Ep 204 - Assessing Biden's Policy Towards Israel and Palestine

This episode is about assessing Joe Biden’s foreign policy as it relates to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. While not a whole lot has changed in terms of the substance of US policy towards Palestine and Israel, a lot has indeed changed in terms of the political discourse in Washington. Uzair talked to Matt Duss about these developments and the long-term implications of Biden’s foreign policy choices. We also talked about the prospects for a broad agreement with Saudi Arabia, and the ways in which communities can engage at the grassroots levels to influence foreign policy. Matt Duss is Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy. The Center for International Policy is a woman-led, progressive, independent nonprofit center for research, education, and advocacy working to advance a more peaceful, just, and sustainable U.S. approach to foreign policy. Before joining CIP, Duss was a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2017-22, Duss was foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). Duss’s work has been widely published, including in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, The Nation, The American Prospect, and Foreign Policy. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 2:20 What has changed in Washington? 5:20 Role of AIPAC 8:40 America’s leverage over Israel 12:20 Impact of the presidential debate 18:35 Long-term implications of US choices 22:10 Saudi-Israel normalization 27:10 Key risks on the horizon 30:30 What can we do to change policy? 32:45 Reading recommendations Reading recommendations - The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes by Zachary D. Carter - Miles: The Autobiography by Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe