WEBVTT 00:01.166 --> 00:03.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - I'm left picturing Inspector Clouseau. 00:03.033 --> 00:05.100 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% - It is a little bit. 00:05.100 --> 00:06.900 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - I spend a good deal of time puzzling 00:06.900 --> 00:08.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% with the question of the Middle East. 00:08.633 --> 00:10.100 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% How do we find peace. 00:10.100 --> 00:11.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And in my own life, how do I find peace 00:11.500 --> 00:13.866 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% in relationship and the home. 00:13.866 --> 00:17.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% It seems there are parallels there. 00:17.100 --> 00:19.733 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% There is a great writer in the Middle East, Oz, 00:19.733 --> 00:22.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that wrote a small book called "Help Us To Divorce." 00:22.933 --> 00:25.133 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And it seems that in all five regions of the world, 00:25.133 --> 00:28.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% that you described, managing differences is 00:28.166 --> 00:30.733 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% at the core of the reaction that's going on. 00:30.733 --> 00:32.233 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Can you speak to that? 00:32.233 --> 00:33.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - Well, you're referring to Amos Oz 00:33.700 --> 00:35.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% who's a brilliant Israeli writer, 00:35.566 --> 00:39.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% probably the greatest living Israeli novelist now, I guess. 00:41.666 --> 00:44.033 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% I was interviewing him once 00:44.033 --> 00:46.266 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% and he said something to me that was so profound. 00:46.266 --> 00:49.133 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% He said "Here's the difference between Americans 00:49.133 --> 00:51.166 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% "and the rest of humanity." 00:51.166 --> 00:55.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And he said, "You Americans believe that dialogue, 00:55.433 --> 00:57.000 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% "that breaking bread together, 00:57.000 --> 01:00.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% "will help you overcome differences." 01:00.166 --> 01:01.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Most of the rest of the world, we know that-- 01:01.866 --> 01:04.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% It's not that we don't understand each other, 01:04.033 --> 01:05.200 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% that's the problem. 01:05.200 --> 01:06.900 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% It's that we do understand each other. 01:06.900 --> 01:10.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And that talking actually highlights 01:10.566 --> 01:12.633 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% irreconcilable differences. 01:12.633 --> 01:15.066 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Which comes to, it's a cynical 01:15.066 --> 01:17.100 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% or depressing kind of view. 01:17.100 --> 01:19.166 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% But, using the Middle East, 01:19.166 --> 01:22.966 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% using the Israeli-Palestinian dispute as an example, 01:22.966 --> 01:25.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% are there Palestinians and Israelis who are living 01:25.433 --> 01:29.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% on the same plane of reality absorption 01:29.233 --> 01:31.300 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% and can figure out a way 01:31.300 --> 01:34.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% to have a divorce built around real estate? 01:34.200 --> 01:35.666 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% Yes. 01:35.666 --> 01:37.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Are there people who, if you put them 01:37.300 --> 01:39.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in the same room and said, "No, just have a meal together 01:39.400 --> 01:40.700 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% "and you'll figure this out," 01:40.700 --> 01:42.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% would end up trying to stab each other 01:42.066 --> 01:43.166 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% with the butter knives? 01:43.166 --> 01:45.066 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Yeah, because they believe that 01:45.066 --> 01:47.433 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% in their view of perfection, 01:47.433 --> 01:48.900 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% perfection doesn't allow for the existence 01:48.900 --> 01:50.133 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% of the other person. 01:50.133 --> 01:51.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And you're not going to change it. 01:51.400 --> 01:55.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% The American civic religion is solutionism. 01:55.066 --> 01:57.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% There's a problem, and every problem comes 01:57.133 --> 01:59.266 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% with a solution. 01:59.266 --> 02:01.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% That's why, in my humble opinion, 02:01.000 --> 02:02.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% this is the greatest nation on earth, 02:02.633 --> 02:04.466 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% because we just fix things. 02:04.466 --> 02:06.000 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% We just, we just tackle them. 02:06.000 --> 02:07.266 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% We always get, you know-- 02:07.266 --> 02:09.