffing, more slamming of doors. This is for all the marbles, and people are going to play a tough game.
overly people
People were overly optimistic. And now people are overly pessimistic.
almost constitution left played tie ties won
No one really won in this constitution. It left almost everything vague. Everyone played to a tie but we don't know how the ties are going to be resolved.
creating endgame growing knows national strong
No one really knows what the endgame will be. Our difficulties are creating strong national institutions, and it's a growing problem.
given questions totally
This was totally unprecedented - a live interchange with no questions given in advance.
signs
There hasn't been a 'peace process' for some time, and I don't see any signs there's going to be one resuming.
build changes creates
It's significant in that it changes the atmosphere. It creates opportunities to build confidence.
both filing happy impossible job people sides
It's a lot of excellent, well-meaning people who have an impossible job to do, ... There's no way they can make both sides happy when they're done with their investigation and filing their report.
admit step steps
It's a 12-step program. The first step is to admit you have a problem. They still have 11 steps to go.
attention fact pays sign speak states united
He is going to speak for the administration to two very important countries. The fact that he's going is a sign of the attention that the United States pays to these relationships.
challenges frank last president puts week
There was a sense the president was on another planet. What the president has done in the last week or so is be much more frank about challenges without diluting his optimism. ... It puts him back in the debate.
gaza likely policy spill sure violence
In real terms, all U.S. policy likely comes down to now is making sure the violence in Gaza does not spill over.