Thomas Friedman gives Trump way too much credit. It's as if he thinks Trump has a Middle East strategy or something. Trump and Bibi are pals and his base wants the Second Coming, that's why the Embassy: a win-win. Anyway, it's better he doesn't go messing around in a volatile situation where he is in over his head. Clearly we will need to wait till the adults are back in charge. Patience.
6
Religion. End of story.
11
In his intense focus on economics and technology, Mr. Friedman forgets that ALL parts of the world have histories that impact in major ways on their present behavior. A major difference between Saudi Arabia and, for example, China, Japan and (South) Korea is that the latter countries have long histories of being ruled over by strong, bureaucratic states, which suppressed religious movements (like Buddhism in 9th century China and Christianity in 16th century Japan) that posed a threat to the state's monopoly on power. Since 1945, strong states in East Asia may have promoted modernization and economic development, but in practically all cases (Taiwan might be an exception) have also ruled in an oppressive, top-down manner that in no way is compatible to Western, democratic norms.
Because of their pragmatism, the United States and other western countries have been able to work productively with East and Southeast Asian states in areas such as trade and security (except, recently, for "adversarial" China), usually ignoring serious issues concerning human rights and democracy. The notion that Japan's government and ours share "the same, democratic values" is utter nonsense. Like China and its neighbors, Japan is a top-down, bureaucratic regime.
Expecting that Muhammad bin Salman will someday soon turn into an Islamic version of Lee Kuan-yew or Mohamed Mahathir is the sort of dream that could only be concocted by Washington's Middle East "experts."
9
Mr. Friedman, one (1) important point was left out of your essay. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has impacted both Israel and the Palestinians.
As an example, the Soda Stream technology was being exported from the West Bank. This technology employed many Palestinians.
The reality is that a job paying a wage suitable for supporting a family enables these workers to not consider themselves to be second class citizens. When the political rhetoric demeans these working men and women, attraction to terrorist activities can result.
6
the list of tf's cures is sound enough and has been for decades. what's ironic is to be lecturing that region at precisely the time we ourselves are undoing/backtracking on most of the items in the therapeutic list. topsy-turvy world!
2
The United Nations has admitted that Hamas uses UNRWA schools as weapons storage facilities. Sick.
http://blog.unwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/Board-of-Inquiry-UNRWA-weapon...
5
Crazy Poor Middle Easterners. Absolutely Right! Thanks to us and all the foreigners who have infiltrated and infested their land. Left to themselves, they would have fought among themselves and the best man like Saddam would have won and all others would have to keep peace although hating each other. At least, they did'nt have the fear of their homes being bombarded, roads which existed and bridges not broken. They had clean drinking water, electricity and a trade putting food on the table. They could be who they were albeit with a few restrictions which was a small price to pay in exchange for a stable, predictable existence. They were contented until all the foreigners arrived deciding for them!
5
A sobering read, if one were needed.
M.B.S. is Saudi Arabia's Trump. All bluster and bite, no substance or wisdom. Pity that so much talent and wealth is used in service of dictatorships.
4
Crazy Poor Middle Easterners. Correct! Thanks in great measure to the US and Russia and other smaller actors. But we Americans are the only deluded, sanctimonious ones who believe ourselves as the reality principle, balancer and honest broker of peace. We have been knocked from the pedestal way before the 1970s. To name a few - Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and the Middle East are stark pictures of our involvement. Actions speak for themselves. Honest broker as in Palestine-Israel conflict? Reality principle? Saudi Arabia conducting unilateral bombing and human rights violations.Balancers? Joint military exercises even if the two Koreas want to unite? Why do we support cruel dictators like Sisi and autocratic governments like Saudi Arabia who are the worst offenders of human rights? Why do we topple elected governments like in Iran, Egypt, Pakistan and then install greedy cruel dictators? Why do we pretend to be arbiters of peace when in actuality we sow seeds of chaos, suspicion and confusion and bringing those underlying tensions to the fore ending in instability, violence and deaths? And we are not alone. We are joined by other dark forces like Iran, Russia and local thugs. Looking at all the pictures of bombarded infrastructure and helpless, hopeless, fearful populations still alive, is the Middle East better before the foreigners arrived? NO! NO!
7
There is one very big problem. No matter how nasty or good a ruler is, a power vacuum leads to trouble. Think of the results of power vacuums in Libya, Iran (when the Shau left the country), Iraq, and so on. Think of what happened in Yugoslavia when Tito died. Maybe the guy running Saudi Arabia is not nice. One needs a plan for a pragmatic approach that doesn't result in helping the really bad guys.
Perhaps there is no good solution, only a plan that will result in as good as one can reasonably expect.
I guess the point is that we should not expect that kind of plan from the current administration.
1
China and Japan both suffered greatly from their participation in WWII, with each losing millions of their citizens to war. Following that, both China, through the turn to Marxist communism, and Japan, in a denunciation of the Shinto as the state religion, both adopted governments that didn't recognize any one religion or family as being ordained by god, and neither demanded all their inhabitants follow such religion. In contract, Saudi Arabia abstained from WWII, and was and is still an intolerant religious monarchy.
If Japan hadn't suffered the great defeat that it did, I doubt that it would be seeing the turn to modernity and success that it has over the last 70 years. And, although they have relaxed it greatly over the last 30 years, the forced abstention from religion in China means in both countries more than a generation were effectively raised without input of religious ideology. In fact, Marxist ideology posits that you cannot have a truly successful economy as long as there is religious interference.
If the middle east wishes to join the ranks of the successful Asian (and Western) countries, perhaps they should start with outlawing religious monarchies, establishing representative government and relegating feuds over the correct line of succession of Islam that dates to the 5th century to the back page of their local newspaper.
3
The US is generally sick and tired of getting involved and playing nanny to the rest of the world. This is the zeitgeist right now, and it is harbored by both the Left and the Right with the pragmatic reasonable middle atrophying. Each to his own.
This article has an uncomfortable undertone of snootiness to it. Using a fictional movie to highlight the issues of another part of the world is a tone deaf way of reaching your audience.
Unfortunately, the article is also largely disorganized, chaotic and hard to follow with the author jumping from topic to topic in one breath. Please slow it down.
10
"Being the reality principle, balancer and honest broker has been a U.S. role since the 1970s. If we abdicate it, we’ll just end up creating more crazy poor Middle Easterners."
Wow! Where does one start with this last paragraph of Mr Friedman's rambling article? It starts with an egregious fiction and ends with a racist slur.
I think T.F. is on auto-pilot whose software is calibrated to ground transponders thàt are worn out and weary.
6
"fighting over who owns which olive tree"..?
Friedman shows a condescension towards the middle east (and especially the Palestinians) which can only stem from unadmitted racism or plain stupidity.
But I don't think he's stupid.
The omission of any sort of political and historical context for 'the mess' facing each middle eastern country contributes to the dangerous (and convenient) notion that they are simply 'crazy' and they're conditions are solely their responsibility, to which they cannot live up to.
The middle east would be fine 'if it put it's past behind it".
Since history apparently for Friedman is only a psychological handicap, maybe we should speak of the present and extend his imagination to wonder what the USA would look like if we had Syrian and Saudi warplanes hovering over us daily; if Jordan or Lebanon hand picked our president and had troops protect the White House from radical Americans; or if they financially and militarily supported, say, Donald Trump; if supported if Russia gave Native Americans and Mexico billions of dollars in military resources and weapons so that Mexico could occupy the land that was theirs originally and help wipe out any white people that endanger their demographic?
9
Mr. Friedman have you ever thought that the Middle Easterners would have not be "crazy poor" and dying in large conflicts if the US had kept out of the region, and not backed one side against the other. They would have sorted out their problems long time back.
12
September 5, 2018
The idea one would or could define craziness is problematic in historic Middle East narratives. Warrior jihadist claim the authority to block and destroy whatever is to their rejections and surely not a condition of America's leadership and if fact more often a cause for righteous blooding's reach everywhere on earth.
These angry theological garbed killers must be in joint union of interest help to account to contain what must be the collaborative efforts to advance for the working and common Middle Eastern families that of orderly living for safety in its culture towards advancing its creative sociology, while respecting it identity for ones humanized worth on the world stage - and that's truly the genius of modern China in its efforts to enjoy prosperity of work and spirit to admire and so let's go for it everywhere with pride, grace and prosperity to give to state and the divine offerings - nice
jja Manhattan, N.Y.
2
MBS a reformer? Please.
3
How can you expect them to offer an olive branch when they are fighting over every olive tree?
11
The reason why Asia succeeded is because they don't have resources or strategic importance that other powers want. The ME is in the middle of 3 continents. It isn't on the periphery. The author advocates for the US to get involved in the ME - but it's US involvement and British involvement and French involvement etc. etc. that stunted the Mid East's drive to modernization after WW2. The author should know this.
9
Asian "Rule of Law?" You are kidding yes? China - ground zero for Rich Asians - executes more people than all of the world combined, possibly 10,000 per year though the figure is secret because there is no "Rule of Law." China is a dictatorship, and a kleptocracy. To parody the Middle East's poverty with Asia's 'success' means Friedman is watching too many movies. Ask the Uighurs of China about how 'Crazy Rich' THEY are, Sorry Mr. Friedman, but your 'model minority' rhetoric does little to shed light on current affairs in the Middle East. Terrible piece.
13
Mr. Freidman, I get your point. But please don’t suggest that Trump get more involved in the Middle East or anywhere, for that matter. No matter how bad things are, Trump will only make things worse.
10
‘Aid that went to water an sewage treatments...’Cmon you don’t really believe that do you??
4
If you got rid of religion--all of it--most of these destructive problems would go away. Sectarian religion is one of the most divisive, destructive elements of every society on earth. Get rid of it and life would be a lot easier for everyone.
6
Amen.
1
Did you notice that every one of the leaders that inherited his position in life in the story is either incompetent or a tyrant (or both)? And if he didn't inherit it, got there through some shady means?
This is why the world is falling apart. The parts of the world that have a higher than average collection of such characters are doing the worst. Who would have thought?
4
Perhaps if the Arab culture wasn't so misogynistic and violently against women's rights, then it would have a chance to move forward. If you don't empower half of the population, the female half, then you are starting from behind. Any society which embraces honor killing, child bride marriage, and female genital mutilation won't move forward. How a society treats its women is an indicator, and a direct driver, of how advanced they will become.
18
The beginning of the column starts off as a typical Thomas Friedman effort, you can close your eyes and hear the words and know who the author is. Ala the mock Thomas Friedman column generator websites, google it!
It doesn't really matter. No mention of the birth rates in the Gulf countries. All the problems with the Arab/Muslim countries would be exponentially more manageable had they held their populations in check. Climate change is likely to render the region inhospitable. The temperatures are simply going to be too damn hot. Saudi Arabia can keep on pumping out oil, exacerbating the problem. The likelihood they shift millions of citizens to a different sector of the economy and succeed, given the competition, is highly unlikely. Whatever sector that might be, countries like China (and hopefully the USA) aren't going to make it easy for them.
The region is doomed, and it's going to get really ugly once that reality sets in.
3
There was a Crazy Poor Middle East under Obama, Bush 43, Clinton, Bush 41, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, FDR....
Maybe the problem isn't American leadership, here.
