The Obama Administration may be having its best week. There are, finally, some signs of imminent diplomatic victories. The Times reports that the U.S. and Russia have taken a major step on nuclear arms reduction, agreeing in principle to a new START treaty, which will be signed in May.
The Times also reports that the Russians and Chinese visited Tehran this week to argue that Iran accept the nuclear fuel replacement deal that’s on the table. They were rebuffed by the Iranians and sanctions are now likely. This isn’t as good as an Iranian acceptance of the deal would have been, but it is further evidence that Iran has been isolated from the civilized world, including its closest commercial partners (the Russians and Chinese), a situation that will further discredit its military government internally.
On the other hand, Israel continues its colonization of East Jerusalem despite several days of intense talks in Washington. No doubt, some of the areas where the illegal expansion is taking place would wind up in Israeli hands after a peace settlement–others wouldn’t–but that’s not the point: the control of these neighborhoods is a matter to be negotiated with the Palestinians. By refusing to negotiate, the Israelis are making it clear that, at the very least, their notion of Palestinian sovereignty is an extremely limited one–and, at worst, that ultimately they see the West Bank as a Palestinian-occupied colony of Israel. That won’t work in the long run.