By Ben Brown

Perhaps not enough people wished for world peace last Friday, 11/11/11, because, according to Peter Beinart, the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians is dead and the U.S. is in a tough spot.

This past Wednesday, November 16, the Associate Professor of Journalism and Political Science at The City University of New York spoke in the Kirby Hall of Civil Rights on the Israel-Palestine peace process, the sovereignty of the Israeli state and America’s role in the conflict. The author of two books, Beinart grimly reported on the state of the peace talks and how the U.S. may just be powerless.

Beinart affirmed that the peace process is doomed. “The structural conditions for it no longer apply,” he went on to say. “I think it is very unlikely, sadly, that the U.S. will be able to bring the parts back to those kind of negotiations anytime soon, maybe ever.”

President Barack Obama and the United States have yet to figure out how to work with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to keep negotiations going. These negotiations, Beinart contends, ought to run the same way they did under Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in the early 2000s and under Ehud Olmert at the end of 2008.

Essentially, negotiations are at a standstill because the U.S. has not been able to get the current Israeli government to negotiate along the same terms as previous administrations. To make matters worse, the Palestinians have virtually decided not to negotiate and have sought U.N. support.

And the U.S. is Israel’s only hope, as it is by far Israel’s strongest ally. Beinart proclaimed America “the only game in town,” because it’s the United States or no one else for Israel.

So what’s stopping the U.S. from playing the hero? The financial crisis has proved to be America’s kryptonite and is hindering the U.S. from supporting their Israeli allies.

But the prominence of the U.S. in these negotiations has diminished. European countries, according to Beinart, are less deferential to America than they used to be. Beinart mentioned a conversation he had with a friend regarding the Arab Spring.

He quoted his friend as saying, “The good news is the Middle East is having its 1989,” referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall. “The bad news is, we are the Soviets.” Authoritarian regimes have become reluctant to look to America and stay on good terms.

Turkey was mentioned as an example of countries that are less differential. Turkey, he claimed, is not concerned with staying in America’s good graces, but with its own national interests. Hence, it has developed a tough policy on Israel.

But rest assured — Beinart says Egypt will remain deferential to the U.S. and will not break its peace treaty with Israel. If Egypt were to go to war with Israel, however, Beinart said such a decision would be a foolish one.

So what can Israel do? The country must rely on Palestinian leadership to reduce terrorism to keep tensions at a minimum. Also, Israel’s greatest concern, said Beinart, should not be Iran getting a nuclear weapon, but thousands of Palestinians peacefully marching on Israel and advocating for Israeli citizenship.

“The Jewish state is the great test,” he concluded.