7
Mr. Friedman's explanations seem rather simplistic with no mention of the "resource curse" or "Dutch disease" that impacts many countries that have plentiful oil and gas resources. In addition, there is no mention of the centuries long colonial or neo-colonial history of the region, namely that of America, Europe and Russia's historical involvement in upending democratic movements and governments in these countries, only to replace them with undemocratic institutions and tyrants (like Saddam Hussein). The irony isn't even that Mr Friedman was an influential cheerleader for a disastrous war in Iraq (a neocolonial adventure for us and a complete spiral into sectarian violence for them) - it's that for all of this thumbing of his nose at Middle Eastern tribalism and "backwardness," the US with its vast wealth and army, is still dealing with an ascending white supremacy movement, a deepening underclass and ever increasing degradation of democratic institutions. What is our excuse? It's not just Trump.
8
While I have great respect for Mr. Friedman and particularly his isights on Middle East, I have to take issue with this particular column. I do agree with his assessment that ME problems are deeply rooted in religious, tribal, and ethnic differences, However, Mr. Friedman fails to point out the role of superpowers in constant meddling and destabilizing this rich-resource region. While the main interest is to protect oil supply and oil lanes, we engineer coups in the name of democracy and instal our stooges who return the favor. Sooner or later, this policy catches up with us. To the list of causes for "Crazy Poor Middle Easterners" , I would also add the very rich resource called oil. This resource has been and will continue to be a curse for the region.
2
This article is based on the concept that US "even handedness" can restore peace in the Middle East. This concept has been proven wrong over ever since the British left in the late 1940s. The problems were exacerbated by President Obama's policy of abandoning US allies, in the hope of turning enemies to allies, the hasty retreat from Iraq, the miserable show of weakness in Syria, which allowed Russia to become a major power in the area, and the attempt to resolve the Israeli Palestinian conflict by pushing Israel to do all the concession, even though the Palestinian still believed that they can destroy Israel.
3
It’s the white savior mentality that keeps getting everyone in trouble.
1
As the 73 year old grandson of a Swedish Lutheran minister, I am not without some compassion and empathy here.
Nearly 50 years ago, the brilliant scientist/architect and visionary, Buckminster Fuller was asked, "What do you fear the most?" Mr. Fuller, (known as "Bucky" by close friends) responded, and I closely paraphrase here, "Nuclear holocaust and organized religion."
The Israelis, Palestinians, and the rest of the Middle East continue to cling to their centuries of hatred and revenge systems with their devotion to, and interpretation of, writings in the Bible and the Koran. All parties believe God gave them the hallowed ground they refuse to share. The religiously-driven back-and-forth attacks and revenge, will never allow any of the players to get along, let alone work together and prosper together, thanks to powerful clerics fueling fanaticism about their flocks.
Nearly everywhere there has been war and conflict among neighbors, you can lay the blame at the feet of those powerful, influential clerics demanding the faithful kill "the other" for God.
Let's remember, when, in 1948, the UN authorized the creation of Israel, there was no use a charm offensive. It was an armed invasion to forcefully remove Palestinians from their homes and entire villages.
It is a never-forget region. Events of 70 years ago created revenge to transferred to the next generation.
God did not give any land to anyone. But try to convince Israelis and Palestinians of that.
8
If Trump wants to disengage with the Middle East, then fine. But I don't trust our "subcontractors" Israel and Saudi Arabia one iota, so let's make sure we keep our distance from them as well and by that I mean, money and arms. Out is out.
4
Mr. Friedman entirely ignored the premise of the first half of this article when he wrote the second half.
Asia as a whole has seen an explosion in prosperity AND stability due to the ability of Asians as a whole to pursue education and economic development rather than old grievances and religious fanaticism. US involvement had nothing to with it.
In the Middle East, the more involved we get the more these countries seem to hate us, all while we expend the lives of our troops and billions of dollars in military supplies and foreign aid. Friedman himself states that Idlib Province Syria is "the last major gathering center for Islamist anti-regime rebels" before launching into a nonsensical argument about why we should save the "we're just like ISIS but not quite as bad guys."
He then launches into an inane argument about how we'll never have peace between Israel and Palestine if we cut off billions of dollars in aid to Palestine, which is like saying how will I ever win the PowerBall if I don't spend all of my money on lotto tickets? The answer is that you won't but you'll definitely get to keep your whole paycheck every week and maybe that's a better tradeoff.
Like the fallen empires of the past from Rome to Britain, we've over extended ourselves around while neglecting matters at home. It's time to withdraw from these foolish foreign entanglements that have only benefitted defense contractors - not the citizens of the United States or the residents of the Middle East.
2
In the immortal words of Abba Eban, “They never miss an opportunity, to miss an opportunity”
1
Friedman writes:
"Trump could have told Bibi that he would move the embassy but only in return for Israel halting all settlement-building beyond the West Bank blocks in the densely populated Arab areas that would likely be put under Palestinian control in any peace deal. "
And risk losing the support of his Evangelical Christian base? Not a likely scenario.
2
Japan, China, and Korea all have something that is shared only by Iran and Israel in the Middle East, nationhood. All of these countries can handle diversity because the citizens have allegiances to huge states that supersede their loyalties to families, clans, and ideological movements. The rest of the countries from Pakistan to Morocco are not nation states but governments trying to maintain order amongst many insular groups who have little use for each other. If you want peace and stability, there need to be real nation states in this region.
1
" ...we’ll just end up creating more crazy poor Middle Easterners."
But isn't that current U.S Foreign and Military policy? For many years and long before Trump, U.S actions have achieved creating many more crazy, poor and angry Middle Easterners each time it gets involved in the region by its various Military actions and support for those who best serve U.S Interests.
And in affirmation of this policy to create more crazy, poor , angry Middle Easterners, the Pentagon have even called the conflicts it continues to invest in as "Forever Wars" signalling it has no intention to stop doing the things it has been doing for years which have achieved nothing at all except to create more crazy, poor, angry and increasingly vengeful Middle Easterners...
...Forever.
4
"Trump could have told Bibi that he would move the embassy but only in return for Israel halting all settlement-building beyond the West Bank blocks in the densely populated Arab areas that would likely be put under Palestinian control in any peace deal. "
True this!
hey Friedman. maybe the difference between Asia and the middle east is that neither you nor any of your neocon buddies have pushed for and gotten a disastrous military intervention in the area -- at least recently. We left Vietnam ruined but then left them alone to figure their way without the West. China has repelled outside interference just as we have. That is the difference. Friedman stay out of it. America get out of it unless we want to help repair the result of our stupidity and arrogance.
4
The Middle East provides a good case study on the destructive effects of rampant and radical religious fundamentalism. This condition precludes the type of leadership and cooperation needed for social progress and practically guarantees the rise of authoritarianism and conflict. I doubt the ability of western involvement to improve this situation but we could definitely make it worse.
4
Giving the increasing probability of climate disaster that will render most of the Middle East uninhabitable, the discussion here may, to surviving historians, seem touchingly optimistic.
1
Name calling and shaming does not help people forget the past.
1
Well, American leadership in Lebanon, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and - until Russia drew a line in the sand - Syria, hasn't really worked out too well...
Iran was always supposed to be the last stop on that list of American 'leadership' - just as it was first on the list as America took over the colonial role from France and Britain in the ME by leading the coup against the democratic government of Mossadegh in 1953, because he had the crazy idea that Iran's natural resources should be used for the good of the Iranian people who elected him, rather than foreigners (who then replaced him with their own corrupt vicious puppet).
Iran has never - unlike America - been an expansionist power. Through endless aggression from the overthrow of the American puppet in 1979 onward, beginning with US support for appalling Iraqi aggression in the 1980s, moving through PNAC and progressive encirclement since 2001, they have only tried as in 1951-3 to defend their own sovereignty against foreign aggression.
And remember, they invented chess millennia before America itself threw off colonial rule. They developed the culture of the oil-rich Persian Gulf millennia before the Bedouin Hillbillies grabbed the resources of the Shia Arabian coast with the backing of perfidious Albion (joint aggressors in the 1953 coup).
They have very good grounds to be wary of US and Saudi 'leadership', and they, rather than their longtime aggressors, will eventually win this brutal chess game.
4
As those of us who lived there for many decades used to say:
The one thing this place does have, is no chance whatsoever.....
32
@Objectivist Fer sher!!! The Land of Unlimited Impossibilities.
Mr Friedman....someone with your stature and knowledge of history and geography, should know better to use the proper and internationally acceptable name of a body of water that has been known for centuries as Persian Gulf and not otherwise. Not sure what rationale or explanation do you have for this blatant ignorance. One other note, Middle East would have become a peaceful region, had it not been for the political and military interferences of western colonial powers hungry for energy resources. Who are you kidding? Go and read Rand’s institute white paper on US policy toward ME in late 1990’s, and you see that it is based on political interferences, supporting despotic and criminal regimes and putting boots on the ground. You want a peaceful Middle East... get out of it and let the parties in the region deal with their issues and some up with local solutions.... somehow that would be wishful thinking from my part!!!
2
"Trump and his team don't understand:"
Why would you try to explain anything to them? Trump does not have a team, he has his gut feelings and everybody else just begs for a few nanoseconds of his attention, which is as long as his attention span gets, to make a point he won't take and/or will immediately forget.
Our policy is being set by a profoundly, monumentally stupid person. In addition, that policy is subject to change at a whim's notice.
And this in addition to the incomprehensible pass Friedman gives to Mohamed bin Salman, who looks increasingly like a mini-Trump, ruled by greed and whims. The bad news is that there is no established structure in Saudi Arabia (yes, literally his family's country) to rein in his worst impulses, which are almost all of them. The only good news is that he does not have nukes, so he murders merely tens of thousands of Yemeni civilians rather than millions.
What possible resolution is there for the Mideast? Nothing good can happen until there is a new U.S. administration. With hard work and luck, November 6th could be the starting date for a solution.
Dan Kravitz
About your claim of secular education being offered to Palestinian children, please check out the following link:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/03/sen-todd-young-palestinian-authori...
1
"Because, with a few exceptions, this region has never been a bigger mess, had more people fighting over who owns which olive tree, had more cities turned to rubble by rival sects and missed its potential so vastly."
Yeah, sure, but moreso the vast neoliberal, multinational meddling and divide-and-conquer tactics. But yeah, please tell us more about how a whole region is supposed to pull themselves up by the bootstraps that we bombed off them.
3
The character makes a man and so it does a community and a nation. The Middle Easterners that I have met in my long life of over 70 years have left me with the impression that they could easily be called Trump's fellow travelers. Go for the immediate gain. Stab anyone you have to. Lying, scamming, cheating and dishonesty are fair tools of business and everyday dealings. Making promises that you have no intention of keeping and throwing people under the bus for or without reason is all in a day's work.
On top of that carrying grudges, feuds and fights over generations keep them busy with settling scores among themselves. How can a people advance and prosper who mistreat half of their entire population - their womenfolk - deny their very humanity, let alone their basic human rights?
2
Mr. Friedman wrote: “The future stability of the whole Arab Gulf depends on the reform process in Saudi succeeding; it’s that important.”
That is simply incorrect. You cannot solve the old problems with the old thinking. You have to bring the radically different solutions and methods to the table. The locals cannot do it. If they could, they would have changed the course over the last 14 centuries.
Alexander the Great didn’t try to untangle Gordian knot. He split it open with a sharp sword – with a different way of thinking.
The only way to solve the crisis in the Middle East is to change all of them – the ayatollahs in Tehran, the Saudi Wahhabis and the Al Qaeda at the same time with the same truth…
How to do it?
