It's been just over a week since I returned from accompanying President Bush on his historic voyage to the Middle East. Although the road ahead is long, I'm encouraged by what might be possible to achieve -- with a lot of work and cooperation on all sides.

It was an extremely busy trip. Tel Aviv was our first stop on January 9. The Israeli welcoming ceremony was very colorful, complete with red carpet and "The Star-Spangled Banner” playing in the background. President Bush met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres…

President Bush went to the Middle East recently to help advance peace talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Olmert. Between Tuesday and Friday last week, Hamas fired more than 150 rockets at Israel from Gaza. Israel responded with both limited military actions and cutoffs of supplies to Gaza.

If everyone says they want peace, why is it so difficult to stop the fighting and reach an agreement?

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Sudan:  UN Hopes To Restore Stability, Refugees Still Miserable in Camps
Posted by Rebecca Jovin on Jan 23, 2008 - 09:38 AM

Rebecca Jovin, a member of the Sudan Programs Group for the U.S. Department of State, writes about her recent visit to Sudan.

I just returned from Darfur where I was following up on the January 1 transfer of about $40 million in U.S. Government equipment to the new UN peacekeeping force known as UNAMID.

There is a lot of activity these days in El Fasher, North Darfur's remote, dusty capital. In fact, the once-sleepy city of about 200,000 is booming: new hotels and houses are being built all around town, the downtown market is growing and they're putting street lights along the main road. UNAMID's presence in town remains limited, but it's clear everybody expects a surge of people over the coming weeks and months. UN Resolution 1769, which established the peacekeeping force last July, calls for…

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Foreign Service Officers Make America Safer—At Home and Abroad
Posted by Matt Rooney on Jan 18, 2008 - 09:51 AM

Matt Rooney serves as Deputy Director of the Office of Economic Policy and Summit Coordination in the State Department's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

It was a perfect Southern California day -- perfect to give something back. About 50 of the senior-most officials working in Washington and at U.S. Embassies in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America to promote U.S. economic interests in the Western Hemisphere met last week in San Diego to study the latest trends in the region and coordinate the U.S. approach to our partner governments and the public. We had all watched the news of the recent wildfires in the San Diego area with concern, and we were delighted when the City of Escondido invited us to help with the recovery effort by filling sandbags for low-income homeowners threatened…

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Making the Most of “the Surge” in Iraq
Posted by John Matel on Jan 17, 2008 - 01:42 PM

John Matel serves as Team Leader of the Al Asad Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team in Iraq.

Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) declared Ramadi the capital of their caliphate in Iraq. That was only about eighteen months ago. Today Ramadi is the capital of resurgent Al Anbar, with thriving markets, internet cafes and restaurants. Maj. General Gaskin, who commands CF in Al Anbar, has said that the province is ready to be handed back to the Iraqis in March. He added that when he arrived less than a year ago, he never expected it to happen this fast. The turnover does not mean that the violence is over or that all our forces will all leave, but it does mean that the Iraqi police and security forces will be doing most of the day-to-day work of keeping Iraqis safe and it is incredible to anybody who knew this place last…

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