Anticipation.
A new adaptation of the Graham Greene novel?
Enjoyment.
In a sense... Equal parts enlightening and exasperating.
In Retrospect.
Diplomacy is a bitch.
This eye-opening – at times eye-rolling – documentary is essential viewing for anyone interested in learning about America’s role as self-appointed peacemaker in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following the end of the Cold War in 1991.
Director Dror Moreh interviews most of the major players on Team USA, asking tough questions and largely getting candid answers. Shrewdly, he gives everyone just enough rope; if nothing else, The Human Factor is a chronicle of American hubris, revealing how the world’s foremost superpower overreached in its attempts to broker a deal.
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Of course, America has never really been a neutral party in all this. Former members of Bill Clinton’s administration recount how the President was determined to find an amicable solution to the decades-long Middle East dispute, and how profoundly affected he was by the assassination of his dear friend Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.
The picture painted is one of a strong-willed and sensitive politician who was in over his head, lacking the intimate knowledge of the region which any successful diplomatic effort demanded. In the end, it’s hard not to come away with a renewed sense of mistrust in US foreign policy, especially after chief negotiator Aaron David Miller admits that, to all intents and purposes, his side has continually acted as Israel’s lawyer.