You have to strip them first of their religious authority and prestige. We have to understand their structural weaknesses much better than they do.
What is their Achilles heel, what is the kryptonite for all of them?
They are not in compliance with the Quran, their Holy Book.
They are the Sunnis and the Shiites. There is no such a schism in the Quran, meaning all the divisions, polarizations, antagonism, sectarianism, violence and ethnic cleansing is man-made, not demanded by the faith.
If not prescribed by God, then it’s the sin of those practicing it.
Prerequisite for reforming the Middle East is to reform the Islam first, and you use the Quran to accomplish this goal.
Nothing important should depend on a good will of a Saudi prince…
I suggest Mr. Friedman read some history starting with Scott Anderson’s “Lawrence in Arabia”. As in Africa the white guys brought war and carved up the Middle East to make some dough. Who cares if we tear ethnic groups apart? Who cares what those people want for themselves. We continue to rip the region apart. It was Saudis who brought down the WTC so we went after the Iraqis. The Saudis condemn their own citizens to death for minor offenses but we declare them civilized. For the life of me I don’t see the difference between the Saudis and the Iraqis. Do we still need the oil? Leave those people alone and please Mr. Friedman let them speak for,themselves.
1
The destructive impulses of the people in the middle east are traceable back to their primary religion. If we want to inject peace and prosperity to the region we need to fund missionary and evangelistic efforts. Funding military efforts only perpetuates the violence.
1
As A child growing up in 1950's/1960's New York, I would occasionally remark, "let the Arabs keep killing one another, it keeps them from hurting Israel. It's fifty years on and nothing..., nothing has changed. What do these poor folk want from the world? Yeas, I fully understand Iranians are not Arab, America's history there and all the Middle East I fraught with mistakes, but when will these tribal enmitiis finally cease? When will cousin stop killing cousin? Hmm..., could it possibly blamed solely upon Islam? I don't think so. I also thing it has become time for these oil rich countries to begin the healing process. Enough!
1
The complexities and nuances necessary to make the Middle East a better and safer region are beyond the comprehension,let alone skills, of a Real Estate Developer, Turned Reality TV personality, from Queens. Specifically, his belief in the overwhelming power of personal relationships based on common interests (for example, MBS and Kushner), bilateral rather than multilateral negotiations or agreements,win-lose solutions, all ensure failure. Add to that ignorance of history, geography or precedent, lack of cultural awareness and a fondness for autocracies, and you have a perfect storm sufficient to make Crazy Poor Middle Easterners a series multiple seasons long.
"punishing the Palestinians...."
"Budgeoning the Palestinians..."
The only two mentions in the entire Opinion piece.
In Mr. Friedemans world, they are totally blameless.
2
"Being the reality principle, balancer and honest broker has been a U.S. role since the 1970s. If we abdicate it, we’ll just end up creating more crazy poor Middle Easterners."
We do not create the crazy poor Middle Easterners, they create themselves by both sides taking non-negotiable positions divorced from reality. As you say, we have been trying to broker a peace since the 1970's. After almost 50 years, it's time to give it up as a bad idea and let them solve their own problems.
Very few voices in the public forum have done as much to advance support for the bald faced military aggression by the U.S. in Iraq and the economic collapse and spinoff terrorism which spread across the region as a result than Friedman.
The neo-con philosophy he enthusiastically promoted was a pro-armament industry ruse, a cash grab for public money, predicated in no small part on common stereotypes of Arabs (as well as ostensible "positive" stereotypes of Israelis).
Few other people have less right to look at the poverty and misery which has become indemic to the region and offer up an opinion than this offer. It may be unfashionable to look at the Bush Era foreign policies ethics still, but we haven't overcome the damage nor learned the lessons, so remember the recent past and judge the source of these musings accordingly.
1
Trump has indeed been dumb on many things, but with respect to the Israel Palestinian conflict he has been right on the money in recognizing that the Palestinians have no real incentive to give up on the unattainable and maximalist dreams which have kept them from compromising (and achieving anything in over 70 years). The whole dichotomy of this article seems to slide right past the fact that the one country in the middle east which has in fact taken his advice: namely to "tap into its human resources" is Israel, which despite being surrounded by chaos has managed to produce a rich, highly educated, western democracy which defends the rule of law and provides opportunities to men, women and minorities of all stripes to achieve their dreams. If Mr. Friedman would stop repeating this nonsensical narrative and think for a second, he might realize that the future for all of the peoples of the middle east is to emulate Israel's example...and that includes the Palestinians, rather than fight against it. If dignity is only served by benighted self rule rather than actual accomplishments on improving the lives of its citizens than by all means continue to trot out this 70 year fallacy that Israel can be conquered by force and that UNWRA should still exist. For those of us who live in the real world however, its time to hold the Palestinians accountable.
3
Yeah....except Israel isn't poor; rather it's rich and has achieved a standard of living higher than that of every other Asian nation except perhaps Japan and Singapore. Perhaps he should be pointing to Israel as an example of what can be achieved if these countries actual did invest in their human capital.
1
This is one of a few of Tom Friedman articles where he touches on a lot of points but doesn't get to base. He is right on Trump selling out to the Israelis but that was expected since Kushner was put in charge of Middle East affairs. The net result is an impotent US foreign policy managed through Twitter as suppose to strong, serious diplomacy. The Chinese have realized that Trump is a bag of hot air and have upped their push for military dominance of the Pacific. Putin is having a whale of a time as he has grown bolder and kills opponents with bio terror anywhere in the world. A weakened Europe and impotent US can do little to stop him.
However, the one area that Friedman seems to tiptoe around when trying to draw the distinction between Asia and Middle East is Islam. The Asian countries are less encumbered with a regressive, zealous philosophy. If the leaders of the Arab countries genuinely want to advance their societies, it should start there.
"Being the reality principle, balancer and honest broker has been a U.S. role since the 1970s. If we abdicate it ..."
If? Trump is clueless. One has to question the sanity of the people who still work for him. The Republican party and its donors are busy counting their money and looking forward to the New Feudalism that will replace the New Deal. The USA is a mess thanks to Trump "shaking things up".
Somehow, Israel has managed to thrive economically despite having fewer natural resources than her neighbors, and having to steer an ungodly amount of capital (both money and human) into defense. The difference between Israel and her neighbors is an open democracy versus closed dictatorships, a multicultural society versus aspirational monocultures, and a society largely rid of corruption versus ones where bribery is normal. Some of these issues are structural, but all have their roots in an essential individual world view. Until that world view changes on an individual level, and individuals shout, "No more!" the Crazy Poor (Except for Israel) Middle East will not change.
4
We cannot change the fact that Saudi Arabia has oil. However, we can change the relevance of oil to our economies, as we have done already with coal. We can counter faith with science, since water boils at the same temperature for Muslims and Jews alike.
To do this, of course, America will require a government that supports its engineers and scientists, and can serve as a beacon of light in matters of governance. So the Middle East will have to get along in its present state for a good while to come.
42
You wrote about Trump giving away something with the move of the US embassy to Jerusalem: 'the U.S. gave up one of its most valuable diplomatic assets free. How foolish was that?'
Well, maybe Mr Trump is actually getting something for himself out of that! This is a president who is constantly looking out for his own interests (shocker!), so I wouldn't be surprised if he is actually benefiting his personal businesses.
1
The middle east could prosper if its leaders would stop using the most radical and oppressive interpretations of Islam to rule over their people.
3
Israel is not part of "crazy poor Middle Easterners" because they believe in tolerance and respect for Christians, Muslims, and everyone else-- respect for gays, lesbians and everyone else. If the Arabs developed tolerance for others and each other, then all that angry wasted energy would be redirected toward building lives and societies.
8
Goodness. Here is good ol' Thomas Friedman explaining, once again, that it's not US meddling in the Middle East which has burned us time and time again, but the wrong kind of US meddling!
If there is any - ANY - silver lining to this boob of a president, it's that he seems genuinely disinterested in the world and seems reluctant to actually start a war (bluster notwithstanding). That's a radical departure from the previous two administrations.
By her own proud admission, a President Hillary Clinton would have us hip-deep in another quagmire in the Middle East, taking responsibility for another shattered Arab nation which hates us. If the opposite of that is "isolationism," bring it on.
The Establishment, both right and left, seemingly has never seen a war it hasn't wanted to get in on, forever desperate to "do something!" to prove that America hasn't lost its juice.
How about we just take a few years off and see what people can do on their own, shall we? Perhaps the world will continue to turn without Uncle Sam rushing into the breech.
5
@Livonian - I agree, why do we bother sending comments showing the countless ways in which the the real madman in these stories is the oil-infatuated and dependent USA.
And you I see this late when there are 300 comments. We should learn not to bother but we cannot because the Friedmans can find the wrongs in them, not us.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
1
The middle east has always been back to the future.
Funny. Obama followed all of Tom Friedman's recommendations vis a vis the Palestinians and couldn't get them to do anything to advance peace. When Israel agreed to a freeze on settlements, the Palestinians refused to come to the table. So Mr. Friedman, a new approach was needed, one that wouldn't coddle the Arabs and one that wouldn't fund a UN agency which aids and abets terrorist activities, and whose "secular" curriculum promotes hate.
7
From the "Grasshopper and the Ants" fable to the recent CLimate, Aggression, and Self-control in Humans (CLASH) study there has long been a questioning of the relationship between hot climates and hot tempers which, I suspect, many people confuse with skin color issues. I think its a subject that requires further research to untangle the facts from the perceptions.
Why is it that there are Crazy Poor Middle Easterners? Who created it?
A major part of the middle east is rich in resources. So, why would the people in those countries be poor and neglected? We can look at the same question in places like Venezuela and Nigeria.
The leaders in several of the middle eastern countries are corrupt. These leaders have bestowed on themselves all power, embracing guardianship or ownership of all the resources of their countries. There are little or no democratic institutions in place to manage the affairs of their countries. All power rests in the hands of individuals, authoritarians. Naturally, the people have little or no say, and they stay where they are.
Even if there are leaders with the desired management skills to govern their countries, a greater challenge is the age old problem between the different sects - the Sunnis and the Shiates. Whether it is Saudi Arabia or Iran, the respective countries have yet to produce a leader who would understand that the divide between the two sides, of the same religion, is at the crux of all problems in their region. And, to seek a solution is to their advantage, to their people, the faith and world peace. That is not their preference.
External forces, including the US have also to take blame for all the disarray we see today, in the middle east.
With all of this being said, there is a reason why the "Crazy Rich Asians" tell us a different story. Asia is not the middle east.
2
The Middle East could prosper if it would put its past behind it? A past that includes the US taking down seven ME countries in five years? We should have concentrated on jobs in the ME before blasting everything to smithereens. What were we thinking? Jobs in Reconstruction? And maybe more will be done if China steps in and Russia and others step aside who haven't a clue about winning friends and nation building.
2
There will never be peace in the Middle East (forget prosperity) because there is too much to gain from conflict and war.
The United States is by far the largest arms dealer in the world, while Russia is also doing pretty well on arms sales. Perpetual conflict between oil producing countries is a huge economic boon for arms dealers. We really couldn't care less about civil war in Yemen, since they don't have oil.
Imagine if Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emigrates all started to be allies, oil would be $200 a barrel. That would be really bad.
In the meantime, Israel can use this perpetual strife to continue grabbing land for settlements. Who is watching?
Imagine the Middle East became like China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. Now you really have a geopolitical headache.
