Any attempt to negotiate a final-status deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians soon will likely fail, as similar efForts have in the past. Rather than pursuing a comprehensive peace, the two parties should sign a provisional agreement that establishes a Palestinian state within temporary armistice boundaries. Without it, the Palestinians may abandon the idea of a two-state solution altogether

The United States and India no longer face any of the principal obstacles that once constrained U.S.-Indian cooperation. But the future scope of their relationship is uncertain. It will depend on whether India chooses to align with the United States and whether it sustains its own economic and social changes, and on what policies Washington pursues in those áreas that bear heavily on Indian interests

Foreign policy has always been the weakest element of Europe's integration project. But with the Lisbon Treaty now in effect, the European Union has more power to implement foreign policy decisions—on paper, at least. The reformed EU's efFectiveness will ultimately depend on whether its member states focus on continued integration rather than on jealously retaining their national perspectives