Life's too short when you find yourself sitting in a car for four hours every day trying to get from East L.A. to West L.A. to Hollywood and then back to East L.A.
I studied international relations in England, and I wanted to pursue higher education and be able to analyze what was going on in Iran politically, not only in Iran, but in the Middle East.
Jewish intellectuals contributed a great deal to insure that Europe became a continent of humanism, and it is with these humanist ideals that Europe must now intervene in the Middle East conflict.
In starting to learn about film festivals and what were good ones - 'cause there are five billion of them - it was just a really good East Coast festival. And I thought this little movie was an East Coast film.
The war and terrorism in the Middle East, the crisis of leadership in many of the oil-supply countries in the developing world, the crisis of global warming - all these are very clearly tied to energy.
It's really necessary for the United States to continue to give strong leadership to the Middle East peace process, supported by European countries at the same time.
These are all elements, but the main thing we can do in the Middle East is encourage the reformist elements.
I've been to Japan, I've been to China, I've been to Africa, I've been to the Middle East, I've been to Europe a little bit. I've never been to South America.
Put simply, the Bush administration policy in the Middle East is continuing to fail.
On taking office in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama put Israeli settlements at the center of U.S. policy in the Middle East.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned, it seems, to direct the Middle East policy of the Obama administration.
Israel is our strongest, most reliable ally in the Middle East. Of course, we're their most reliable ally, too.
But then again in the East Coast, I think, Tupac, inspired everybody on the East Coast, everybody down south, everybody in the West Coast you know what sayin'.
You know, the pessimism which exists now in the Middle East existed in Northern Ireland, but we stayed at it.
As long as we're dependent on those fossil fuels, we're dependent on the Middle East. If we are not victims, we're certainly captives.
The U.S. needs to control the Middle East, the gateway to Asia. It already has military installations in Uzbekistan.
The San Francisco Bay Area has more VC firms and dollars invested than all East Coast cities combined.
Although most Americans don't know it, the U.S. gets more oil from Canada than it does from the entire Middle East.
For decades, the violence in the Middle East has claimed a multitude of innocent civilian victims: Men, women and children, Arab and Israeli.
Certainly, protecting oppressed people, stopping ethnic conflict and promoting responsible governance are worthy goals. But none is as important for American security and prosperity as keeping the peace in the Middle East, Europe and East Asia.
I attach the greatest importance to an amplification of the peace efforts in the Middle East. I would also like to see a greater dialogue between the U.S. and the EU.
