Evolution of the Arab Peace Initiative

April 30, 2007

February 17, 2002: New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman publishes a column in which then-Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia formulates an inclusive peace deal to Israel: “full [Israeli] withdrawal from all the occupied territories, in accord with U.N. resolutions, including in Jerusalem, for full normalization of relations” between Israel and the Arab world.

March 28, 2002: The Arab League summit in Beirut adopts the plan with revisions.

April 30, 2003: The Quartet Roadmap cites both Abdullah’s offer and the Beirut Declaration.

March 29, 2007: The Arab League meets in Riyadh and reiterates its proposal to Israel in the Riyadh Declaration.

April 18, 2007: A follow-up committee meets in Cairo to discuss how Arab states can gain support for the initiative.

In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

12/02/11: Discussion With Tunisia’s Rachid Ghannouchi —
12/02/11: Debating Military Action Against Iran —
12/02/11: Terms Of Disengagement —

Setting the Record Straight

Determined to Reach a Common Objective

“We knew at the outset that the task would be difficult. We acknowledged that publicly and privately. We knew this would be a road with many bumps— and there have been many bumps—and that continues to this day. But we are not deterred. We are, to the contrary, determined more than ever to proceed to realize the common objective, which we all share, of a Middle East that is at peace with security and prosperity for the people of Israel, for Palestinians, and for all the people in the region. We will continue our efforts in that regard, undeterred and undaunted by the difficulties, the complexities or the bumps in the road.”—George Mitchell, special envoy for Middle East peace, remarks with Prime Minister Netanyahu, September 29, 2010

Middle East Analysis

Don’t Panic. Yet —Issandr El Amrani (The Arabist)
The Islamists vs. The Markets: Egypt’s Election Analyzed —Haroon Moghul (Religion Dispatches)
What the Libya Intervention Achieved —Marc Lynch (Foreign Policy)

Upcoming Events

The U.S. Agency for International Development and Conflict: Hard Lessons from the Field

May 17, 2011, 12:00pm – 1:15pm

From Afghanistan and Iraq to Pakistan, Somalia, and South Sudan, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, is engaged daily in trying to help some of the most troubled nations on the planet make a lasting transition to stability, open markets, and democracy. Few areas of the agency’s work are more challenging or more controversial.

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