U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivers closing remarks at the Middle East peace conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007
She gets the Most Valuable Diplomat award. She pulled off a tour de force in getting Bush's nod to probe a risky diplomatic effort despite internal Administration opposition, getting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas talking again during eight shuttles to the region and then setting up the biggest Middle East peace conference, aimed at a comprehensive Arab-Israeli settlement, ever held on American soil. At the last minute, Rice showed her diplomatic agility by cajoling the Israelis and Palestinians into announcing a "joint understanding" that was more substantive than anybody had expected. The hardest part is certainly still to come, but Rice has defied her critics. She responded to criticism ahead of the meeting by insisting she would do it "my way," and for the results thus far, we can simply say, "Bravo."