3
So, Friedman, oiled up your shotgun this morning, I see. I can contribute a couple of points, if you'd like. First, energy independence, most critically petroleum independence for the US is critical when dealing with this garden spot. You can effectively have independence if you increase domestic production, and restrict imports only to our neighbors in Canada and Mexico. Increasing production does include offshore, but it can be made unobtrusive to the eye, if great minds are put to the issue. The above is not only possible, but easier to accomplish than trying to deal with this ridiculous part of the world.
Second, this nonsensecal political mess is what you get when religion is in charge, which means policies and actions are dictated by something other than reason and thought. Something to remember when the Onward Christian Soldiers republicans are up for election.
By the way, you allude to it briefly in this article, but just how is your invasion of Iraq going these days?
6
How can the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. not deserve a mention here? So much that has gone wrong in the Middle East can be traced to that colossal misadventure.
Also, China, along with being spared an invasion by the U.S. military, doesn't harbor within its borders an American-sponsored hostile surrogate like Israel.
8
@John H., Tom couldn’t see beyond his nose, when he was touting the Iraq war. Short sightedness is a quintessential American trait.
2
Mr. Friedman should proof read his columns and get rid of the laughable lines therein. Abdicate real diplomatic leadership?
When, pray tell, did the U.S ever had any semblance of diplomatic leadership in the Middle East?
Maybe Mr. Friedman refers to the overthrow of Mossadegh,, or the very successful peace keeping exercise in Lebanon, or the supply of weapons to the Iraqis during the Iran- Iraq war, or the splendid results of training the mujahedin in Afghanistan, or, more recently, the great victory following our invasion of Iraq, and I am sure Iam missing a few other great diplomatic endeavors.
Our sole and only Middle East policy since after World War II has been to protect the corrupt Saudi kleptocracy and its flow of oil to the world. That’s it.
9
Thanks, Tom. I found this column very illuminating. I hope that somebody in the WH gets some of these ideas in front of the President (even if by means of secretly putting papers on his desk). Time passes and the US needs to step up in certain foreign policy areas before chances slip away.
''So when Canada mildly criticized a Saudi Arabian human rights abuse, M.B.S. went nuclear on Canada and virtually broke off relations. It was an absurd overreaction. ''
The entire region is an overreaction and that is simply due to two (2) factors - Religion(s) and Dictatorships (Monarchical or otherwise)
The United States can't ''get out of the region'' anymore than Russia can. Both have interests (oil) and both prop up dictatorships. (You can devise who and where they are) If either ''superpower'' (Russia is just a glorified gas station at this point) were to pull back, then there would simply be a rush to claim that oil. (and wield the immense power that it creates)
Aye, because of religion, each grain of sand, or olive tree is fought over, their significance, and their meaning in relation to whatever God. Proclamations of divinity are absolute, and politicians do not give up their power that is derived from for fear of losing whatever political flank.
There is a stalemate and movement to and fro a few kilometers every decade or so, but that means nothing in relation to millennia old conflicts.
Personally I believe the only way for peace is for there to be a two state solution, where all pressure points and allegiances derive from that. The ripple effect outwards would be immense and the powers that be could then fight over what you talk about Mr. Friedman.
They could fight over education and human advancement - hopefully that would include all.
Just a thought.
58
@FunkyIrishman Christianity and Islam have done, and continue to do , so much damage to the world.
1
@FunkyIrishman The Palestinian issue was never the central problem of the middle east and a two state solution would not make the tiniest dent in the regions problems. By now one would expect people to get it but I guess not.
2
Friedman clearly has too high a view of M.B.S. and Saudi Arabia. M.B.S. has not shown himself to be anything other than a self-aggrandizing tyrant. H is not liberalizing anything. He is trying to modernize the economy, but his extra-legal actions to get his way are those of a despot, not a liberalizing reformer. Letting some women drive, while threatening to execute womens' driving advocates is an example. Net result certainly isn't a plus for women and their rights. Stopping corruption by locking up wealthy rivals in a hotel and torturing them until they are parted from their money and political ambitions is not reform. Despite the current administration's prattling on about how Iran is the greatest state sponsor of terror, that honor clearly goes to the Saudis, who have sponsored just about every Sunni terrorist organization from AQ and its off-shoots to ISIS and its offshoots and which breeds a world-wide culture of terror through its fundamentalist madrassas. Iran is well advised to be wary of the Saudis. The Sunnis vastly outnumber the Shiites and the Saudis have been radicalizing Sunnis around the world, including in the United States and Western Europe.
The war in Yemen is a travesty and our participation in it will haunt America for decades. More Middle Easterners are learning to hate us. President Trump getting us out of Syria is fine. Our presence has accomplished nothing, as in Iraq -- we encourage others to stick their necks out with no way to protect them.
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@allentown. However we may decide to relate to the countries in the Middle East we don’t have a right to tell them how to arrange the relations between the sexes. As if we have any sure fire way to do that, what with our overblown and manufactured “empowerment” of women, our increasing suicide among white men, our media’s newly found constant “discovery” of past or present “sexual harassment” or abuse, the concomitant rewriting of history and denial of changes in attitudes and mores. The lists goes on and on. Ours is about the most screwed up scene for relations between the sexes that I ever did see, and it continues to blithely go on and self flagellate.. I don’t see any complaining about them in the Middle East, how in the world is it our business to try and “correct” what the Muslims do on this in their own countries, even as strange as some of their customs appear to us. Just a thought here, one man’s (can I say “person’s”?) opinion.
@allentown Saudi Arabia is now being ruled by a guy who recently bought, on impulse, a450 million dollar painting and a $550 million yacht. Where did such a young man come up with that kind of cash? Maybe it came from the settlements to avoid prosecution from the billionaire investors, princes, & former ministers MBS arrested last year. Face it due process of law is an after thought in countries like Saudi Arabia...as it has always been. The young prince is simply consolidating his position for the throne. So much for his commitment to ending thievery. I wish Friedman would stop peddling articles that sell the Saudi narrative & ask some tough questions. MBS claims to be a reformer but leads a life which is the envy of ultra rich. MBS is a product of the same system he purports to loathe. MBS is as greedy & corrupt as they come. Dictators in this region never change their stripes. It will be interesting to see how much Saudi money has gone into buying the U.S. press, academia & government officials to sing the virtues of this Saudi boy-wonder. Don't be surprised if the end result is the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of an Islamic state. Saudi Arabia is going all out to create a positive spin and narrative. This columnist seems to be an a willing participant in this chicanery. The NYT should not be a party to this type of mendacity. It's embarrassing that Friedman continues to champion such an obvious corrupt autocrat .
1
We can't fix this for them. They have to want it for themselves. Our country is a great example of what happens when the people fight for the country they want. The civil war, the suffragettes, the civil rights movement, women's rights movement, and LGBT rights movement were all citizen led efforts to make our country better. Outsiders couldn't do the work for us, we had to want it for ourselves.
We need to take a step back and let the middle east sort itself out. Our resources should be used to invest in our own country. Our children deserve to enjoy the economic development that you want us to create for the middle east. Enough of nation building for countries that don't want our input.
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@Ami
The U.S. has fixed things in the Middle East, all right. Fixed them bad. Backing Israel's land grabs and violence, supplying the Saudi's murderous bombing in Yemen, drawn stupid lines trying to separate the good guys from the bad ones, pulled out of the Iran deal and refused to negotiate, and insulted Islam. Let them all kill each other, as long as it help our arms industry and keeps our oil coming.
I'm ashamed. We will pay.
@Ami well said--we continue to attempt to build houses of cards in countries with no foundation, and continue to be surprised when these houses collapse
@Ami The U.S. has tried to be an honest broker in the Middle East since the 1970s. What do we have to show for it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing except the trillion pf dollars we have wasted trying to solve this region's problems. Nothing except the thousands of American soldiers needlessly wounded, maimed, or killed. Nothing except the 900 billion we will spend on medical care & disability benefits for veterans who fought in the Middle East. And after all this wasted money and lives the region is as bad as it has ever been....worse. And Friedman's brilliant solution to this terrible on going tragedy is to waste more money, to put more boots on the ground, to put more American lives in harm's way. Am I the only one who finds this column revolting? Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. Least we forget Friedman was an early & enthusiastic supporter of the Iraq war. It's mind boggling how much this guy has been consistently wrong on the Middle East. He continues to sing the praises of Saudi Arabia's MBS who recently bought, on impulse, a $550 million yacht. Where did such a young man come up with that kind of cash? I wish Friedman would stop peddling articles that sell the Saudi narrative & ask some tough questions. MBS claims to be a reformer but leads a life which is the envy of ultra rich. MBS is a product of the same system he purports to loathe. MBS is as greedy & corrupt as they come. The NYT should not be a party to this type of reporting...it's embarrassing.
1
The Middle East now is like Europe during the Reformation, when Catholics and Protestants massacred each other. They will stop only, when a winner will emerge, I'm afraid.
4
Trump will be of no use in the Middle East. He does not understand the issues and he is not able to think strategically enough to make peace there.
Instead he is subject to the compliments and taunts of leaders including M.B.S. and will act accordingly.
Ross Douthat's column today asserts Trump's weakness and it is certainly apparent in the Middle East, which seems doomed to be both poor and crazy for the foreseeable future.
2
if you boil it down, is this column all about the paralyzing effects of imposing religion as a tactic for preserving the overweaning power of traditonal elites?
it appears in the Middle East there is no motive for improving things, even as he region sinks ever lower into poverty and chaos, because sectarian power struggles quash everything in their path. progress is not on the agenda as factions cling ever more tightly to their traditional power.
religion in the area is not a force for good in any way; it is toxic.
6
Having been to the Middle East on three separate occasions via combat courtesy of the US Army. It will take a long term commitment to effect change in the region which the America Public has no appetite for. We have backed all manner of strongmen from Saddam to Mubarak to maintain a steady supply of oil to have bases, to stage our troops abroad in the region, and to provide a counterweight to Iran.. We pay lip service to the rule of law and democracy when it comes to foreign countries. If Iran offered us unfettered access to their oil pipelines and allowed us build an air base on their soil, they would be our new best friends. Trump would go their with hat in hand while proclaiming how the ayatollahs have treated him 'fairly.' But Trump and company aren't willing to do the heavy lifting on diplomacy where diplomacy is viewed through the end of a nuclear missile to point at someone's throat.
4
"Being the reality principle, balancer and honest broker has been a U.S. role since the 1970s"
really? are you serious?
5
@poohbah, America’s honesty is like a snake swallowing it’s own tail. Twisted logic boomerangs, each time.
3
I would argue that the Middle East is in a mess for two reasons: First because they are locked into a cycle of war and revenge that has been going on for 1,000 years.
Second because the major powers are using them as proxies. We keep pouring money and equipment into the region. The person on the street may be suffering, but those at the top are doing just fine, thank you.
If the cycle is to ever end, I would say we must break it by pulling completely out of the Middle East, cutting off funding to all parties, yes that includes Israel, and letting them experience the full, awful consequences of their actions. I expect that others will move in to prop up the various satrapies and that there will be a multi sided war, I expect it will be very bad. It is not unprecedented however; it took Europe two world wars and millions of dead before they learned their lesson.
3
The Middle East would prosper if the,obscenely, wealthy Arab oil oligarchs would SHARE their wealth with their neighbors......if, each of,the Abrahamic religions (Jewish,Muslim and Christian)in the region.....didnt believe they were the EXCEPTIONAL one.......and if the Europeans had nurtured Democracy and its institutions .............instead of artificial colonial boundaries and favored despotic rulers............to control the oil supply and flow of profits .
