Commentary
Malaysia’s chairmanship sought to fend off short-term challenges while laying the groundwork for minimizing ASEAN’s longer-term exposure to external stresses.
Elina Noor
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In The Media
Quartet Condemns Israeli Plan to Build Settlements in East Jerusalem
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia have called for a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity, increasing the international pressure on Israel in the hopes of reinvigorating indirect peace talks.
Published on Mar 19, 2010
Source: BBC World Service
The quartet continues to play an important role in that it “prevents the Israelis, Palestinians, Syrians, etc. from trying to play one international power off the other,” notes Michele Dunne. It allows the international powers "to meet, agree, and formalize their approach."
For Russia, membership in the quartet requires walking a delicate balance between maintaining their credentials as friends of the Palestinians while avoiding undermining their strong relationship with Israel. Konstantin Eggert suggests that there shouldn't be high hopes for the quartet meeting. "I think that this quartet meeting is going to produce exactly what other meetings have produced before, and that's pretty much nothing," he said.
About the Authors
Michele Dunne
Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program
Michele Dunne was a nonresident scholar in Carnegie’s Middle East Program, where her research focuses on political and economic change in Arab countries, particularly Egypt, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Konstantin Eggert
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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