(CNN) -- In 2009, a freshly elected U.S. president who campaigned on the themes of hope and change appointed a veteran negotiator to take a crack at the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Now, 32 months after President Barack Obama named former Sen. George Mitchell as his chief Middle East envoy, the peace process is stalled and the United States faces the diplomatically dangerous possibility of having to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution on Palestinian statehood. How did it get to this point? The answers are in the intractable nature of the conflict, political pressures faced by the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships, and a steady waning of U.S. influence in the region, exacerbated by the Arab Spring protests that erupted last December.
@highlight
U.S. backs an independent Palestinian state through negotiations
@highlight
Palestinians will submit an application for statehood to U.N.
@highlight
U.S. officials have made it clear they will veto such a move
@highlight
Behind-the-scenes negotiations are trying to avoid a move certain to evoke Arab protests
In a speech in May, Obama expressed support for pro-democracy aspirations in the @placeholder.