The flawless and economic laws of cause and effect,ALWAYS
operating in nature..........WILL ultimately resolve the Middle Easts
problems !
4
Saudi-Arabia is just one of all the failing, backwards, extremist countries in the region. Some of them have abundant resources, others have nothing, all are equally socially backwards and dangerous to the rest of the world, exporting poverty, extremism, instability and violence. Which positive things do they also export? Nothing whatsoever. Not a single significant advancement or invention in science, medicine, philosophy, engineering or even weapons technology has come out of that region in modern times, except for Israel.
And now let's think of what makes the region different from any other in the world. There is one huge problem at work here, and it is not foremost what America does or does not do.
4
Even PresidentObama who was more likely to understand the intricacies that Friedman explained here couldn't put them into practice. Because our citizenry, many of the pundits included, have become dumb; that is why we have ended with Trump.
More over, our government, the Democrats included, have become increasingly beholden to the big corporations, which do not have a view for global or even domestic stability and prosperity, but profit increase for the next quarter. They want to pay as little taxes as possible with total disregard to the revenue that this country needs to secure and continue to build the foundation necessary more future growth.
We are in a time with no visionary and ethical leaders. Three thousand years of written history of China tells us what happened in times like that.
2
Friedman is correct that we shouldn't abdicate all of our influence in the Middle East or anywhere in the World for that matter, but how can we tell other countries what to do when we are falling prey to the same problems from which they suffer. In fact, someone should make a move called "Stupid, Lazy Americans." We are being lulled into a false sense of security by the tax cuts and allowing the fascist GOP to ruin our country. Like religion in the Middle East, we are soothing ourselves with consumerism, screens, alcohol, drugs and also religion. However, China does not have all of the answers, lest one believes in Totalitarianism. We need to wake up and realize that neither pure Capitalism nor pure Socialism is the answer. We need to stop blaming each other and stop allowing Trump to sow discourse between the parties. It is time for us to search our souls and find a new path to save the world.
2
Those in the Middle East are not the only crazy ones. We have a Congress now filled with angry, resentful Republicans who would rather fight than compromise. Who through gerrymandering and voter suppression have removed the sovereignty of the Congress from the people to the monied elite, those who pay for the elections of these men (mostly.) most people still don’t understand this shift.
Our nutso President is only slightly less willing to not compromise and he is busy antagonizing friends and sucking up to enemies. Think we can’t end up looking just like the Middle East? This voter is not so sure, given people like McConnell and Grassley who are only too happy to pretzelize the Constitution and the Congressional norms of behavior while straight-faced telling you that it’s perfectly alright. Lying seems like a way of being for these people — all of them — with no reason to change.
1
Mr. Friedman - your essay was notable in addressing why Team Obama failed so miserably in this region, despite running the establishment playbook. Clinton blew up Libya, and Kerry invited the Russians, dithered while Syria devolved into chaos and handed billions to Iran.
Trump has to first clean up the mess.
2
Any attempt to see the Middle East in the Good Guys/Bad Guys Lets start "winning" lens will fail. This is NOT WWII there is not two sides but a complex web of alliances and rivalries.; both overt and hidden. I cannot think of one American intervention that has not backfired horribly.
1
Asia versus Middle East? Big difference - religion!
1
@Ian, sorry most of Central Asia follows Islam. So do millions in South Asia...
2
In Singapore, social harmony is easier to achieve because of effective authoritarian government. Those who step out of line will experience the cane (sometimes literally). Over 20% of the population is Malay or Indian, and it is not clear that amity would necessarily prevail without the constraints imposed from the top.
We might also note that "Crazy Rich Asians", lauded for its promotion of diversity, ignores the non-Chinese segments of Singaporean society, and this has been widely noted in that country. Malays and Indians are "Asian" too.
3
@ERP, the movie depicted Malays and Indians (in turbans) as staff or working help..there was a sole lady in a sari in the background, in one of the extravagant parties hosted by the rich Chinese Singaporean family.
1
Mr. Friedman: thank you for your column explaining your take on Middle Eastern affairs. In his farewell address, President Eisenhower warned the country to be wary of the "Military Industrial Complex." He hit the nail on the head. The last projection I read regarding the cost of the Afghanistan war was $3.8 trillion including longterm medical care for our military personnel, inflation and interest on debt. Here's where good business practices may shed some light on our political inadequacy. For instance, what is the US ROI (return on investment). Politically, we seem to be in a more tenuous situation than when we entered Afghanistan. Socially, our country is more divided. And, militarily, has the US placed itself in a stronger military position. So, let's see if I have this right. In the areas I outlined above, political, social and military, we find ourselves in a more tenuous and weaker position after spending untold $billions, possibly $trillions of dollars of taxpayer revenues. I don't know of one successful businessman whose company management wouldn't have recommended making a hasty withdrawal. So, our continued efforts to waste taxpayer revenues falls precisely in the area that Eisenhower warned US citizens to be concerned about, the Military Industrial Complex." We don't belong in the Middle East. As my dad used to tell me when I opined my ideas, he simply stated, "son, don't you believe you should clean up your own room before trying to clean up the world?"
6
Kudos, Mr. Friedman. Vincit qui se vincit. This is the logic that has brought US empire to such an inglorious end. If we want people to pretend past events are not worth thinking about, that message will have to be delivered by someone who has not championed so many useless wars, occupations, military interventions and counter-insurgency operations in Iraq, Palestine, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria and beyond.
3
Great to see the Friedman column has recovered from its recent bout with Trump Derangement Syndrome. Its case today is that we should not contract out the on-ground regional military need to Saudi Arabia and Israel, both long time allies with serious skin in the game. Fair enough.
Personally, I don't see any way to avoid trying that based on the steculative assertion that it just won't work. Why should American boys die to help "Crazy Arabs".
1
So "The Middle East could prosper if it would put its past behind it." And I guess the number of shooting deaths could fall if sensible gun control were introduced and medical costs could fall with single payer insurance.
But the only certainly is that none of those things will happen any time soon.
Go figure.
4
Seriously, Mr. Friedman? The roots of most of today's complex problems in the Middle East, West Asia (and Russia) predate the establishment of first European colonies in North America, and you expect a simpleton like Trump to lead the way out of the morass?
Trump couldn't find his way out of a wet paper bag open on both ends, and he'd blame the paper bag for obstructing his way and blame the media for reporting that he was stuck.
6
One of our biggest problems, today, is the desire to become "crazy rich," one way or another. It would be nice if most people would have enough to live their live free of fear and want. Money is indeed the root of all evil, and so is late stage capitalism.
4
@ChesBay, yes "[i]t would be nice if most people would have enough to live their live free of fear and want," but I think the real problem is not capitalism but unchecked greed and a crony political system that allows such greed to thrive. The unlimited flow of money into the political system coupled with voracious, unchecked greed is the root of many of our political problems. It is killing us as a nation.
3
Trump will not broker a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, nor induce Saudis to be on track for the social reforms not excluding Islamic cultures, since they are not that attractive sources to tweet.
Good insights. The Middle East is a plutocratic-theocracy. The powers that be don’t care about the poverty of their citizens; in fact, it is in their best interest to keep them ignorant and poor. Unfortunately this same corrupt spirit seems to leaking into the American experience.
3
"If we abdicate it, we’ll just end up creating more crazy poor Middle Easterners."
We already abdicated when Trump farmed out our State Department to his son-in-law and the special interests connected to him , resulting in more dead people in the Middle East and more refugees hitting Europe, exacerbating the problems the E.U. has to deal with in addition to Trump's trade and sanction war. Trump's approach to foreign policy will be known to historians as The Trump Banana Doctrine.
2
@John Reynolds #FakeNews. Hillary created more economic migrants than Trump... just with her Libya debacle.
1
We will pay globally for many years, if not a generation, for Trump's ignorance of all things. He is the worst negotiator I have ever seen. He gets nothing for giving away, basically, the U.S. He is getting paid handsomely for it. When I saw a man who was a pow with McCain saying that both McCain and Trump love their country I knew we are doomed. How can someone seriously think Trump loves anything but himself.
5
Mr. Friedman chronicles the travail in the Middle East, but stops short of identifying the root cause of it all, religious belief and the edicts which govern social behavior. Both Islam and Judaism have people by the throat , sending them to live in the "Middle Ages".
4
@Alan, I for one was enamored of Judaism and specifically Israel for many years after the founding of modern day Israel. No more. The Jews who began it saw their religion as the glue that justified their existence ad held them together. They saw Israel as a haven for ALL Jews-- who had been persecuted and murdered becasue of their religion. Israelis have now ceded power to the Jewish fundamentalists. They now differ very little from their Arab brothers-- who use faith as a weapon of war; who claim they are better than the Other due only to this faith, not to any real accomplishments; who assert their power over women because...well, there's no logic, so attribute that to God (a man of course!) also. There is very little we can do about the ruination of Israel and the barbarism of the ME in total--from here in the west. Other than to learn from Middle East errors. We must insist that muslim immigrants to the States absorb OUR cultural values-- beginning with policing and deportation of men who participate in genital mutilation of girls. We must insist that the extremist Jews (so far mainly of New York) follow the laws of our secular nation, especially in age of marriage and education of young people. And most important, we must reassert our country as a secular nation and wrest control of government from the fundamentalist right wing Christians, now the focus of so much of our body politic's attention.
1
@karen Unfortunately for your analysis, the Zionist founders of Israel were overwhelmingly secular and socialist. Your analysis of Judaism is more a function of misinformation than factual deduction. Sometimes there are no equivalences to be found, and the respective effects of Islam and Judaism in the region is a case in point.
1
1- China and Japan were never colonized by the West in the way that the Middle Eastern Countries were. 2- China and Japan are not subject to the insanity of radical Islam. 3- China and Japan both have strong central governments, unifying forces for change which dragged both countries out of feudalism.
These are key reasons why the Middle East is and will be poor for the foreseeable future.
4
@elained Chinese and Japanese culture have also emphasized the importance of education, even if in China's case for many years that meant indoctrination. Perhaps also their religious beliefs ie Buddism , with its emphasis on acceptance and peaceful coexistence with nature, and the inevitability of suffering, have something to do with it as well.
1
Are you forgetting about the Opium Wars in China or the American occupation of Japan after WW 2?
2
I hope no Saudi or other Middle Eastern leader ever tells his subjects, “Hey, I am with you — but the Americans won’t let me do that.” Does Mr. Freeman fail to realize what would happen as a result? The whole country would revolt, the royal family lose control only to be replaced by religious extremists who would make ISIS look like amateurs by comparison. Every terrorist in the Middle East would then be given permission and full funding to attack the United States.
2
There he goes again. Among other things let's blame Israel again for being part of the problem. In fact, remove Israel from the equation and nothing would change. It is the nature and history of the middle eastern culture that has resulted in their predicament. Certainly foreign intervention and arbitrary imposed borders haven't helped, but they need to rise above this and enter the modern area. This us the conundrum.
4
saudi arabia is a lost cause as long as the "family" is in charge. Only a revolt will save the country.
2
Many good points Mr Friedman. Shouldn't we also compare the religious/cultural differences of the 2 regions - SE Asia with its Buddhist behavioral imprints onto traditional respect for family, more recently overlaid with a healthy (if forced) dose of Communist atheism ? Leaders of the Middle East's peoples of the Book have imprinted a culture of violence and hatred.
