It seems that Saudi Arabia’s rulers murdered an opponent. The U.S. media and political class is shocked, shocked, to find that murder is going on in such precincts. Who did they imagine the Muslim world’s leaders are?
Moreover, our chattering class demands that President Trump do
whatever it takes to make sure that they do nothing like that again. Do
what? Does anyone really think that swapping sheik A for sheik B would
improve their kind’s moral standards? Do they have any idea of what
keeps A on top of B, what it would take to switch them, or what the
repercussions would be in foreign policy? Are they naifs, idiots, or are
they just playing with foreign policy to make life a little harder for
Trump?What follows is politically incorrect information on what Saudi
Arabia is, what role it plays in American politics, and what it means
for our foreign policy. Then, I will suggest how American foreign policy
from the Founding to around 1910 would deal with today’s Middle East.
Above all, we realize that Saudi Arabia is even less a permanent fixture
of the international scene than the Soviet Union was. It is even more
unstable. Stabilizing it, saving it from the consequences of its
congenital dynastic wars, is beyond our capacities, as John Quincy Adams
might have said. That is why now, as in 1823, the essence of good
American foreign policy is to be very clear about our very few
interests, to commit to those, and to let the rest of the world fight
their own battles.
“That is why now, as in 1823, the essence of good
American foreign policy is to be very clear about our very few
interests, to commit to those, and to let the rest of the world fight
their own battles.
“… for… ever? with nukes?with ideological weapons…progressive-ism….. one belt one road?
CultML 