Upon taking office, Obama set four objectives in the Middle East: stabilize Iraq before leaving it; withdraw from Afghanistan from a position of strength and on the basis of minimal political convergence with Pakistan; achieve a major breakthrough in the Middle East peace process by pushing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to freeze settlements; and open a dialogue with Iran on the future of its nuclear program. On these four major issues, Obama has clearly achieved little.
奥巴马甫一上台，就提出了关于中东的四大目标：在撤军前稳定伊拉克局势；在于巴基斯坦达成最低限度的政治一致的情况下以优势地位从阿富汗撤军；敦促以色列总理内塔尼亚胡冻结定居点计划从而取得中东和平进程的重大突破；以及与伊朗就其核计划展开对话。就这四大目标而言，奥巴马所取得的成绩不可不谓微小。