Baker, who served as White House chief of staff and secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration and then as secretary of state in the Bush administration from 1989 to 1992, offered his thoughts on the current state of the Arab-Israeli peace process and the eroding position of the United States as an honest broker under the Clinton administration. He summarized the wisdom garnered from his tenure as secretary of state by saying, When we are willing to act as a real honest broker for peace in the Middle East, chances for peace are enhanced. Baker criticized the Clinton administration for recently abandoning the U.S. government s long-standing position that Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are obstacles to peace, and instead dismissing them as merely complicating factors. It s a mistake to change the rules if you want to make progress, he said. We choose very carefully the words we use to describe problems because we believe that s the best way to promote progress in resolving those problems, Burns said.
Settlements are a complicating factor, and they re unhelpful in the Middle East peace negotiations.
When asked if he would be willing to lobby Congress for a more balanced U.S. role in the peace process, Baker responded, I ve already walked that walk. Following the keynote address, the rest of the day was broken up into four panel discussions, a briefing on the current state of the peace process by State Department special Middle East coordinator Dennis Ross, and a luncheon address by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. Copyright 1995-1999, American Educational Trust. All Rights Reserved.