Scholars from Carnegie’s global network comment on how the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is affecting their areas of interest, and what the implications of this may be.
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Jake Walles is no longer with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Jake Walles was a nonresident senior fellow in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Israeli-Palestinian issues, Tunisia, and counterterrorism. He was a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State for more than 35 years, serving as the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia from 2012 to 2015 and as consul general and chief of mission in Jerusalem from 2005 to 2009. Walles also served as senior adviser in the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism from 2015 until his retirement in 2017.
During his long career at the State Department, Walles was actively involved in Middle East peace negotiations beginning with the Madrid Middle East Peace Conference in 1991 and continuing through the Obama administration. He was the recipient of the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award in 2016 for his contributions to U.S. national security policy.
Scholars from Carnegie’s global network comment on how the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is affecting their areas of interest, and what the implications of this may be.
Israel’s far-right ministers in the new Netanyahu government seem intent on reordering the status quo in the West Bank.
The major issue in Tunisia remains the ailing economy, and it may yet undermine President Qaïs Saied’s autocratic ambitions.
External pressure has never been effective in forcing the parties to abandon their core principles. Only a negotiated two-state solution has the potential to satisfy both sides.
The conference will consist of six virtual discussions that will provide a look ahead to 2021, focusing on what Carnegie scholars and other experts believe will be the most significant and challenging issues facing the Middle East and North Africa in their interaction with international actors.
For the Palestinian Authority, a policy of self-isolation is the worst option of all.
Israel’s annexation of the West Bank could push it down a path that challenges its Jewish and democratic character.
It’s all bleak for the Palestinians, but there are some things they can do to improve their situation.
Tunisia’s political and economic model has to be changed if the population is to enjoy freedom and dignity.