1 00:00:01,166 --> 00:00:03,033 - I'm left picturing Inspector Clouseau. 2 00:00:03,033 --> 00:00:05,100 - It is a little bit. 3 00:00:05,100 --> 00:00:06,900 - I spend a good deal of time puzzling 4 00:00:06,900 --> 00:00:08,633 with the question of the Middle East. 5 00:00:08,633 --> 00:00:10,100 How do we find peace. 6 00:00:10,100 --> 00:00:11,500 And in my own life, how do I find peace 7 00:00:11,500 --> 00:00:13,866 in relationship and the home. 8 00:00:13,866 --> 00:00:17,100 It seems there are parallels there. 9 00:00:17,100 --> 00:00:19,733 There is a great writer in the Middle East, Oz, 10 00:00:19,733 --> 00:00:22,933 that wrote a small book called "Help Us To Divorce." 11 00:00:22,933 --> 00:00:25,133 And it seems that in all five regions of the world, 12 00:00:25,133 --> 00:00:28,166 that you described, managing differences is 13 00:00:28,166 --> 00:00:30,733 at the core of the reaction that's going on. 14 00:00:30,733 --> 00:00:32,233 Can you speak to that? 15 00:00:32,233 --> 00:00:33,700 - Well, you're referring to Amos Oz 16 00:00:33,700 --> 00:00:35,566 who's a brilliant Israeli writer, 17 00:00:35,566 --> 00:00:39,433 probably the greatest living Israeli novelist now, I guess. 18 00:00:41,666 --> 00:00:44,033 I was interviewing him once 19 00:00:44,033 --> 00:00:46,266 and he said something to me that was so profound. 20 00:00:46,266 --> 00:00:49,133 He said "Here's the difference between Americans 21 00:00:49,133 --> 00:00:51,166 "and the rest of humanity." 22 00:00:51,166 --> 00:00:55,433 And he said, "You Americans believe that dialogue, 23 00:00:55,433 --> 00:00:57,000 "that breaking bread together, 24 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,166 "will help you overcome differences." 25 00:01:00,166 --> 00:01:01,866 Most of the rest of the world, we know that-- 26 00:01:01,866 --> 00:01:04,033 It's not that we don't understand each other, 27 00:01:04,033 --> 00:01:05,200 that's the problem. 28 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:06,900 It's that we do understand each other. 29 00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:10,566 And that talking actually highlights 30 00:01:10,566 --> 00:01:12,633 irreconcilable differences. 31 00:01:12,633 --> 00:01:15,066 Which comes to, it's a cynical 32 00:01:15,066 --> 00:01:17,100 or depressing kind of view. 33 00:01:17,100 --> 00:01:19,166 But, using the Middle East, 34 00:01:19,166 --> 00:01:22,966 using the Israeli-Palestinian dispute as an example, 35 00:01:22,966 --> 00:01:25,433 are there Palestinians and Israelis who are living 36 00:01:25,433 --> 00:01:29,233 on the same plane of reality absorption 37 00:01:29,233 --> 00:01:31,300 and can figure out a way 38 00:01:31,300 --> 00:01:34,200 to have a divorce built around real estate? 39 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:35,666 Yes. 40 00:01:35,666 --> 00:01:37,300 Are there people who, if you put them 41 00:01:37,300 --> 00:01:39,400 in the same room and said, "No, just have a meal together 42 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:40,700 "and you'll figure this out," 43 00:01:40,700 --> 00:01:42,066 would end up trying to stab each other 44 00:01:42,066 --> 00:01:43,166 with the butter knives? 45 00:01:43,166 --> 00:01:45,066 Yeah, because they believe that 46 00:01:45,066 --> 00:01:47,433 in their view of perfection, 47 00:01:47,433 --> 00:01:48,900 perfection doesn't allow for the existence 48 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:50,133 of the other person. 49 00:01:50,133 --> 00:01:51,400 And you're not going to change it. 50 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,066 The American civic religion is solutionism. 51 00:01:55,066 --> 00:01:57,133 There's a problem, and every problem comes 52 00:01:57,133 --> 00:01:59,266 with a solution. 53 00:01:59,266 --> 00:02:01,000 That's why, in my humble opinion, 54 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:02,633 this is the greatest nation on earth, 55 00:02:02,633 --> 00:02:04,466 because we just fix things. 56 00:02:04,466 --> 00:02:06,000 We just, we just tackle them. 57 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:07,266 We always get, you know-- 58 00:02:07,266 --> 00:02:09,200 It's bumpy and we make terrible mistakes, 59 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,766 but we're on a constant trajectory 60 00:02:11,766 --> 00:02:14,166 towards something better. 