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% It's bumpy and we make terrible mistakes, 02:09.200 --> 02:11.766 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% but we're on a constant trajectory 02:11.766 --> 02:14.166 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% towards something better. 02:14.166 --> 02:16.033 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% It doesn't always work that way. 02:16.033 --> 02:18.266 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% To come back to your original point, 02:18.266 --> 02:21.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% divorce, amicable divorce, or sort of just 02:21.666 --> 02:25.333 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% an enforcable divorce, in a lot of parts of the world is-- 02:25.333 --> 02:26.400 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% It's not idealistic. 02:26.400 --> 02:28.533 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% It's not we shall overcome. 02:30.000 --> 02:32.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I tend to think that the Israelis and the Palestinians 02:32.166 --> 02:34.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% need a divorce for 50 or 100 years. 02:34.500 --> 02:37.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And they need to heal, get healed. 02:37.633 --> 02:39.233 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And then who knows what the Middle East 02:39.233 --> 02:41.133 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% would look like in 150 years? 02:41.133 --> 02:42.800 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% God knows. 02:42.800 --> 02:46.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% But it's not a great, grand vision, 02:46.633 --> 02:48.033 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% but I think divorce is sometimes 02:48.033 --> 02:50.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% the best thing you could hope for. 02:50.000 --> 02:51.366 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% - Good. 02:51.366 --> 02:52.800 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% Ma'am. 02:52.800 --> 02:55.366 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% - Kind of an unformed question, but just wondering-- 02:55.366 --> 02:56.633 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% - [Jeff] I have unformed answers 02:56.633 --> 02:57.566 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% (laughter) 02:57.566 --> 02:59.166 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% - Good. 02:59.166 --> 03:01.766 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% What women in the Muslim world, 03:01.766 --> 03:03.633 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% or that are going into ISIS-- 03:03.633 --> 03:07.766 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Are they just so put down and not... 03:07.766 --> 03:10.733 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% What's happening with the women aspect of, 03:10.733 --> 03:12.133 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% that could help with this? 03:12.133 --> 03:13.400 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And then, just a second part. 03:13.400 --> 03:15.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Do you have any clue of what Obama will want 03:15.533 --> 03:19.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% to focus on when he's not a president? 03:19.400 --> 03:23.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% - Women in ISIS is one of the strangest phenomenons. 03:23.600 --> 03:25.000 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% I don't know enough about it, 03:25.000 --> 03:29.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% except to know that it's teenagers. 03:29.966 --> 03:31.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Teenagers are very impressionable. 03:31.633 --> 03:36.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% They're sold a certain thing through social media. 03:36.233 --> 03:37.800 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% There's a romance associated with going 03:37.800 --> 03:40.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to ISIS territory and becoming part of this Jihad. 03:40.900 --> 03:42.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - You're talking about women in the Middle East 03:42.700 --> 03:44.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% becoming part of ISIS? 03:44.066 --> 03:46.900 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Or, like the young, even young Americans? 03:46.900 --> 03:48.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - I'm talking young Brits, young French, 03:48.400 --> 03:49.666 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% who are going. 03:49.666 --> 03:50.933 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% On the broader question, 03:50.933 --> 03:52.400 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% and this is, by the way-- 03:52.400 --> 03:53.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% You ask a very important question 03:53.933 --> 03:56.633 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% because the President has his view very profoundly. 03:56.633 --> 03:59.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And I quote him in the story as saying-- 03:59.300 --> 04:01.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And this is why he's become somewhat fatalistic 04:01.233 --> 04:02.966 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% about the Middle East. 04:02.966 --> 04:05.533 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% He says, "Any society," 04:05.533 --> 04:07.466 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and here I think he's thinking about Saudi Arabia, 04:07.466 --> 04:09.566 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% but this goes much broader than Saudi Arabia. 04:09.566 --> 04:12.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% "Any society in which half of your population 04:12.033 --> 04:13.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% "is disenfranchised and marginalized 04:13.400 --> 04:16.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% "will never be a successful society." 04:16.100 --> 04:18.