speech in Cairo

The victory of a pro-western coalition in Lebanon’s election and the possibility of a win by moderate elements in Iran’s election (we should have the first results by the end of the weekend) will surely give rise to hope that change is coming to the Muslim world. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of an already fragile coalition, will further delve into the Middle East peace process with a major speech that isn’t expected to feature any major concessions by the Israeli government. Within a span of two weeks, then, the political landscape in the Middle East will have been modified, with two major elections, a landmark speech by Barack Obama in Cairo, and another by Netanyahu. Surely, a lot will be measured by the words spoken. But it would be cautious and wise to look behind those words before drawing any conclusions. History and actions will be the two most important factors in assessing whether there is any hope for peace in the short- or medium-term .