61 00:02:14,166 --> 00:02:16,033 It doesn't always work that way. 62 00:02:16,033 --> 00:02:18,266 To come back to your original point, 63 00:02:18,266 --> 00:02:21,666 divorce, amicable divorce, or sort of just 64 00:02:21,666 --> 00:02:25,333 an enforcable divorce, in a lot of parts of the world is-- 65 00:02:25,333 --> 00:02:26,400 It's not idealistic. 66 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,533 It's not we shall overcome. 67 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,166 I tend to think that the Israelis and the Palestinians 68 00:02:32,166 --> 00:02:34,500 need a divorce for 50 or 100 years. 69 00:02:34,500 --> 00:02:37,633 And they need to heal, get healed. 70 00:02:37,633 --> 00:02:39,233 And then who knows what the Middle East 71 00:02:39,233 --> 00:02:41,133 would look like in 150 years? 72 00:02:41,133 --> 00:02:42,800 God knows. 73 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,633 But it's not a great, grand vision, 74 00:02:46,633 --> 00:02:48,033 but I think divorce is sometimes 75 00:02:48,033 --> 00:02:50,000 the best thing you could hope for. 76 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:51,366 - Good. 77 00:02:51,366 --> 00:02:52,800 Ma'am. 78 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,366 - Kind of an unformed question, but just wondering-- 79 00:02:55,366 --> 00:02:56,633 - [Jeff] I have unformed answers 80 00:02:56,633 --> 00:02:57,566 (laughter) 81 00:02:57,566 --> 00:02:59,166 - Good. 82 00:02:59,166 --> 00:03:01,766 What women in the Muslim world, 83 00:03:01,766 --> 00:03:03,633 or that are going into ISIS-- 84 00:03:03,633 --> 00:03:07,766 Are they just so put down and not... 85 00:03:07,766 --> 00:03:10,733 What's happening with the women aspect of, 86 00:03:10,733 --> 00:03:12,133 that could help with this? 87 00:03:12,133 --> 00:03:13,400 And then, just a second part. 88 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,533 Do you have any clue of what Obama will want 89 00:03:15,533 --> 00:03:19,400 to focus on when he's not a president? 90 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,600 - Women in ISIS is one of the strangest phenomenons. 91 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:25,000 I don't know enough about it, 92 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,966 except to know that it's teenagers. 93 00:03:29,966 --> 00:03:31,633 Teenagers are very impressionable. 94 00:03:31,633 --> 00:03:36,233 They're sold a certain thing through social media. 95 00:03:36,233 --> 00:03:37,800 There's a romance associated with going 96 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,900 to ISIS territory and becoming part of this Jihad. 97 00:03:40,900 --> 00:03:42,700 - You're talking about women in the Middle East 98 00:03:42,700 --> 00:03:44,066 becoming part of ISIS? 99 00:03:44,066 --> 00:03:46,900 Or, like the young, even young Americans? 100 00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:48,400 - I'm talking young Brits, young French, 101 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:49,666 who are going. 102 00:03:49,666 --> 00:03:50,933 On the broader question, 103 00:03:50,933 --> 00:03:52,400 and this is, by the way-- 104 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:53,933 You ask a very important question 105 00:03:53,933 --> 00:03:56,633 because the President has his view very profoundly. 106 00:03:56,633 --> 00:03:59,300 And I quote him in the story as saying-- 107 00:03:59,300 --> 00:04:01,233 And this is why he's become somewhat fatalistic 108 00:04:01,233 --> 00:04:02,966 about the Middle East. 109 00:04:02,966 --> 00:04:05,533 He says, "Any society," 110 00:04:05,533 --> 00:04:07,466 and here I think he's thinking about Saudi Arabia, 111 00:04:07,466 --> 00:04:09,566 but this goes much broader than Saudi Arabia. 112 00:04:09,566 --> 00:04:12,033 "Any society in which half of your population 113 00:04:12,033 --> 00:04:13,400 "is disenfranchised and marginalized 114 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,100 "will never be a successful society." 