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And his perspective, I don't know 04:18.100 --> 04:19.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% if you consider this a feministic perspective 04:19.533 --> 04:21.433 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% or just a realistic perspective. 04:21.433 --> 04:26.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% His perspective is, until half of your brain power 04:26.433 --> 04:28.700 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% in a society is actually used, 04:28.700 --> 04:31.966 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and until women are given the opportunity to rise, 04:31.966 --> 04:34.066 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% you're always going to have a dysfunctional society. 04:34.066 --> 04:36.566 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And this is why, going to this kind of ruthless pragmatism, 04:36.566 --> 04:38.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% he knows that there are things that America can do. 04:38.600 --> 04:41.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% America can try to stop the Chinese navy 04:41.700 --> 04:45.366 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% from interfering with Filipino shipping, right? 04:45.366 --> 04:47.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% That's something that a president can do. 04:47.133 --> 04:48.300 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% He knows that a president cannot 04:48.300 --> 04:50.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% make Saudi Arabia treat women better. 04:50.933 --> 04:53.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And so, you kind of put that on the side, 04:53.000 --> 04:56.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% and you assume that, over generations, 04:56.033 --> 04:57.600 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% if history has this direction, 04:57.600 --> 05:00.266 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% then it'll move in that direction. 05:00.266 --> 05:04.633 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But I think the biggest issue in the Middle East is-- 05:04.633 --> 05:06.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% The single biggest issue is ultimately 05:06.000 --> 05:07.433 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% the treatment of women. 05:07.433 --> 05:09.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Until you actually solve that in a way 05:09.933 --> 05:12.000 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% that makes it resemble more-- 05:12.000 --> 05:15.000 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% It doesn't have to resemble every aspect of our life, here, 05:15.000 --> 05:17.200 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% but then you're just going to have dysfunction. 05:17.200 --> 05:18.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - Doesn't that seem to be an issue on which 05:18.966 --> 05:20.933 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% even the two parties in America, 05:20.933 --> 05:23.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% which can't agree on whether the sun is up or down, 05:23.400 --> 05:25.066 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% could agree on? 05:25.066 --> 05:27.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Isn't there some sense, here, that, 05:27.500 --> 05:32.300 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% if we could affect the plight of women 05:32.300 --> 05:35.600 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% in the Middle East, not just in ISIS, but more broadly 05:35.600 --> 05:37.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% where rights are not what they are in this country, 05:37.700 --> 05:39.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% that we should be doing something? 05:39.533 --> 05:40.666 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% - I think we are. 05:40.666 --> 05:42.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% I mean, you see this on the margins. 05:42.166 --> 05:43.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - [Host] It's not a controversial issue. 05:43.700 --> 05:45.033 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% - No, no, it's not. 05:45.033 --> 05:47.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% It's certainly not controversial, I don't think. 05:47.400 --> 05:51.100 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Yes, there is misogyny in portions of America, obviously, 05:51.100 --> 05:53.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% but it's not misogyny of the sort of, you know, 05:53.666 --> 05:56.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% "We're gonna whip you if you go out of your house 05:56.133 --> 05:59.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% "without a male escort" level of misogyny. 05:59.400 --> 06:01.266 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% - This is one of those sort of feel-good exporting 06:01.266 --> 06:03.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% of democratic values, or the values of a democratic society. 06:03.933 --> 06:06.233 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% - But, it's a slow process, 06:06.233 --> 06:09.766 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% and you can't force cultural change on people. 06:09.766 --> 06:12.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% You know, as Americans, I think this is something 06:12.433 --> 06:15.000 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% that's very American. 06:15.000 --> 06:18.266 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% We believe that, basically, for all of the problems 06:18.266 --> 06:19.533 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% that we have, we believe 06:19.533 --> 06:22.833 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% that we have a pretty good thing going here. 06:22.833 --> 06:24.