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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

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.

Join us for remarks by, and a roundtable with, the deputy administrator of USAID, Ambassador

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Jim Gerstein

Jim Gerstein serves as an adviser to Middle East Progress and has extensive experience in strategic consulting, progressive American politics, and Middle East peace efforts. As a founding partner of Gerstein | Agne Strategic Communications, a Washington-based firm providing strategic planning, communications, project management, and research services to a wide range of non-profit organizations, companies, and political candidates, Gerstein also serves as Executive Director of the progressive research and strategy organization Democracy Corps.

Prior to his work with Democracy Corps, Gerstein was Executive Director of the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation from 1997-2001. During the 1999 Israeli Prime Ministerial campaign, Gerstein took a leave of absence from the Center to join Ehud Barak’s American consulting team, where he served as the team’s person on the ground and oversaw the polling, paid media, and message development for the Barak campaign. In the following year, Gerstein established a non-profit counterpart for the Center, called the Institute for Peace and Security which provided financial, organizational, and strategic support for various Arab-Israeli projects, including meetings between retired generals from Israel and Arab countries, peace initiatives with Israeli business leaders, and dialogues between Jewish and Arab municipal leaders in Israel. Gerstein received an M.A. in Middle East History at Tel Aviv University and a B.A. in philosophy at Colgate University.