115 00:04:16,100 --> 00:04:18,100 And his perspective, I don't know 116 00:04:18,100 --> 00:04:19,533 if you consider this a feministic perspective 117 00:04:19,533 --> 00:04:21,433 or just a realistic perspective. 118 00:04:21,433 --> 00:04:26,433 His perspective is, until half of your brain power 119 00:04:26,433 --> 00:04:28,700 in a society is actually used, 120 00:04:28,700 --> 00:04:31,966 and until women are given the opportunity to rise, 121 00:04:31,966 --> 00:04:34,066 you're always going to have a dysfunctional society. 122 00:04:34,066 --> 00:04:36,566 And this is why, going to this kind of ruthless pragmatism, 123 00:04:36,566 --> 00:04:38,600 he knows that there are things that America can do. 124 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,700 America can try to stop the Chinese navy 125 00:04:41,700 --> 00:04:45,366 from interfering with Filipino shipping, right? 126 00:04:45,366 --> 00:04:47,133 That's something that a president can do. 127 00:04:47,133 --> 00:04:48,300 He knows that a president cannot 128 00:04:48,300 --> 00:04:50,933 make Saudi Arabia treat women better. 129 00:04:50,933 --> 00:04:53,000 And so, you kind of put that on the side, 130 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,033 and you assume that, over generations, 131 00:04:56,033 --> 00:04:57,600 if history has this direction, 132 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:00,266 then it'll move in that direction. 133 00:05:00,266 --> 00:05:04,633 But I think the biggest issue in the Middle East is-- 134 00:05:04,633 --> 00:05:06,000 The single biggest issue is ultimately 135 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:07,433 the treatment of women. 136 00:05:07,433 --> 00:05:09,933 Until you actually solve that in a way 137 00:05:09,933 --> 00:05:12,000 that makes it resemble more-- 138 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,000 It doesn't have to resemble every aspect of our life, here, 139 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,200 but then you're just going to have dysfunction. 140 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:18,966 - Doesn't that seem to be an issue on which 141 00:05:18,966 --> 00:05:20,933 even the two parties in America, 142 00:05:20,933 --> 00:05:23,400 which can't agree on whether the sun is up or down, 143 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:25,066 could agree on? 144 00:05:25,066 --> 00:05:27,500 Isn't there some sense, here, that, 145 00:05:27,500 --> 00:05:32,300 if we could affect the plight of women 146 00:05:32,300 --> 00:05:35,600 in the Middle East, not just in ISIS, but more broadly 147 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:37,700 where rights are not what they are in this country, 148 00:05:37,700 --> 00:05:39,533 that we should be doing something? 149 00:05:39,533 --> 00:05:40,666 - I think we are. 150 00:05:40,666 --> 00:05:42,166 I mean, you see this on the margins. 151 00:05:42,166 --> 00:05:43,700 - [Host] It's not a controversial issue. 152 00:05:43,700 --> 00:05:45,033 - No, no, it's not. 153 00:05:45,033 --> 00:05:47,400 It's certainly not controversial, I don't think. 154 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,100 Yes, there is misogyny in portions of America, obviously, 155 00:05:51,100 --> 00:05:53,666 but it's not misogyny of the sort of, you know, 156 00:05:53,666 --> 00:05:56,133 "We're gonna whip you if you go out of your house 157 00:05:56,133 --> 00:05:59,400 "without a male escort" level of misogyny. 158 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:01,266 - This is one of those sort of feel-good exporting 159 00:06:01,266 --> 00:06:03,933 of democratic values, or the values of a democratic society. 160 00:06:03,933 --> 00:06:06,233 - But, it's a slow process, 161 00:06:06,233 --> 00:06:09,766 and you can't force cultural change on people. 162 00:06:09,766 --> 00:06:12,433 You know, as Americans, I think this is something 163 00:06:12,433 --> 00:06:15,000 that's very American. 164 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,266 We believe that, basically, for all of the problems 165 00:06:18,266 --> 00:06:19,533 that we have, we believe 166 00:06:19,533 --> 00:06:22,833 that we have a pretty good thing going here. 167 00:06:22,833 --> 00:06:24,400 A lot of things need fixing, but this is a-- 168 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,100 We look at other people around the world, 169 00:06:27,100 --> 00:06:28,733 and sort of scratch our heads and go, 170 00:06:28,733 --> 00:06:30,266 "Why would you live like that, 171 00:06:30,266 --> 00:06:31,966 "when you could live like this?" 172 00:06:31,966 --> 00:06:34,900 But they do, and they have their reasons. 