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% A lot of things need fixing, but this is a-- 06:24.400 --> 06:27.100 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% We look at other people around the world, 06:27.100 --> 06:28.733 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% and sort of scratch our heads and go, 06:28.733 --> 06:30.266 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% "Why would you live like that, 06:30.266 --> 06:31.966 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% "when you could live like this?" 06:31.966 --> 06:34.900 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% But they do, and they have their reasons. 06:34.900 --> 06:37.766 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% I spent a lot of time in Afghanistan in the Taliban years. 06:37.766 --> 06:39.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% You'd kind of look around, and you'd go, 06:39.633 --> 06:41.333 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% "You know, it doesn't have to be this way." 06:41.333 --> 06:43.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% But there are certain people who like it that way. 06:43.700 --> 06:46.333 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% But it doesn't mean that you stop working. 06:46.333 --> 06:49.400 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Again, you can't do this stuff 06:49.400 --> 06:51.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% on four-year presidential cycles. 06:51.000 --> 06:52.500 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% These are generational problems. 06:52.500 --> 06:53.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% - Or even eight-years. 06:53.866 --> 06:56.866 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I think what you said about Israel is interesting. 06:56.866 --> 06:58.033 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Or some of the other things. 06:58.033 --> 06:59.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% You've got a limited amount of time, 06:59.700 --> 07:00.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% and you look at the list of things 07:00.966 --> 07:02.466 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% that you have on your plate, and you go, 07:02.466 --> 07:03.633 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% "I could affect some of these, 07:03.633 --> 07:05.266 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% "and I can't affect others of these. 07:05.266 --> 07:06.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% "I'm just going to have to pick." 07:06.500 --> 07:07.733 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% - Right, right. 07:07.733 --> 07:10.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% The cultural stuff, the religious stuff is 07:10.200 --> 07:12.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% much harder to move in a quick way 07:12.700 --> 07:14.033 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% than some of the-- 07:14.033 --> 07:15.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - [Host] Realistically, it's going to be 07:15.400 --> 07:17.000 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% lower down the list. 07:17.000 --> 07:20.733 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - Well, Michele Obama is going around educating. 07:20.733 --> 07:22.400 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% - That's huge. 07:22.400 --> 07:23.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% But don't expect-- 07:23.866 --> 07:26.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% We're also Americans, so we expect instant results 07:26.433 --> 07:29.333 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% and instant gratification. 07:29.333 --> 07:31.400 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Should we be bringing Muslim women here, 07:31.400 --> 07:33.433 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% for education? 07:33.433 --> 07:36.400 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Yeah, in huge numbers. 07:36.400 --> 07:38.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Should they go home a little bit unsettled 07:38.200 --> 07:39.700 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% about the conditions at home? 07:39.700 --> 07:41.066 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% Yeah. 07:41.066 --> 07:42.533 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Will that encourage people to bring more girls 07:42.533 --> 07:43.833 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% into education? 07:45.600 --> 07:47.233 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Over time, yeah, I hope. 07:47.233 --> 07:50.466 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% - But will the world be fixed by this well-meaning effort? 07:50.466 --> 07:52.733 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% If at all, it's going to take a long time. 07:52.733 --> 07:54.266 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - No, no, see you have a short-term problem 07:54.266 --> 07:55.666 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% of ISIS and a long-term problem 07:55.666 --> 07:57.500 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% of fixing this stuff. 07:57.500 --> 07:59.466 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% - We'll get one more. 08:00.800 --> 08:02.833 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% - Okay, one very quick comment and then a question. 08:02.833 --> 08:04.866 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% You all spoke about the fact that the Arab Spring 08:04.866 --> 08:06.933 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% kind of showed Obama that Israel and Palestine 08:06.933 --> 08:09.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% don't actually matter all that much. 08:09.166 --> 08:10.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And the comment is that, I think it's interesting. 08:10.900 --> 08:12.600 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% My father's actually Lebanese. 08:12.600 --> 08:14.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% One of his defenses for Bashar al-Assad, 08:14.566 --> 08:16.466 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% at least in the early days in the Syrian civil war was, 08:16.466 --> 08:18.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% he's the only one who will stand up to Israel. 08:18.566 --> 08:21.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I think a lot of people still say that in the Arab world. 