[Originally Published December 6th, 2017 on Wordpress]
INTRODUCTION:
As it may be blatantly obvious to many observers of politics in the Middle East is that we must be very tactful in how we approach foreign policy in this region. The political climate has been a contentious powder keg that could be ignited by the smallest spark for decades. It wouldn’t be melodramatic to surmise that lives literally hang in the balance as a result of the foreign policies we (as in the United States ) choose to enact. Hence why understanding and acknowledging the potential ramifications based on our chosen course of action is absolutely imperative. This same cautious sentiment, unfortunately, does not seem to be shared by the Trump administration.
I understand the logic behind his fast-and-loose/ unorthodox/unhinged approach to politics. It is the natural reciprocal to the previous administration that was fixated on political correctness, regulations, faux-social justice, etc. Trump in many ways is the antithesis of Obama, his openly brash manner is essentially part of the reason why he got his seat in the White House. One thing that should be said is that foreign policy wise the Obama administration was a complete failure. Obama made only minuscule cutbacks on the troops stationed in active war zones in Afghanistan when he promised to end these long-standing conflicts. Even the whole situation in Libya alone was a complete embarrassment and a failure on the behalf of the Obama administration.
Surely with those much erroneous decisions made by the previous administration, wouldn’t Trump be able to easily rebound from such follies? Especially when you consider that Trump was pushing isolationist-nationalistic rhetoric all throughout his 2016 campaign, “America First”. Which I interpret as “let’s focus on our issues domestically versus intervening in the affairs of other countries”. Even the selection of former White House strategist Steve Bannon, reflected the sentiment of non-interventionist foreign policy, as he was a huge opponent of military action [3]. Regardless of Bannon’s other positions and myriad of flaws he was at least tactful enough to want to avoid active conflict. Which while I oppose isolationist policies from an economic standpoint as they do impede the free market, at least it would avoid conflict with other countries.
Sadly, Trump has not been approaching foreign policy in the most tactful of manners, especially in a region as volatile as the Middle East. President Trump announced yesterday that the United States would recognize Jerusalem versus Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel. In my opinion was a rash and thoughtless decision to make. Considering the tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis in Israel it most likely would have been best to have refrained from throwing our hat in the ring. However, instead, we come as an antagonist, merely throwing more fuel on the fire in an already unstable situation. Might I add this situation has been unstable for decades and we have certainly taken sides instead of remaining neutral. Trump naming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is certainly congruent with the historical precedent of the United States siding with Israel. However, I personally would perceive more of a neutral approach to best suited for the situation in Israel as neither party needs any more incentive for aggressive action between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
NEW STORY:
President Trump made the announcement that the United States would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel versus Tel Aviv. It has been noted that the United States has already started the process of moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. The prime minister of Israel is encouraging other countries to do as the U.S. has done and recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. The move on the part of the Trump administration as the potential to engender friction between the U.S. and its allies as well as the Islamic world. It should be noted that East Jerusalem was annexed by Jordan after the 1967 war in the middle east and not recognized globally as a part of Israel. It should be noted by the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the Israeli capital it would “…. US would be reversing its own longstanding policy that the status of the holy city would need to be resolved as part of Middle East peace talks.” Palestinian delegate to the UK, Manuel Hassassian, equated this action by the Trump administration to a declaration of war. As to be expected this announcement from President Trump was meet with hostility from Palestinians, as protesters burned pictures of President Trump on Tuesday. U.S. allies and other nations have universally come out against the move by the Trump administration. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani went so far to express "Muslims must stand united against this major plot"[4].
DISCUSSION:
There is absolutely no way I could ever condone the Trump administration’s stance on acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. It really was unnecessary and antagonistic. That was certainly a wound that did need to have salt placed in it, however, Trump did a fantastic job of doing so. I understand that Israel is a U.S. ally, however, there are far more constructive means to reinforce that relationship other than putting more pressure on an already contemptuous situation. The bad blood between the Israelis and Palestinians goes back to post World War II when the western world decided it wanted to play urban planner with the middle east. Through that needless intervention, we engendered this tremulous relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. So why would anyone with a sense of context and history for middle eastern affairs think that more intervention and antagonistic rhetoric and policy is going to heal old wounds?
There is also the possibility that our current administration just has apathy for the repercussions and simply wants to enact the policy that they see as being just. Even worst, potentially his is admiration is looking for a fight. When we look back at his rhetoric with North Korea, the unauthorized drone strikes back in April, etc. Trump has no issues with acts of aggression against other nations. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to be war hawks at this current time. Actually, we really should never get involved in any unjustified conflict ever. Follow the Non-Aggression Principle and we should be fine in regards to comprehend when violent conflict is justified and when it isn’t. Rarely is war genuinely justifiable. We need to consider that we are not talking about active combat yet, however, provocative actions, words, and policies certainly will not have stymied the threat of violence in Israel. But rather will increase the probability and actuality that war will transpire.
This antagonistic rhetoric and policy towards Palestinians are perceived as not just aggression against Palestinians, but Islamic countries as a whole. Notably, our ally Saudi Arabia took great offense to our recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the quote from the Iranian president presented above. We need to remember that Islam is a universal religion that transcends race, nationality, socio-economic class, etc. The universality of Islam started to manifest itself politically in 1979 through the Islamic revolution in Iran. Which per my interpretation was a reaction to the culturally and politically enforced secularism that was imposed upon Iran in the mid-twentieth century. It was essentially a rallying call to the Muslim world that we do not have to be subservient to the agendas of non-Muslims. This realization throughout the Islamic world provided the cohesive scaffolding for primarily Islamic countries to unite under the kinship of a shared theological philosophy.
Now, this purely my interpretation and I am far from an expert, however, I do see some credence in this explanation. Comprehending that context, it is easy to see how if we are aggressive towards Palestinians, the rest of the Islamic world takes offense to it. Due to the strong theological connection that sense of kinship transcends national boundaries. If we capitulate our neutrality in this conflict we will step on the toes of our good friends the Saudis. Aren’t they our trade partners and our friends in the Middle East? This only exemplifies the lack of strategic continuity in regards to our foreign policy and how one day it will burn us badly.
FOOT NOTES:
1. (Video) https://youtu.be/3Dkv-kB6LXk
2.https://invertedlogicblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/political-opinions38-jerusalem-is-now-the-capital-of-israel
3. https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/18/foreign-policy-hawks-rise-after-bannon-departure-241812