We did (and do) covet the oil. We could long ago - post WW II ? 1991 ? - have taken Saudi Arabia, re-assigned its populated edges, and returned the Hejaz to Jordan. But the U.S. is increasingly exposed for bad decision making. And we just seem to keep doubling down, choosing worse leaders to deal with an increasingly misunderstood status-quo.
2
"our allies Israel and Saudi Arabia ..."
With allies like these who needs enemies?
Mr. Friedman starts his article convincingly, bringing up good points regarding differences between the Middle Eastern and East Asian societies decisions and directions. I'd love to see more in depth historical and sociological analysis of the differences between the two regions, it must be more to it than crazy Middle Easterners deciding to stick to their guns and religion.
In the rest of the article Mr. Friedman still threads lightly around his pal M.B.S and refuses to call Saudi Arabia's actions by what they are: Atrocities in Yemen and possible crimes again humanity. Similarly Israel's moving away from democratic pretenses, giving extreme power to a fraction of Orthodox Jews, while keeping Palestinians to rot in their place.
By they way, why aren't you calling Saudi's ruler by his full name, Mohammad bin Salman? Does it sound too Arabic/Islamic, or a western sounding acronym just sounds cooler?
3
I wonder whether the relative prosperity in Asia and demise of Middle East is related to the degree of influence from religion...
2
What a wooly-headed article! Israel should live off its past, but the Arab Middle East should put its past behind it?
"Our allies Israel and Saudi Arabia...": are they really allies? The Saudi Arabian leader is not elected, and Israel gets what it wants via AIPAC, and has arranged it so that criticism is deemed anti Semitic. If these are allies, then we are in real trouble.
M.B.S. is a vain ambitious autocrat, the type the British made deals with when they colonized India, in order to implement their "divide and conquer" strategy.
Friedman should visit Middle Easterners in silicon valley: entrepreneurial groups like Techwadi are flourishing.
6
@Baddy Khan Dear Baddy: read his books. hard to make sweeping criticisms from one article. He is more savvy than you could imagine.
Tom takes a decent stab at the complexity of Saudi Arabia, but continues the neglect of Iran. Yes, it has ambitious militants and still has memories of the horrors it lived through after we toppled its democratic government. It also has a strong impulse towards modernity and a large middle class with Western ambitions. America, unfortunately, has lost all impulse towards being an honest broker, and instead plays favorites based historically on corruption and impulse.
2
East Asia has become prosperous-Japan, South Korea, Singapore, coastal China, and Taiwan. China alone has lifted 500,000,000 of its people out of poverty. Thailand is doing well and Vietnam is doing better.
What these countries have in common is not adding territory to increase their national wealth, but developing their human capital through education.
We could all learn from these lessons.
With great natural resources Russia should be prosperous, but decades of corrupt oligarchic government and military adventures have had their costs.
We could all learn from these lessons.
9
The defunding of UNRWA is particularly short-sighted and deserves far more attention. There are only two sources of schools and hospitals in the Gaza Strip: UNRWA and Hamas. Trump and Kushner have just unilaterally determined who will be teaching and caring for the Palestinian people.
5
Thomas, over the years I wish you could be a special NATO, UN or United States envy to the Middle East (how bout all three at the same time?). America needs big thinking, big global understandings that preclude obvious tribal, personality driven foreign policy. Trump is causing the American 'Humpty-Dumpty' Mid Eastern good will and influence to fall to pieces the past 20 months and as we all know putting Humpty back together again is gonna be a challenge if not a long termed disaster.
1
Bla, bla, bla. What’s with your love of dictators? The Prince of Darkness with US targeting, pilot training and airplanes, and weapons is neck deep in the Houthi genocide.
5
I think cutting aid to UNRWA and the Palestinians is a good move. Since when is it a good policy to support terrorists. UNRWA schools aren't secular but aid and abet Hamas and PLO. Also using our money to reward terrorists in Jail for murder isn't what America should e supporting. UNRWA is supporting undemocratic and terror policies which are abusing Palestinians. If the leader of Saudi Arabia can't be trusted what makes TF think that Hamas and the PLO are sincere negotiating partners. Our President has it right Jerusalem is off the table and so are the return of fake refugees.
TF does have it right for progress to happen in the region. For peace and prosperity to reign in the Arab Middle East democracy and economic and religious reform must take hold. The Arabs need to recognize Israel and make peace with it. Then the Palestinians will not be hold outs and will follow in recognizing Israel's rights to live in peace in the region.
6
The middle east is like a beloved child that has gotten hooked on heroin. The heroin is comprised of a volatile mix of idealization of a conquering Islam of the past, a cult of perpetual victimhood, a toxic masculine honor culture, and a cynical leadership which exploits every squabble in order to distract from its looting of the people. The parents (namely the international community) try and try to help, expending vast sums of money in the process, but at the end of the day only the person themselves can make the changes necessary to succeed. Blaming the United States falls into the hands of the kleptocrats. Vietnam had every reason to blame the United States after the war. Instead it realized that it would have to move on and did. It is now a key ally of the United States and a rising economic power. Arabs should do the same.
3
@bartleby, Vietnam took control of their national destiny by defeating the United States in a war. So it is easier for them to "move on."
In Asia we see Chinese suppression of the Tibetans and Uighurs, genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar, rampant Hindu chauvinism and anti-Muslim pogroms in India, and the ongoing disaster that is Pakistan. It is not really ideal compared with the Middle East or any other region. Thomas Friedman's main argument seems to be that the US needs to remain engaged in the Middle East, but according to his own examples our engagement does not seem very successful. Maybe it is time to let them sort out more of their own problems and minimize our involvement. And would we not be doing that anyway,except for one thing -- Israel. Always it comes back to Israel and our relationship with them. It is time to rethink the relationship. How does it really benefit us?
6
@sd, only India is a true democracy in the names you mentioned, Pakistan being a wannabe.
2
Lots of verbiage here on all sides. I just look at the photo attached to this piece and think I’ve seen enough of these photos from every single place in the ME where we’ve gotten involved. The irrational tribalism and eternally flammable, retrograde religious conflicts have led to nothing but destruction. Perhaps there really is nothing wrong with turning away from this part of the world.
Hey don't worry Jared's on the case ... his big move was to cut all the funding to the Palestinians. Which I read there's some.. maybe many in the Israeli military who don't think that's a good idea. Anyway he'll fix it all for you Mr Friedman
2
Lets be honest Thomas Friedman, the Middle East is n economic disaster because they have oil and the Western Nations wanted it cheaply and were willing to destroy the Middle East to get it. If a country doesn't have natural resources the West doesn't care much about the region. Oil is the reason and Afghanistan has a 7 Trillion Dollar cache of minerals the West would like to get it's hands on. So the US creates this illusion that terrorism is a global problem and then conveniently neglects to mention that Western and US foreign policies are the underlying cause of terrorism. Basically US imperialism and Empire building has destabilized the world. The historical records speak for themselves. The species of Westernized homo sapiens that inhabit the planet may be the ultimate reason for humanities demise. That and climate destruction caused by the same self absorbed species.
7
@jeff bunkers
Every single word of that is nonsense, and I mean all of it. The Middle East hasn't been destroyed for its oil. Afghanistan doesn't have seven trillion anything, except for grains of sand. The cause of terrorism is the caesura between the modern world and medieval values. Holy cow.
7
@jeff bunkers
There are dozens of Middle Eastern countries that do not have oil. Yet not a single one has managed to build a modern democratic secular society.
It makes total sense that our interventions would make us targets of terrorism. But we cannot be blamed for their obvious propensity to kill each other.
6
From supporting the Shah prior to the Iranian revolution, to arming Israel to the teeth to the tune of 3 billion per year, to invading Iraq, to participating in the destabilization of Lybia, America has played a major role creating the nightmare that is now the Middle East. We have done far more harm than good, so I think it’s time that we admit there are world events we simply can’t, in any meaningful way, influence and, instead of continuing to waste American lives and dollars, let events play out as they will. Terrible things will happen in the Middle East whether we choose to participate or not.
11
I’d be crazy and poor as well if some superpower had followed Mr. Friedman’s earlier advice to bomb my region into the Stone Age, unleash sectarian violence on an unimaginable scale and generally pour gasoline on countless simmering conflicts. Trump’s regional policies are potentially dangerous, but Friedman’s have been actual and resulted in rivers of blood. We won’t get fooled again.
12
Trump has given these countries an opportunity these areas cannot ignore. The USA is without a leader, without a state department, without a foreign policy, and effectively without a military. We have no influence in the world. This is an historic opportunity for China, and the Middle East to advance their own interests without US restraint. They are obliged to do this to the benefit of their own people no matter how many others are killed. If one takes in climate change which is unfolding as predicted, these areas are grossly overpopulated already, so they do not care how many of their own people are killed as long as their leadership remains in power. And clearly the American people do not care. Its every country for themselves now.
2
I don’t understand the importance of endlessly underlining that Trump and his Administration are made up of incompetents. Not to mention corrupt lackeys.
It is a strange dream world to imagine sensible actions or even understanding from either the Administration or Congress.
4
Islam got its start 600 years after Christianity and is currently about 1,300 years behind.
With the exception of Israel, the Middle East is too focused on blind devotion to a text, making babies, and jealousy of the West's advanced civilization that occurred when we stopped focusing on blind devotion to a text and making babies.
Until the theocracy of the Middle East is wiped out, there is no hope. Traditional Islam is incompatible with the freedom of thought required to become a wealthy people, wealth that is not from digging holes in the ground.
9
@Son of the American Revolution, juveniles all. The human species is like at least 200,000 years old! Ancient civilizations had studied it all, cosmos universe consciousness everything..the young Abraham cousins are wannabes.
1
Many other countries also practice a form of "Make [My Country} Great." That's why Mr Friedman's logic: Their leaders actually need us to draw redlines for them, too, so they can tell their own hotheads and extremists, “Hey, I am with you — but the Americans won’t let me do that.” rings hollow.
The notion that a tyrant, despot or even democratically elected leader would or could use the US (esp under Trump) as an excuse for drawing any lines, let alone convincing "hotheads and extremists" to do something because the US said so, is CRAZY, RICH, and so AMERICAN. Not in this day and age.
1
The jabbering class rarely comes up with specific solutions, only generalities. Anyone can enumerate the problems and propose general solutions but no person can propose a specific step by step solution. That's because there is none.
Natural selection is still operant in the Middle East.
Let us not forget that after the First World War the French and English carved up the Middle East to their liking. They created countries out of air with no concern for ethnic or religious differences. They robed countries of their natural resources. The U.S. overthrew the government in Iran and interfered in the internal affairs on other countries in the area. The Balfour declaration gave the Zionist a blank check to over take Palestine at the expense of the indigenous Arab population and then after the 1948 war the Zionist armies forced out thousands of Palestinians from their homes.( read ilan pappe The ethnic cleansing of Palestine). We invaded Iraq and created chaos. So now we are to blame the people of the Middle East for the mess they are in? The western powers must accept there share of the blame.
6
@Vincent L
"...then after the 1948 war.."
You mean the war where 5 armies attacked Israel because they couldn't bear the thought of a tiny Jewish enclave amid 3 million square miles of Arab land? That one?
