Obama's Middle East policy

November 10, 2008
America's drive to conclude a Middle East peace deal before President George Bush leaves office in January was always going to be wildly over-optimistic but Barack Obama is likely to set an equally pressing deadline to finish the job.

Barack Obama says he'll reshape US foreign policy with particular emphasis on the Middle East. He promises to put the Israeli-Palestinian conflict back on the American agenda. He blames the Bush administration for having neglected the issue. But is his position really that different? And is he free to change foreign policy?