We need to do something to deprive both sides of any excuse not to engage in serious negotiations," Mr. Clinton said in an interview aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "If this is the tactic he decides to adopt, I will strongly support it.

As the world grapples with controlling the spread of nuclear weapons, it's a time of complex choices in a Middle East edging between possible confrontation with Iran and possible movement towards Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Despite all our commonalities, we come to see that on the ground the differences between the various Arab states are vast. When one crosses the border between the various states no matter how close the countries are, the rules, laws, and regulations shift drastically.

Norway's foreign policy in the Middle East is a vastly understudied topic. Since the end of World War II, Oslo has specialized in peacekeeping, peacemaking, humanitarian missions, and post-conflict action.

Obama has reverted to Clinton-era policies in the Middle East. But Arab reformers are nostalgic for something more like Bush's "freedom agenda," which helped usher in a promising moment for Arab reform.

After using enhanced diplomacy and trade to bolster ties with Middle Eastern neighbours, Turkey now has a new weapon to seduce the Arab world: a state television channel in Arabic accessible to more than 300 million Arabic speakers.

Building on the successes of its normalisation with Syria and Iraq, [Turkey] is facilitating efforts to reduce conflicts, expanding visa-free travel, ramping up trade, integrating infrastructure, forging strategic relationships and engaging in multilateral regional platforms.

And even though Tehran is trying to track the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan, this is perhaps meant to maximise its presence in the region to rise to the level of being a "partner in dividing the cake of influence in the Middle East".