September 26,
2002
Ambassador
Robert B. Oakley, Fellow,
Institute for National Strategic Studies, National
Defense University.
Ambassador Robert B.
Oakley, Director of Peacekeeping Operations at the
National Defense University briefed the ELF members on
"The United States Policy Toward the Middle East." As
one of the leading experts on the Middle East, [He
retired from the United States Foreign Service in
September 1991 after 34 years, and served as the
special envoy of Bush and Clinton in Somalia in 1996
and 1997] the Ambassador presented an excellent
analysis of the Iraqi and the Israeli-Palestine
crises. He started his lecture by offering a
contemporary historical and geographical background of
the Middle East. Next, he analyzed the
differences between President Clinton’s and President
Bush’s Middle East Policy. He concluded with a strong
warning that both the Iraqi and the Israeli-Palestine
crises could lead to de-stabilization of the region if
not properly handled; and in his opinion, the problems
of the region should be solved only by
political/diplomatic means.
