"I wonder what he meant by that."
With that level of skepticism in mind, all shrewd diplomats and observers of diplomacy look beneath the surface language and actions of diplomacy to the underlying realities that will shape negotiations. Because, as professor Angelo M. Codevilla explains, effective diplomacy is, at its core, a "verbal representation of a persuasive reality ... indubitable reality itself convinces - sometimes even without verbal expression, or through non-verbal expression." As we enter this new round of U.S.-Israeli-Arab negotiations, one needs to keep firmly in mind the political realities that will either undergird or undermine the talks.
In the lead-up to the current round of meetings between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama, the constantly repeated background theme has been that now is the vital moment to actually bring into being an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
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