AP Photo

As we mark one year into the Obama era, several realities have become painfully clear. There are limits to what a US president is willing or able to do. Barack Obama began his term in a rush to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace, which he claimed was in “America's national security interests”. One year later and he appears to be no longer in a rush. In recent interviews he has analysed the reasons for the failure to make progress and he pointedly ignored any mention of the issue in his state of the union speech.

What is distressing is that in addressing the other unrealised priorities he set for his first year – health care, reform of the banking industry, the energy sector and climate change – the president has made clear his determination to fight...