The much anticipated conference will be held at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, a short drive from Washington, DC. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will act as host to what is seen as a last chance for the Bush administration to usher peace on its watch, one that has been plagued by two wars — Iraq and Afghanistan — and the ongoing struggle against global terrorism. The last attempt by the US to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict met with failure when President Clinton nearing the end of his administration in 2000 tried to push through a peace agreement between the then Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Clinton’s attempts at peacemaking came during a sharp rise in violence as Palestinian suicide attacks reached unprecedented levels. The inability to extract an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians at Wye River led to further violence in the region. It is under the shadow of the failed Wye River attempt at resolving the 60-year-old Middle East conflict that the Bush administration will attempt to pick up the pieces in Annapolis where the Clinton administration left off.

The Annapolis conference, upon which now much hope is placed, represents a monumental challenge to President Bush and his secretary of state. Although initially suggested by Bush last July as a “meeting”, the idea has over the past few months morphed into this mega-gathering that will include nearly 50 representatives, including Brazil and Senegal. And while the administration had announced as far back as July that the conference will be held in November, the exact date, and the invitations to participants were only issued on November 20. One of the major breakthroughs of the Annapolis conference — even before it started — will be the fact that Saudi Arabia will be represented by its foreign minister, marking the first time Israeli and Saudi Arabian officials meet at such a high level, at least officially. There have been unconfirmed reports in the past few months of meetings between Israeli and Saudi Arabian officials, though neither country would go on record to confirm or deny the allegations. Having Saudi Arabia represented by its foreign minister at Annapolis gives the peacemaking efforts better odds of success. Saudi Arabia and particularly King Abdullah are instrumental in persuading a good part of the Arab world in accepting or rejecting any proposal that will emerge from Annapolis. Not least of which is the clout Saudi Arabia carries with Hamas, a prominent player in Palestinian politics, and who is not invited to the Annapolis talks. In essence the Annapolis conference will build on the Saudi Arabian proposal first put forth at an Arab summit in Beirut in 2003 which offered Israel immediate recognition by all 22 members of the Arab League in return for an Israeli withdrawal to pre-June 1967 borders.

Finalising the invitations to the Annapolis conference represented a number of hurdles for the administration, not least was the dilemma it placed on itself regarding whether it should invite Syria, or shun it. In the end, Washington realised that it would be better to have Syria on the inside. "Syria can do more damage from the outside,” said Robert Malley, a Middle East specialist with the International Crisis Group.

Syria’s participation in the peace conference represents a major breakthrough in Washington’s Middle East policy. The Bush administration had until now refused to talk to Damascus, accusing the Syrian regime of supporting the insurgency in Iraq and meddling in internal Lebanese affairs. Syria’s acceptance to attend the peace conference could also indicate that what Middle East analysts refer to as the “Syria Question” would be placed on the agenda. That would include the question of the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, Lebanon and the investigation by the United Nations into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

President Bush will host a dinner at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas on the eve of the conference before crossing into the unchartered territory of the Annapolis conference: somewhat like Caesar surveying the limits of his empire before crossing the Rubicon.

Claude Salhani is Editor of the Middle East Times and a political analyst in Washington, DC. He may be contacted at claude@metimes.com.