This is a so-so report, in which the author asserts that the electoral victory of Hamas in 2006 was a "debacle for the notion of democritization" without any supporting evidence. In fact, the elections were fair and the problem was the failure of the US and Israel to accept the results. The author does call for Obama to push for a settlement of the Israel/Palestine problem, and he presents Hezbollah as virtually an agency of the government of Iran rather than a highly effective deliverer of governmental and social services to the Shiite community in Lebanon.

While going around the Middle East, the author brings up problems that need an Admim. that can bring the parties to a table that has enough for all parties to participate in. Bush leaves the Middle East a lot worse off than when he found it.

It is lucid and esaily comprehensible