Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

On this edition of Parallax Views, retired diplomat Patrick Theros, who served as the United States Ambassador to Qatar from 1995 to 1998 and is currently a Strategic Adviser for Gulf International Forum, joins the show to discuss Israel/Palestine and the war in Gaza from a diplomat's perspective and his Responsible Statecraft piece "Who’s the superpower around here?". We discuss what Biden must do in this situation not just for the sake of Palestinians, but also Israelis. Theros argues that if a President isn't willing to take the risk of making difficult decisions then what is the point of being President. He also laments the lack of diplomatic thought in approaching the Middle East arguing that you have to understand the perspective of the various players in the region and in many cases people do not do this. We also discuss how the GCC Gulf states have responded to the Gaza war, Iran in relation to the Gaza war, actions of past presidents like Eisenhower and HW Bush in regard to Israel/Palestine, Bill Clinton and Camp David 2000 (and the often repeated but contested claim that Arafat turned down a fair and generous offer), and much, much more.