173 00:06:34,900 --> 00:06:37,766 I spent a lot of time in Afghanistan in the Taliban years. 174 00:06:37,766 --> 00:06:39,633 You'd kind of look around, and you'd go, 175 00:06:39,633 --> 00:06:41,333 "You know, it doesn't have to be this way." 176 00:06:41,333 --> 00:06:43,700 But there are certain people who like it that way. 177 00:06:43,700 --> 00:06:46,333 But it doesn't mean that you stop working. 178 00:06:46,333 --> 00:06:49,400 Again, you can't do this stuff 179 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:51,000 on four-year presidential cycles. 180 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:52,500 These are generational problems. 181 00:06:52,500 --> 00:06:53,866 - Or even eight-years. 182 00:06:53,866 --> 00:06:56,866 I think what you said about Israel is interesting. 183 00:06:56,866 --> 00:06:58,033 Or some of the other things. 184 00:06:58,033 --> 00:06:59,700 You've got a limited amount of time, 185 00:06:59,700 --> 00:07:00,966 and you look at the list of things 186 00:07:00,966 --> 00:07:02,466 that you have on your plate, and you go, 187 00:07:02,466 --> 00:07:03,633 "I could affect some of these, 188 00:07:03,633 --> 00:07:05,266 "and I can't affect others of these. 189 00:07:05,266 --> 00:07:06,500 "I'm just going to have to pick." 190 00:07:06,500 --> 00:07:07,733 - Right, right. 191 00:07:07,733 --> 00:07:10,200 The cultural stuff, the religious stuff is 192 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:12,700 much harder to move in a quick way 193 00:07:12,700 --> 00:07:14,033 than some of the-- 194 00:07:14,033 --> 00:07:15,400 - [Host] Realistically, it's going to be 195 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,000 lower down the list. 196 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,733 - Well, Michele Obama is going around educating. 197 00:07:20,733 --> 00:07:22,400 - That's huge. 198 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:23,866 But don't expect-- 199 00:07:23,866 --> 00:07:26,433 We're also Americans, so we expect instant results 200 00:07:26,433 --> 00:07:29,333 and instant gratification. 201 00:07:29,333 --> 00:07:31,400 Should we be bringing Muslim women here, 202 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:33,433 for education? 203 00:07:33,433 --> 00:07:36,400 Yeah, in huge numbers. 204 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,200 Should they go home a little bit unsettled 205 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:39,700 about the conditions at home? 206 00:07:39,700 --> 00:07:41,066 Yeah. 207 00:07:41,066 --> 00:07:42,533 Will that encourage people to bring more girls 208 00:07:42,533 --> 00:07:43,833 into education? 209 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:47,233 Over time, yeah, I hope. 210 00:07:47,233 --> 00:07:50,466 - But will the world be fixed by this well-meaning effort? 211 00:07:50,466 --> 00:07:52,733 If at all, it's going to take a long time. 212 00:07:52,733 --> 00:07:54,266 - No, no, see you have a short-term problem 213 00:07:54,266 --> 00:07:55,666 of ISIS and a long-term problem 214 00:07:55,666 --> 00:07:57,500 of fixing this stuff. 215 00:07:57,500 --> 00:07:59,466 - We'll get one more. 216 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:02,833 - Okay, one very quick comment and then a question. 217 00:08:02,833 --> 00:08:04,866 You all spoke about the fact that the Arab Spring 218 00:08:04,866 --> 00:08:06,933 kind of showed Obama that Israel and Palestine 219 00:08:06,933 --> 00:08:09,166 don't actually matter all that much. 220 00:08:09,166 --> 00:08:10,900 And the comment is that, I think it's interesting. 221 00:08:10,900 --> 00:08:12,600 My father's actually Lebanese. 222 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,566 One of his defenses for Bashar al-Assad, 223 00:08:14,566 --> 00:08:16,466 at least in the early days in the Syrian civil war was, 224 00:08:16,466 --> 00:08:18,566 he's the only one who will stand up to Israel. 