08:21.166 --> 08:23.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Assad was, apparently, had paid some activist 08:23.566 --> 08:25.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% to rush the Israeli border in order to distract 08:25.166 --> 08:26.566 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% from his war, at one point. 08:26.566 --> 08:28.300 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% That's just a comment. 08:28.300 --> 08:30.800 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Related to that, I think with the Arab Spring 08:30.800 --> 08:32.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% and the rise of ISIS and all of this, 08:32.133 --> 08:33.333 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% a lot of attention has been drawn away 08:33.333 --> 08:35.366 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% from Israel-Palestine. 08:35.366 --> 08:36.766 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Currently, you know, there's this rash 08:36.766 --> 08:40.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% of stabbings and more and more brinkmanship 08:40.000 --> 08:41.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% between the Israelis and Palestinians 08:41.433 --> 08:43.800 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that is really kind of rising into the Third Entifada 08:43.800 --> 08:45.266 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% or something like that. 08:45.266 --> 08:47.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The biggest wave of violence we've seen in recent years. 08:47.400 --> 08:48.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Just the other day, there was this instant 08:48.933 --> 08:50.833 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% where an Israeli soldier shot a wounded Palestinian. 08:50.833 --> 08:52.033 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% on the ground. 08:52.033 --> 08:53.466 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% That's just going to lead to more incitement. 08:53.466 --> 08:56.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So do you see a more hot war developing there, 08:56.166 --> 08:58.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% that could have some large consequences 08:58.033 --> 08:59.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% because we're not paying attention to it? 08:59.666 --> 09:00.900 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% - Right, right. 09:00.900 --> 09:02.300 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Let me be clear. 09:02.300 --> 09:05.066 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I think that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 09:05.066 --> 09:08.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% is important for the sake of that conflict. 09:08.533 --> 09:11.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And you're also right that if it got worse, 09:11.966 --> 09:15.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% the spill-over could be enormous. 09:15.966 --> 09:20.333 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% But, compared to raw death toll, 09:20.333 --> 09:23.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% or sort of raw instability measures, 09:23.533 --> 09:26.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Syria is probably the greatest cataclysm, 09:26.200 --> 09:27.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% one of the great cataclysms since World War II 09:27.900 --> 09:29.300 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% at this point. 09:29.300 --> 09:32.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% By the way, your first point is very interesting. 09:32.400 --> 09:33.933 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% 4,000 Palestinians have been killed 09:33.933 --> 09:36.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% by the Assad regime since this war started. 09:36.433 --> 09:37.633 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% 4,000. 09:37.633 --> 09:39.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - [Man at the Mic] And how many Syrians? 09:39.000 --> 09:41.833 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% - Maybe half a million. 09:41.833 --> 09:44.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And no one seems to care about the fact 09:44.633 --> 09:46.666 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% that Assad is slaughtering Palestinians. 09:46.666 --> 09:51.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% It's a very interesting sort of hierarchy of-- 09:52.100 --> 09:54.700 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% There's outrage when X kills Y, 09:54.700 --> 09:56.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% but not when Y kills Z. 09:56.066 --> 09:58.700 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% It's a very strange thing. 09:58.700 --> 09:59.933 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% On your broader point, yeah, 09:59.933 --> 10:01.533 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% I'd have to agree with you. 10:01.533 --> 10:03.900 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I think American presidents are always tempted 10:03.900 --> 10:05.733 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% to try to fix that problem. 10:05.733 --> 10:08.733 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% Because it is one of our civilizational super stories. 10:08.733 --> 10:10.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Right? Bringing the children of Abraham 10:10.166 --> 10:12.600 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% back together again is a huge-- 10:12.600 --> 10:14.800 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% You don't get that same kind of poetic justice 10:14.800 --> 10:17.633 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% out of fixing Nagorno-Karabakh, or something, right? 10:17.633 --> 10:21.133 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% There's no romance to it. 10:21.133 --> 10:23.366 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% I would have to say that your analysis is correct. 10:23.366 --> 10:26.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% If it gets worse, just because we tend 10:26.433 --> 10:28.