Dion Nissenbaum, Jerusalem bureau chief for McClatchy, reviews potential scenarios for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the short-term future. Basically, argues Nissenbaum, he can't win, but the international community hasn't got a better alternative, so we can't let him lose, either. His analysis focuses on the international community – e.g. the United States and Israel – and their desires; maybe this is why it is difficult to find an appropriate leader for the Palestinians. If the international community had a say in choosing the US leader, for example, we may have had a different outcome to our Presidential elections in 2000 and certainly a different one in 2004.