Peace and U.S. National Security

Today, it is undeniable that achieving Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace is key to U.S. national security and must be a central U.S. strategic priority. There is an undeniable connection between these festering conflicts and developments in other countries in the region and beyond. These include the growing strength of extremist, militant groups ready and willing to use terror against their own governments, the U.S., and Israel. In much of the Arab and Muslim worlds, perceptions of the U.S. are shaped by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for both good and bad. When the U.S. is seen as credibly leading for peace, support for the U.S. increases; when the U.S. is seen as not being an honest broker, while the situation languishes or deteriorates, anger at the U.S. rises. This has clear implications for U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.

Likewise, U.S. failure to credibly lead Middle East peace efforts has global implications, with U.S. allies and adversaries alike watching and judging U.S. credibility and relevance in the foreign policy arena based on U.S. performance in the Middle East. It is not an exaggeration to say that the credibility of U.S. foreign policy as a whole is at stake in the Middle East. The conclusions that will be drawn from a failure of U.S. foreign policy in the Israeli-Arab arena - in Tehran or Pyongyang, when negotiating over their nuclear programs, or in Moscow, when negotiating over arms control, or even Paris and London when considering NATO interests - have very real and damaging consequences for U.S. national security.

Clearly, the Israeli-Palestinian and the Arab-Israeli conflicts are not the source of all problems in the region. However, the linkages between the conflict and U.S. national security are undeniable.

Sustained, credible U.S. efforts to achieve Israeli-Arab peace are a necessary element of U.S. support for Israel and must be a cornerstone of any serious U.S. approach to confronting the challenges emanating from this volatile region. The simple fact is this: the U.S. can - and perhaps at times should - want peace more than the parties, given all that the U.S. has at stake.

APN urges policy makers to recognize that the achievement of Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace is a U.S. national security imperative and to press President Obama to work resolutely to achieve Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace agreements.

(Feb. 2011)

People for Peace

Ori N.

Ori Nir is a Person for Peace

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2/22 5:56a Mourning Marie Colvin, fearless professional, kind, generous colleague. She helped me several times on assignments in the West Bank.
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