6
Any column that has the words “Trump thinks” followed by a substantive policy concept is misguided. Trump’s policy toward the Middle East is to support Israel because his Evangelical supporters demand it. Trump could not care less about consequences of his actions beyond their effect on his popularity and ability to retain power. Mr. Friedman is a solid commentator with whom one might fairly agree or disagree. However, he like many commentators makes the mistake of imputing onto Trump a desire to make life better for people other than himself. It’s just not true and should not enter any analysis of his motivations.
And just as an aside, China’s success is attributable to granting its people the right to free market capitalism in exchange for continued restriction and oppression of civil rights, which was a devil’s bargain too eagerly accepted. It is not something other countries should follow.
10
@M.i. Estner**** Now that is on the money ...
1
These articles from Commentary Magazine are a bit dated now, but so are the longstanding efforts of UNRWA to aid Hamas and damage Israel.
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/what-aid-t...
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/terrorism/unrwas-terrorist-connections/
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/middle-east/unrwa-give...
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/united-nations/how-unr...
2
says the guy who had nothing but glowing praise for MBS! who is an apologist for apartheid Israel, who supported the Iraq war as a pat fir democracy in the Arab world.......
11
Mr. Friedman ... Don’t you ever tire of writing about the MIddle East ... such a waste of your talent and time ...
So let’s take stock of Saudi Arabia after the “reforms” of Mohammad BS that Friedman admires so much:
“The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, a human-rights group, said 146 people were executed in 2017, slightly less than the 154 executed in 2016. ‘Such a level of executions has not been witnessed since the mid 1990s,’ the group said in a report released this week. The group said that as of April 2018, Saudi authorities had executed 47 people and were on pace to meet last year’s figure. Dozens more, it said, continue to face the death penalty, including some under the age of 18.” The executions are mostly public beheadings, but also include crucifixions. Beheadings for murder, adultery, atheism, and sorcery and witchcraft.
There are no churches or synagogues.
Central tenants of Wahhabism: hatred of all non-Wahhabi Muslims, particularly Shia (considered apostates) and all non-Muslims.
Wahhabism remains the main ideological foundation for Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Virulently anti-Semitic. No Israelis allowed - though Saudi Arabia and Israel are allies.
Absolute monarchy and theocracy.
Women finally allowed to drive in 2018 is considered a “reform.” Women still must be under guardianship of father, husband or adult son if widowed. Gender apartheid.
Exploited foreign workers who do all the work.
War crimes in Yemen with US weapons and logistics.
That’s Mohammad BS’, Trump’s, Netanyahu’s and Friedman’s moderate Islam.
Your answer to why the Middle East remains such a mess.
8
The problem is their religions. Progress is impossible where people are willing to kill each other because they think they know what their invisible friend is thinking.
10
The Middle East is today, what it has always been, a pot to split under colonization. Think Picot and Balfour, the people of the ME had nothing to do with the power play, then or now.
Israel, under Netanyahu has simply added to apartheid to better their own myopic self interests. That in a nutshell, is the story of the ME, from MBS to Iran. Trump is an incompetent fool who knows nothing and Jarret wants a Jewish Orthodox Israel. Self interest hides the forest for the trees.
5
just wow. I don't know where to start but how about "fighting over who owns which olive tree" Could this shallow analysis be any more offensive? If you were thinking of reading, dont.
3
@SB
Let's see, they're killing each other in Yemen, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Libya, and don't forget Turkey vs the Kurds. I suppose you can offer rational, non-offensive reasons?
1
Neither 6 million Christian nor Muslim Arab Palestinian Israelis are divinely naturally created equal persons with certain unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to the 6.1 million Zionist Jewish Israelis in Israel, West Bank, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
Jesus Christ was a left-wing socialist civil community human rights organizer. See Matthew 25:31-46.
Zionists Jews were left-wing secular socialist ethnic supremacists seeking a nation that was good and safe for Jews. America is that country with 40% of the world's 16 million Jews. Another 40% of Jews live in Israel, West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem.
The cruel evil inhumane notion that finance aka money trump's the quest for human civil rights is abhorrent to our human nature and nurture. Becoming the next Sheldon Adelson or Haim Saban or Jared Kushner or Ari Emanuel or Mohammad Bin Salman or King Salman or Michael Bloomberg or Jeff Zuckerberg is not a normal natural humble humane empathetic moral goal.
5
Unfortunately for us, and for those poor citizens living in the Middle East, there are just too many social, cultural, political, and economic balls in the air for Trump to both understand and then construct an effective middle east strategy. We are the proverbial large unmoored ship without a captain drifting here and there in world desperately needing a safe harbour to land.
1
Oh pulleaze... the royal families in the gulf petro states have stolen all the oil money for themselves, that is why there are no roads or sewers or anything else usable throughout the middle east.
I get it; Freidman is pro-israel. But to write this essay and ignore the impact of the monarchies throughout the ME is just straight up negligent.
10
The 'craziest' idea you can have about the Middle East is that they want to get along. Israelis, Palestinians, and Arabs all want to destroy each other. None of them sees getting along with the other as a solution. They all know that their hatred for each other is so inbreed that it's never gong away.
4
The Palestinian funding cut of US funds is from the Taylor Force Act which is part of the budget passed in March. About $300 million per year of US taxpayer funds intended for helping Palestinians have been diverted to reward terrorists and their families for years. The Taylor Force Act withdraws that funding as long as the Palestinians are funding terror. The moment they stop funding terror, they will have their funds. Friedman knew this, but did not disclose this.
WSJ: Pay for Slay in Palestine
U.S. aid becomes a transfer payment for terrorists
https://www.wsj.com/articles/pay-for-slay-in-palestine-1490653597
By signing a bad agreement with Iran and releasing Iranian money frozen in accounts, Obama's action added gasoline to the fire of violence in the Middle East. Obama's actions were against the advice of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and (now) Democratic Sen Minority Leader Schumer.
General David Petraeus has backed Trump's acts to renovate the agreement and to reapply sanctions on Iran.
Former CIA Head Says He Backs U.S. Pullout From Iran Nuclear Deal
https://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Former-CIA-head-says-he-backs-US-pul...
I feel frustrated that Friedman, who clearly knows about The Taylor Force Act passed by Congress does not disclose that the US funds are contingent on Palestinians defunding terror.
Friedman should discuss that Obama's Iran deal contributed to these maelstrom in the Middle East by unfreezing Iranian assets.
4
It is honest and easy to declare that Trump is A.W.O.L. on the Middle East. But, his absence isn't limited to the Middle East. It is everywhere. Nothing on Infrastructure. Nothing on curbing gun violence. Nothing more than screaming on immigration policy. Nothing on improving our environment
it isn't being hyperbolic to suggest that this president's focus is almost exclusively on developing and sending insulting tweets. Regardless of whether or not you approve or disapprove of this president's performance, the vast majority of Americans expect their president to be more concerned about their welfare than his.
4
Israel HAS given up a lot for peace when partners came to the table. It gave Egypt the entire Sinai - about 2/3rds of its total land mass!!!! It walked away from Gaza a decade ago and gave it entirely to the Palestinians who turned it into a tunnel building missile launching terrorist base while completely eliminating any vestige of the Israeli entrepreneurs who had greenhouses and businesses they walked away from there. Israel offered up most of the West Bank and a small piece of Jerusalem to only be stood up by the PLO.
Palestinians stick to their declarations to kill all Jews everywhere and drive every Jew in Israel into the sea - and their flag is everyday proof of their desire. And what exactly have the Palestinians brought to the table???
9
@Andrew
Precisely. As Israeli statesman and UN Ambassador Abba Eban pronounced back in the sixties, the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. And until that mindset changes, the Palestinians are doomed to eternal poverty and fanaticism.
2
If you look closely enough, the backbone of all gulf countries from orthodox Saudi to rich borderline liberal Dubai, is their Asian labor. All the human beings who work day and night to make the place function operate and run, are the hired help, the Asians from South Asian subcontinent to Filipinos to Indonesians. These folks do not make up the rich, they are content with earning a salary which they can send as remittance to their poor families back home, where they can rise form poverty and live a fairly decent middle class life. The conditions these poor Asians live in, the mental and physical toils, enough has been written about that. In fact those crazy rich Singaporeans themselves employ the poor Filipinos and Indonesians, these Singaporeans do not even lift a finger to make their own cup of tea (just like their Arab counterparts).
The mess the middle east is in today, ancient civilizations in rubbles, wiped out and destroyed, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, little children being bombed, uprooted, misplaced, shoved around refugee camp to refugee camp....is a spectacle that is both disgusting and enormous in its magnitude. If aliens from other planets were to descend in the middle east, they would wonder what kind of species are humans, who kill each other, maim, destroy, destruct...in the name of politics, religion, territory, whatever.
Do not underestimate the role and formation of Israel, in the mix of these problems.
14
"Being the reality principle, balancer and honest broker has been a U.S. role since the 1970s. If we abdicate it, we’ll just end up creating more crazy poor Middle Easterners."
John Kelly on Trump: "He's an idiot. It's pointless to try to convince him of anything. He's gone off the rails. We're in crazytown ... I don't even know why any of us are here."
You bring up many good points, Mr. Friedman. Unfortunately, they will have to wait for another president.
3
Dear Mr Friedman
You should know better.
It is the Persian Gulf, not the Arab Gulf.
5
And Mr Friedman asks that the Middle East jump over its own shadow.
With their present a ruin and their future immeasurably bleak, what do the Palestinians, for example, have but their past? Which Mr Friedman would have them abandon.
Oh, the inanity.
4
Why can’t Middle Easterners make their own future?
The Germans did after millions of them became refugees (to give just one example).
I just got back from Albania—to give another example. There’s not a lot of love lost between them and the Serbs over Kosovo, but all sides seem to have more than just their past to live for.
Namely, making a modern European state for themselves and their children.
3
@A S Knisely Considering that the Palestinian Arabs harken back to what they call "historic Palestine" which they define by showing a map of Mandatory Palestine as it existed in 1923 - the year after the UK severed 78% of the original Mandate territory to create what is today Jordan - that’s not much of a history they are being asked to give up.
In any event, that map delineated what the international community of the time determined to be the historical homeland of the Jewish people throughout which they were given the right to settle (except on privately held land, which formed a small percent of the total).
The Arabs were given the remaining 99.75% of the Middle East lands of the former Ottoman Empire to rule over, so it’s hard to call them victims.
Yes the U.S. has tried to be an honest broker in the Middle East since the 1970s. What do we have to show for it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing except the trillion pf dollars we have wasted trying to solve this region's problems. Nothing except the thousands of American soldiers needlessly wounded, maimed, or killed. Nothing except the 900 billion we will spend on medical care & disability benefits for veterans who fought in the Middle East. And after all this wasted money and lives the region is as bad as it has ever been....worse. And Friedman's brilliant solution to this terrible on going tragedy is to waste more money, to put more boots on the ground, to put more American lives in harm's way. Am I the only one who finds this column revolting? Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. Least we forget Friedman was an early & enthusiastic supporter of the Iraq war. It's mind boggling how much this guy has been consistently wrong on the Middle East. He continues to sing the praises of Saudi Arabia's MBS who recently bought, on impulse, a $550 million yacht. Where did such a young man come up with that kind of cash? I wish Friedman would stop peddling articles that sell the Saudi narrative & ask some tough questions. MBS claims to be a reformer but leads a life which is the envy of ultra rich. MBS is a product of the same system he purports to loathe. MBS is as greedy & corrupt as they come. The NYT should not be a party to this type of reporting...it's embarrassing.