225 00:08:18,566 --> 00:08:21,166 I think a lot of people still say that in the Arab world. 226 00:08:21,166 --> 00:08:23,566 Assad was, apparently, had paid some activist 227 00:08:23,566 --> 00:08:25,166 to rush the Israeli border in order to distract 228 00:08:25,166 --> 00:08:26,566 from his war, at one point. 229 00:08:26,566 --> 00:08:28,300 That's just a comment. 230 00:08:28,300 --> 00:08:30,800 Related to that, I think with the Arab Spring 231 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:32,133 and the rise of ISIS and all of this, 232 00:08:32,133 --> 00:08:33,333 a lot of attention has been drawn away 233 00:08:33,333 --> 00:08:35,366 from Israel-Palestine. 234 00:08:35,366 --> 00:08:36,766 Currently, you know, there's this rash 235 00:08:36,766 --> 00:08:40,000 of stabbings and more and more brinkmanship 236 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:41,433 between the Israelis and Palestinians 237 00:08:41,433 --> 00:08:43,800 that is really kind of rising into the Third Entifada 238 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:45,266 or something like that. 239 00:08:45,266 --> 00:08:47,400 The biggest wave of violence we've seen in recent years. 240 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:48,933 Just the other day, there was this instant 241 00:08:48,933 --> 00:08:50,833 where an Israeli soldier shot a wounded Palestinian. 242 00:08:50,833 --> 00:08:52,033 on the ground. 243 00:08:52,033 --> 00:08:53,466 That's just going to lead to more incitement. 244 00:08:53,466 --> 00:08:56,166 So do you see a more hot war developing there, 245 00:08:56,166 --> 00:08:58,033 that could have some large consequences 246 00:08:58,033 --> 00:08:59,666 because we're not paying attention to it? 247 00:08:59,666 --> 00:09:00,900 - Right, right. 248 00:09:00,900 --> 00:09:02,300 Let me be clear. 249 00:09:02,300 --> 00:09:05,066 I think that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 250 00:09:05,066 --> 00:09:08,533 is important for the sake of that conflict. 251 00:09:08,533 --> 00:09:11,966 And you're also right that if it got worse, 252 00:09:11,966 --> 00:09:15,966 the spill-over could be enormous. 253 00:09:15,966 --> 00:09:20,333 But, compared to raw death toll, 254 00:09:20,333 --> 00:09:23,533 or sort of raw instability measures, 255 00:09:23,533 --> 00:09:26,200 Syria is probably the greatest cataclysm, 256 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:27,900 one of the great cataclysms since World War II 257 00:09:27,900 --> 00:09:29,300 at this point. 258 00:09:29,300 --> 00:09:32,400 By the way, your first point is very interesting. 259 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:33,933 4,000 Palestinians have been killed 260 00:09:33,933 --> 00:09:36,433 by the Assad regime since this war started. 261 00:09:36,433 --> 00:09:37,633 4,000. 262 00:09:37,633 --> 00:09:39,000 - [Man at the Mic] And how many Syrians? 263 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,833 - Maybe half a million. 264 00:09:41,833 --> 00:09:44,633 And no one seems to care about the fact 265 00:09:44,633 --> 00:09:46,666 that Assad is slaughtering Palestinians. 266 00:09:46,666 --> 00:09:51,166 It's a very interesting sort of hierarchy of-- 267 00:09:52,100 --> 00:09:54,700 There's outrage when X kills Y, 268 00:09:54,700 --> 00:09:56,066 but not when Y kills Z. 269 00:09:56,066 --> 00:09:58,700 It's a very strange thing. 270 00:09:58,700 --> 00:09:59,933 On your broader point, yeah, 271 00:09:59,933 --> 00:10:01,533 I'd have to agree with you. 272 00:10:01,533 --> 00:10:03,900 I think American presidents are always tempted 273 00:10:03,900 --> 00:10:05,733 to try to fix that problem. 274 00:10:05,733 --> 00:10:08,733 Because it is one of our civilizational super stories. 275 00:10:08,733 --> 00:10:10,166 Right? Bringing the children of Abraham 276 00:10:10,166 --> 00:10:12,600 back together again is a huge-- 277 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:14,800 You don't get that same kind of poetic justice 278 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,633 out of fixing Nagorno-Karabakh, or something, right? 279 00:10:17,633 --> 00:10:21,133 There's no romance to it. 280 00:10:21,133 --> 00:10:23,366 I would have to say that your analysis is correct. 