Middle East peace and the Monroe Doctrine

Following politics as closely as I do is about as sure prescription for depression and anxiety as one might find. As a general rule, I don’t recommend it. For at least once, and for this week alone, we may be able to say that politics isn’t always a drag. The United States played a pivotal role in the official recognition of Israel by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Documents signed that formalize diplomatic relationships between those states are historical first steps, but are only that. It’s a heck of a good start. Detractors will point out that the agreements don’t include the Palestinians, which I think is still a long way off. Those who didn’t sleep through tenth-grade history will know that the UAE and Bahrain were not combatants in the 48 war, Yom Kippur, or Gaza, so this doesn’t constitute kicking down of doors with old enemies. Recognition is just that: recognition, but it’s a first step.

The Middle East, if nothing, is known for its tribalism and non-government entities. The ultimate effectiveness of these diplomatic agreements may not, in the end, be worth a damn. You will recall that after Jimmy Carter’s Camp David Accords, Anwar Saddat was not rewarded for his pragmatism. Although these agreements are branded as a tribute to our mutual links to the Abrahamic traditions that underlie Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, the real glue to this agreement is trade and a mutual dislike of Iran.

Jared Kushner, borrowing from the Opportunity Zones of Jack Kemp and present-day Tim Scott has leveraged a package of economic development incentives to seal the deal. They, of course, are not the tax write-offs that we would offer domestically but are a package of aid and no small number of arms sales.

The more significant element is movement toward the isolation of Iran, which has been a disruptive power in the region. Iran has a rich, sophisticated culture and was by all measures a modern state, but is now a place where gay people don’t exist and the holocaust is a hoax.

If I could have it my way, we wouldn’t even care about this nonsense. The oil industry can be messy business and fracking seems to have tectonic consequences, but it all beats kids coming home in body bags. If we can continue to be a net exporter of fuel, why don’t we just get out of there?

In 1823, James Monroe laid down the law. He decided that no one would mess with us in our hemisphere. Our hemisphere. Fossil fuels, the mother’s milk of commerce, complicated that equation. It also didn’t help when our pals, the Brits, divided up the Middle East by oil company rather than tribe.

For now, we have oil independence, and as your local rose-colored-glasses guy, I continue to hope that wind, solar, and nuclear will someday catch up. I hope that it at least begins in my lifetime. We don’t need to be in the Middle East. We have a place for Jewish folks. It’s called Florida.

Let’s instead focus our energies on Cuba, Venezuela and, god love them, the Northern Triangle of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Those folks really need a hand, and I would prefer to see our resources expended there than in the Middle East.