Diplomats meet in Geneva next week to try to salvage plans for a June peace conference.
Given the significant challenges, the odds that the U.S.-Russian peace conference gambit will succeed are slim.
It seems to be that there are so many unknowns with this Middle East Peace Conference.
Foreign Minister Ana Palacio has said repeatedly that Spain would happily host another peace conference.
Adelson opposed both Olmert and the peace conference, which was held in Annapolis in late November.
When Mr Putin last year proposed hosting a Middle East peace conference in Moscow, Israel ignored him.
Known as "The Tiger" he was prime minister of France twice and presided at the 1919 peace conference at Versailles.
In 1991, Israeli Cabinet members overwhelmingly backed a Middle East peace conference under conditions set by Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.
Rashwan said holding a Mideast peace conference in Washington with a U.S. presidential campaign in full swing makes real progress unlikely.
The Middle East Peace Conference next week in Annapolis is in many ways a special project of the secretary of state.
It appears that a Mideast peace conference will take place this October.
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In Amman, Jordan, King Abdullah II voiced his skepticism about the U.S. peace conference in a meeting with Mideast envoy Tony Blair.
But Mr Blair's plan for a London peace conference, now due in March, took a knock when Mr Sharon refused to attend.
In the approach to the peace conference, Mr Barak lost three coalition partners, and with them his majority in the Knesset (parliament).
As such, they are not negotiable in any Middle East peace conference.
But Russia and the United States have now agreed on the need for an international peace conference by the end of the month.
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"Today we are dealing with a weak and fragmented opposition that we must work with to go to Geneva" for the peace conference.
That peace conference, in Madrid, was the first time Israel and its Arab enemies had sat down at the same table to discuss peace.
The initial reaction of the United States, as reflected in statements from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was not enthusiastic about an inclusive peace conference.
She's looking for a joint declaration of principles ahead of a peace conference that's expected before the year's end to be held in Annapolis, Maryland.
Russia argued that even in its revised form, the resolution was unbalanced and threatens a planned peace conference announced by Russia and the U.S. for June.
At the Versailles peace conference in 1919, Canada's prime minister Sir Robert Borden, chatted to Britain's David Lloyd George about taking over the West Indian colonies.
Now it has been restored, and it will be shown on 29 May to mark the 80th anniversary of the Versailles peace conference, which Lloyd George attended.
Also, the place of the al-Assad government within any peace conference, much less in the future of the country, is an obstacle that separates the large powers considerably.
One possible diplomatic payback to Spain would be hosting a second Middle East Peace Conference, similar to the one it hosted after the first Gulf War in 1991.
An astute use of this week's events and Annan's call to unified action could lead to a Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire and peace conference within 30 days.
The White House on Friday praised key Arab states for agreeing to attend next week's Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, saying it was a signal that the talks would be productive.
The EU has pledged to prioritize helping find a political solution to the crisis, so all thoughts should now turn to making the U.S.-Russia brokered peace conference, scheduled for mid-June, in Geneva, a success.
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But even if America and Russia succeed in convening a peace conference, it is far from clear that the Syrians around the table will wield sufficient influence over the forces fighting on the ground.
During Powell's visit to Madrid, he said it was premature to discuss a new peace conference but pointedly added that he hoped all parties would consider Spain "high on the list" of host candidates.
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