America and the Middle East, circa 2008: Presidential Legacy, Electoral Politics, and Foreign Policy

The new year 2008 is sure to be eventful in both America and the Middle East. As President George W. Bush travels across the region promoting the Annapolis peace process and building on military progress in Iraq, candidates to succeed him debate who has the claim on greater "experience" in handling foreign crises and who is more likely to "change" the course of America's engagement in this volatile region.

To discuss what the coming year may bring for American politics and policy toward the Middle East, The Washington Institute held its annual new year's policy luncheon with two outstanding observers of the American political scene, Michael Barone and Peter Beinart, on January 11, 2008.

Michael Barone, a political analyst and commentator, is a senior writer with U.S. News & World Report and the principal co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, published by National Journal every two years. He is also author of numerous books on American politics including, Our Country: The Shaping of America from Roosevelt to Reagan, The New Americans: How the Melting Pot Can Work Again, and Hard America, Soft America: Competition vs. Coddling and the Competition for the Nation's Future.

Peter Beinart is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of The Good Fight: Why Liberals -- And Only Liberals -- Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again. He is editor-at-large and former editor of New Republic, columnist for the Washington Post, and contributor to Time magazine.