281 00:10:23,366 --> 00:10:26,433 If it gets worse, just because we tend 282 00:10:26,433 --> 00:10:28,633 to pay more attention to it anyway, 283 00:10:28,633 --> 00:10:30,966 we would have to intervene in a more direct way. 284 00:10:30,966 --> 00:10:33,866 And, I tend to think, this is-- 285 00:10:33,866 --> 00:10:35,700 Again, I didn't come here to defend Obama, 286 00:10:35,700 --> 00:10:37,800 but I think Obama understands something 287 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,000 that both Netanyahu, to a great degree, 288 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,066 and also Abbas, that you really don't get. 289 00:10:42,066 --> 00:10:44,466 That the status quo is not sustainable. 290 00:10:44,466 --> 00:10:46,633 You can't just keep going down this road forever 291 00:10:46,633 --> 00:10:49,066 without having really, really bad effects. 292 00:10:49,066 --> 00:10:50,766 So what Obama's been trying, unsuccessfully, 293 00:10:50,766 --> 00:10:53,000 to do is push, particularly Netanyahu, 294 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,600 but also Abbas to sort of say, figure this out 295 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:58,566 while there's still time, before you hit 296 00:10:58,566 --> 00:11:00,333 some level of catastrophic violence 297 00:11:00,333 --> 00:11:02,266 that you're referring to. 298 00:11:02,266 --> 00:11:04,166 - And then on top of that, if I can make one more comment. 299 00:11:04,166 --> 00:11:06,200 If there's the risk of the war spilling 300 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,433 into Lebanon, that actually could be much worse 301 00:11:08,433 --> 00:11:09,900 this time compared to 2006. 302 00:11:09,900 --> 00:11:11,266 For people that don't know the geography, 303 00:11:11,266 --> 00:11:13,333 Syria, basically, hugs Lebanon. 304 00:11:13,333 --> 00:11:15,366 So people have nowhere to go besides Syria, 305 00:11:15,366 --> 00:11:16,700 which isn't-- 306 00:11:16,700 --> 00:11:17,733 - So you're actually right. 307 00:11:17,733 --> 00:11:20,433 The big nightmare is one big war 308 00:11:20,433 --> 00:11:22,666 that stretches from Iraq all the way 309 00:11:22,666 --> 00:11:26,733 through Syria, Jordan, Lebanon 310 00:11:26,733 --> 00:11:28,666 and then down into Israel and even Gaza. 311 00:11:28,666 --> 00:11:30,966 And, of course, the Sinai is under the control of ISIS. 312 00:11:30,966 --> 00:11:34,833 You could imagine a conflagration like that, 313 00:11:34,833 --> 00:11:39,800 where it's one chess game, but on eight different levels. 314 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,133 It's sort of a 3D chess board. 315 00:11:42,133 --> 00:11:43,866 That is a nightmare. 316 00:11:43,866 --> 00:11:45,433 This is where the critique, by the way, 317 00:11:45,433 --> 00:11:48,000 of the President can come in. 318 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:49,366 Is that, only the U.S. has the power 319 00:11:49,366 --> 00:11:52,500 to shape Middle Eastern reality, 320 00:11:52,500 --> 00:11:54,133 and you didn't do enough to shape it 321 00:11:54,133 --> 00:11:55,800 before it became a catalysm. 322 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:57,666 - And that is or is not a legitimate observation? 323 00:11:57,666 --> 00:11:59,000 - I think it's a legitimate observation. 324 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:01,400 It's not a solvable question, 325 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:03,533 because he'll say, "No, you're wrong, 326 00:12:03,533 --> 00:12:04,766 "and here's why." 327 00:12:04,766 --> 00:12:06,366 And I'll say, "No, I'm right, and here's why." 328 00:12:06,366 --> 00:12:09,333 But we're all playing in theory. 329 00:12:09,333 --> 00:12:10,566 - Steve is telling me we've got to stop. 330 00:12:10,566 --> 00:12:13,066 We have a hard out today. 331 00:12:13,066 --> 00:12:14,633 Jeff Goldberg was great to give us some 332 00:12:14,633 --> 00:12:15,966 of his time while he was in town. 333 00:12:15,966 --> 00:12:17,300 Hopefully we'll get him back. 334 00:12:17,300 --> 00:12:18,333 (applause) 335 00:12:18,333 --> 00:12:19,700 - Thank you very much. 336 00:12:19,700 --> 00:12:20,766 I had a great time. 337 00:12:20,766 --> 00:12:22,433 (applause)