A True Meeting of Minds? : Washington arranges Hussein-Rabin summit

Peace in the Middle East is invariably, and somewhat euphemistically, described as a process. This is meant to suggest that everything needs to be looked at over the sands of time; that nothing ever happens quickly, unless, like the outbreak of war, it is for the worse. But now something indeed appears to be happening relatively quickly, and that is the progress of the Middle East peace process.

On Friday the President of the United States, with Secretary of State Warren Christopher at his side, was obviously proud to announce that agreement had been secured between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin and Jordan’s King Hussein for the two to meet in Washington in an attempt to begin to normalize relations between the two nations, still technically in a state of war.

The announcement wasn’t entirely unexpected, of course, but it was entirely welcome. The Jordanian monarch had said in Washington last month, after meetings with Clinton and Christopher, that he was prepared to plunge ahead with Israel no matter what the difficult President Hafez Assad of Syria did. Referring to Syria, Hussein said that Jordan’s position “is not linked to anything that may or may not happen on any other track,” and he emphasized that Damascus’ foot-dragging would not interfere with Jordan’s pursuit of its vital national interests.

What’s clear now is that the Palestinians are not the only ones who see that pursuing peace is what’s in their interests. Of course the great Egyptian President Anwar Sadat realized that in 1979, when he signed the Camp David treaty between Egypt and Israel. But few leaders, before or afterward, could hold a candle to his visionary statesmanship.

That’s why the active involvement of the United States has always been crucial. Washington is both the available broker and ultimate guarantor, officially or not, of whatever shape peace is to take. And over the years America has seen its secretaries of state--from Henry Kissinger to Cyrus Vance to George Shultz to James Baker to Warren Christopher--take an active role, behind the scenes or not.

For Christopher, Friday’s announcement must have been an enjoyable, if temporary, respite from the din of media criticism that his stewardship has been getting. In truth, primary responsibility for American foreign policy lies with the President, as commander in chief. Whatever the policy flaws, all can hardly be laid at the feet of the secretary. Neither can the Administration’s successes. But Christopher, like his predecessors, now deserves a moment of appreciation. Even his worst critics would agree that he is a gifted, dogged negotiator. There was obviously a lot of very hard work behind the Rabin-Hussein agreement to meet in Washington. And it looks to be paying off.