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% to pay more attention to it anyway, 10:28.633 --> 10:30.966 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% we would have to intervene in a more direct way. 10:30.966 --> 10:33.866 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% And, I tend to think, this is-- 10:33.866 --> 10:35.700 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Again, I didn't come here to defend Obama, 10:35.700 --> 10:37.800 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% but I think Obama understands something 10:37.800 --> 10:40.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% that both Netanyahu, to a great degree, 10:40.000 --> 10:42.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% and also Abbas, that you really don't get. 10:42.066 --> 10:44.466 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% That the status quo is not sustainable. 10:44.466 --> 10:46.633 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% You can't just keep going down this road forever 10:46.633 --> 10:49.066 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% without having really, really bad effects. 10:49.066 --> 10:50.766 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So what Obama's been trying, unsuccessfully, 10:50.766 --> 10:53.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% to do is push, particularly Netanyahu, 10:53.000 --> 10:56.600 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% but also Abbas to sort of say, figure this out 10:56.600 --> 10:58.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% while there's still time, before you hit 10:58.566 --> 11:00.333 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% some level of catastrophic violence 11:00.333 --> 11:02.266 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% that you're referring to. 11:02.266 --> 11:04.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% - And then on top of that, if I can make one more comment. 11:04.166 --> 11:06.200 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% If there's the risk of the war spilling 11:06.200 --> 11:08.433 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% into Lebanon, that actually could be much worse 11:08.433 --> 11:09.900 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% this time compared to 2006. 11:09.900 --> 11:11.266 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% For people that don't know the geography, 11:11.266 --> 11:13.333 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Syria, basically, hugs Lebanon. 11:13.333 --> 11:15.366 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% So people have nowhere to go besides Syria, 11:15.366 --> 11:16.700 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% which isn't-- 11:16.700 --> 11:17.733 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% - So you're actually right. 11:17.733 --> 11:20.433 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% The big nightmare is one big war 11:20.433 --> 11:22.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% that stretches from Iraq all the way 11:22.666 --> 11:26.733 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% through Syria, Jordan, Lebanon 11:26.733 --> 11:28.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% and then down into Israel and even Gaza. 11:28.666 --> 11:30.966 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And, of course, the Sinai is under the control of ISIS. 11:30.966 --> 11:34.833 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% You could imagine a conflagration like that, 11:34.833 --> 11:39.800 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% where it's one chess game, but on eight different levels. 11:39.800 --> 11:42.133 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% It's sort of a 3D chess board. 11:42.133 --> 11:43.866 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% That is a nightmare. 11:43.866 --> 11:45.433 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% This is where the critique, by the way, 11:45.433 --> 11:48.000 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% of the President can come in. 11:48.000 --> 11:49.366 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Is that, only the U.S. has the power 11:49.366 --> 11:52.500 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% to shape Middle Eastern reality, 11:52.500 --> 11:54.133 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% and you didn't do enough to shape it 11:54.133 --> 11:55.800 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% before it became a catalysm. 11:55.800 --> 11:57.666 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% - And that is or is not a legitimate observation? 11:57.666 --> 11:59.000 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - I think it's a legitimate observation. 11:59.000 --> 12:01.400 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% It's not a solvable question, 12:01.400 --> 12:03.533 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% because he'll say, "No, you're wrong, 12:03.533 --> 12:04.766 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% "and here's why." 12:04.766 --> 12:06.366 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% And I'll say, "No, I'm right, and here's why." 12:06.366 --> 12:09.333 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% But we're all playing in theory. 12:09.333 --> 12:10.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% - Steve is telling me we've got to stop. 12:10.566 --> 12:13.066 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% We have a hard out today. 12:13.066 --> 12:14.633 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Jeff Goldberg was great to give us some 12:14.633 --> 12:15.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% of his time while he was in town. 12:15.966 --> 12:17.300 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Hopefully we'll get him back. 12:17.300 --> 12:18.333 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% (applause) 12:18.333 --> 12:19.700 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% - Thank you very much. 12:19.700 --> 12:20.766 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% I had a great time. 12:20.766 --> 12:22.433 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% (applause)