The bird flu crisis highlights the importance of having a regular border opening.
We must deal with the new situation with the right mixture of firm adherence to basic principles and creativity to meet a rapidly evolving reality.
We are witnessing a potentially dangerous deterioration of the situation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Ultimately in a democracy you cannot have both participation in elected office and participation in armed militia. They are simply incompatible.
We should be alert to the danger that cutting off assistance prior to the formation of a new government might be interpreted by the Palestinians and the Arab world as a punishment for the way the Palestinians voted in January.
These are monies that belong to the Palestinians and should not be withheld. It follows that the formation of a new government and the approval of its program should be awaited and that actions prior to that would be premature.
The quartet will convene on September 20 at the ministerial level, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Lawlessness, already endemic, is worsening amid uncertainties concerning command and control of the security forces within the new dispensation and signs of a struggle between the presidency and the new government.
The leaders had ample good will and a business-like spirit.
