Kerry Claims Progress Without Successes in 11 Days From Israel to Brunei
By David Lerman and Nicole Gaouette - Jul 2, 2013
By the time Secretary of State John Kerry neared the end of a 12-day tour of the Middle East and Asia, he’d claimed progress on three of the most vexing foreign policy issues facing the U.S. without tangible signs of success on any of them.
Kerry, who was due back in the U.S. today, said he’s bolstered international opposition to North Korea’s nuclear program, won agreement with Russia for an eventual peace conference on the Syrian war and made headway in bringing Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table for the first time in almost three years.
“I know progress when I see it, and we are making progress,” Kerry said in Tel Aviv after concluding three days and nights of almost-sleepless shuttle diplomacy between Israel and Jordan.
In five months on the job, the former Democratic senator who headed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has been setting ambitious, if amorphous, goals on big issues. In logging about 22,500 miles (36,200 kilometers) on this trip, he offered mostly aspirational aims while steadfastly refusing to set any time lines. His biggest investment of time and prestige was in the stalled Mideast peace process, as he held three meetings each with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
“The problem with Kerry’s approach right now is that he is more invested in these negotiations than they are,” Aaron David Miller, vice president of the Wilson Center, a Washington policy group, said in an interview. “That’s a very bad place for the negotiator to be.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-03/kerry-claims-progress-without-wins-from-global-travel.html