6
@Bill Brown
Sorry, but you are completely conflating two situations.
The boots on the ground and the money spent as a result have nothing to do with peace in the ME and everything to do with US imperialism. Invading Iraq and Afghanistan had nothing to do with the US being 'an honest broker'.
While I completely agree with your point about the corrupt MBS (you forgot to mention his purchase of the worlds most expensive painting at $450.3 million), this has nothing to do with peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
1
Step one:
The radical "conservative" Israelis must give up their claim, plan and hope to capture all the biblical territories, full stop.
11
@Prometheus
There has never been an independent political entity named "Palestine" in all of world history. The word itself was derived from a Hebrew verb as old as the bible; it's how the Romans created the word after their invasion and conquest.
And it's why it's so similar to "Philistine"; both come from the same verb, "(to) invade". How 'bout that!
1
@Robert Arnow
According to your logic and belief system, most of the U.S would have to be returned to the Native Americans.
This is basically what you are doing in the settlements; except you are the Indians.
Read Norman Finkelstein
https://www.facebook.com/Norman-Finkelstein-308949505808407/
@Prometheus
What?
Get the Native Americans to unite into one people and fight the US armed forces and win. See that happening? I don't.
Why is the crazy poor Middle East automatically America's fault?? America is a confused neophyte when it comes to dealing with tribal feuds and endless warfare that go back centuries. Our problem is that we never know which thug we should support and we always get it wrong. From Wilson to Trump the Middle East has become American nightmare. Enough is enough. And I find the timing very suspicious that articles about the Middle East, especially when it comes to Israel always appear just before the major Jewish holidays.
Have a very happy 5779 Tom.
4
We caused the middle east and Israel to be the worlds’ time bomb heading into world war 3.
America has tried restructuring the tribes and zealots into viable political entities,coalitions that continue falling apart.
We never see the humanity in these countries being set upon by our warmongering.
We bomb and want to believe no civilians and their homesteads and farms are in line of fire.
We use the people ,whose countries we destroy,as our scouts and interpreters and informants.
Then we abandon them in the country we destroyed and encouraged them to be our operatives.
America has a sickness and it has been in denial since the “ founding fathers “created our nation out of a federation of young states.
The fester of autocracy was always hidden beneath the surface.
America is a nation of racist hypocrites full stop?
I am despondent for my country and all the soldiers who obey orders and maintain the wars presidents start and congress condones by great silence and inaction.
Mutiny should be occurring Generals ! Your leader is a despot.
Kelly and Matis should be tried in a military court for aiding and abetting the destruction of law and order under our dictator.
4
When Trump tweeted "Don't let that happen!" He was appealing to someone else to stop them. Sort of like a person getting robbed yelling "Stop. Thief!" As you demonstrate, that someone else doesn't exist.
2
"Arab Gulf"? LOL! No such place exists except in the mind of those taking Saudi payola. That body of water has been called the Persian Gulf for millennia. Nice try.
5
Thomas Friedman, prophet of globalism, is going to point the finger now while Trump stands in the White House? Unbelievable.
1
You were a vocal proponent of regime change in Iraq, which has been an unmitigated disaster. You proposed overthrowing Assad, which would’ve been similarly disastrous. Your solution for the region is that everyone just forget their past. And somehow Trump is the dumb one?
5
With pervasive American interference, plus the older colonial powers UK and France the Middle East has never been given any opportunity to escape its past. Add to that the malign ethnic cleansing carried out by foreigners to the Middle East (Israel) and you have a toxic brew.
Mr Friedman's simplisities and simplistic!
3
Modern Islam is not known for robustly engaging in contemporary science. Consider the words of Barack Obama, in praise of Muslims for their scientific contributions to civilization:
"It was Islam that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe’s Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed." (Cairo; June 4, 2009)
It is a shame that many in the Arabic world have not been able to overcome their tribalism and religious fundamentalism and extremism. If they can ever manage to do that, they can take control of their own destinies while other nations are asleep at the wheel, entranced by their own self-serving and sometimes solipsistic tendencies.
Read (google) the article "Why the Arabic World Turned Away from Science" by Hillel Ofek in The New Atlantis.
"Algebra, algorithm, alchemy, alcohol, alkali, nadir, zenith, coffee, and lemon: these words all derive from Arabic, reflecting Islam’s contribution to the West." Most of the names of the stars in the sky are Arabic words.
"... the great age of Arab science demonstrates that there is no categorical or congenital barrier to tolerance, cosmopolitanism, and advancement in the Islamic Middle East."
5
What strikes me about the article is its hypocrisy. If Middle East is poor, disorganized,battered, what is Mr. Friedman doing personally to improve conditions? Author earned a nice living there while he was the Times newspaper's correspondent, and returns often to give well paid speeches IN ENGLISH to sympathetic audiences of wealthy Kuwaitis, even plays golf with them, but I see no evidence of personal sacrifice, of a commitment! Why not give back big time,Mr. Friedman?Donate, in the form of a tithe, perhaps 20 percent of your annual income to the victims of Saudi bombing strikes in Yemen, volunteer with an n.g.o to go to 1 of the suburbs outside of Damascus to work with casualties, those who have survived attacks from Syrian air force planes dropping bunker bombs! Middle East has afforded you a nice living. Time to return the favor by helping the less fortunate there. The rest is just talk.Typical of those on the left to deplore the poverty and desperation of the folk without being willing to commit to making an effort to ameliorate conditions for those living with hopelessness. Casualties of Syrian air strikes, who would not have been targeted if 0bama had enforced his red line ultimatum to Assad in 2012 and destroyed his air force, are crying out for tangible assistance, and an editorial in the Times newspaper is not likely to be of any succor or consolation."Il faut ce qu'il faut,"Mr. Friedman!
1
I guess trump never read, “ The Art of the Deal.” Oh yeah, he wrote it. I forgot.
3
At least know FACTS on the GROUND reality in WEST TRANSJORDAN has been acknowledged by the White House.
Greater Israel with Jerusalem as its capitol.
At least no more fake news from all sides.
1
Mr. Friedman must have a standard world map on his office wall. He has also lived in Middle East for many years as a journalist and must know better than most how indignant Iranians become (and, presumably, how delighted the Saudis will be) if someone calls the Persian Gulf "Arabian Gulf." Then could anyone please explain what purpose is he serving by doing that? Is that also the New York Times' position?
4
Crazy Rich Asians is about a tiny elite in Singapore. You could certainly make a movie about Crazy Rich Saudi Princes or Crazy Rich in Abu Dhabi. The premise of this article is silly.
4
@M, Bollywood has made thousands of crazy rich south Asians movies! With tons of songs and dances thrown in, pure entertainment.
2
Asia is booming , and the Arab Middle East is tanking .
Why ?
Three answers :
1. The total absence of religion from daily life and the education system vs. predominance of religion in every aspect of daily life .
2. Population control vs. irresponsible and uncontrollable birth rate perpetuating poverty and backwardness .
3. Outstanding leadership vs. cruel dictatorships bent on self survival at any cost .
There you have it !!! .
4
"became prosperous not by discovering natural resources but by tapping its human resources — men and women — and giving them the tools to realize their potential."
Yes. And we did this in the US during and after WW2 - women going to work, the GI bill, supporting schools and infrastructure, the US built a strong middle class. When more people do well in life, we are stronger together.
But as in the middle east, our country is more divided, first economically, and using the "fear" of differences to divide us. But the people, all of our children, are our greatest resource. When there are enclaves of social, educational and economic poverty, we are wasting our greatest resource.
One can complain about the cost of education (school, training, social....etc.) but it is not nearly as large as the cost of ignorance. We need investment in all of the people, not just the chosen cliques here or worldwide.
1
"The Middle East could prosper if it would put its past behind it."
In the Middle East, past, present and future are intermingled. (Actually this is not so out of the ordinary. Just when has the US put its past behind it? Is the Civil War really over? But that is off topic).
Any solution to anything requires that reality function within this time-warp as well as recognize that negotiations everywhere reflect a shuq or bazaar mentality. As for the US writing blank checks, just what was Mr. Obama doing in Syria? And that was not his only blank check, but then his real checks were also painfully ignorant of the Middle East.
So Mr. Friedman, the Muslim world will not put the history of the Sunni-Shiite schism behind it and under the surface the Jews will always be dhimmis and that includes the Jewish interlopers in Muslim Palestine. The past will live on and any solution that expects the past to go away will be the one to create "Crazy Poor Middle Easterners", as well as many dead ones.
4
The last paragraph made me laugh. 'Honest broker' has hardly been the U.S. role since the 1970s. We are talking of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict aren't we?
The Palestinians have always had to negotiate with two groups of devoted Zionists: The Israeli's and the American 'brokers'. The Israeli's and the Americans effectively formed one team, often coordinating their plans with each other, leaving the Palestinians out.
The ideal of Zionism, namely Jewish self determination in the land of Israel (which consecutive US administrations have shared), could not have been realized without some form of ethnic cleansing. (Which is exactly what happened in 1948.) Imagine having to negotiate, decade after decade, with the help of a 'broker' who basically expects you to endorse your own expulsion and dispossession...
If there were a global prize for self-restraint, the Palestinian negotiators would definitely deserve it.
5
Let me see if I understand you. Trump being a Putin property is horrible, but Bibi being owned by Putin is just fine.
2
Like any sovereign state, Israel will do whatever is in Israel’s best interest to do to protect its citizenry, its sovereignty, and its identity as the Jewish Homeland...the manifestation of the right to Jewish self-determination upon their own indigenous ground.
After suffering millennia of conquest, exile, inquisitions, pogroms, and genocide...followed by decades of war and terrorism...the Jewish Nation is perhaps no longer willing to appease and capitulate. In any case, neither appeasement, capitulation, nor compromise on their part has ever gained them even one day of real peace.
3
@Shenoa When has Israel ever appeased, capitulated or even compromised? You use grand words for both the Jewish suffering and the glorious new land of Israel, but have you ever tried to imagine yourseff in the shoes of a Palestinian, kicked ofrom his ancestral land and not allowed to return?
Why is that, do you think? Because Israel CANNOT let them return, as the Jewish majority depends on them remaining refugees.
I wish people would be honest and admit that it is not because of anything the Palestinians did that they are refugees, but simply because Israel needs them to stay out. Without ethnic cleansing the creation and continued existence of Israel would have been impossible. That fact has been obscured by blaming the Palestinians, as if their behavior would have changed anything...
4
@Shenoa
The reason the Israeli/Palestinian problem is so intractable is that the Palestinians also feel that
"neither appeasement, capitulation, nor compromise on their part [will gain] them even one day of real peace."
When both sides come to the negotiating table with this mind set failure is inevitable.
1
@rxft
The reason that the Israel/Palestinian situation is so intractable is bacause the Arabs, having rejected partition in 1947 (despite their having been gifted nearly 80% of the former Ottoman province, now called Jordan), are STILL trying to win the war they started 70 years ago....and lost. Yes, they still hope to destroy Israel one way or another, no matter how long it takes. Their children are already lining up to become ‘martyrs’. You can thank UNRWA for that....
Too late. We have abdicated by electing an ignorant man President and decimating the Department of State.
2
Many years ago, I visited Israel for the first time. It occurred to me that people were spending their lives killing each other over particular pieces of dirt.
It remains true to this day.
If we studied human biology and psychology, perhaps we could learn how to make “world affairs” a win-win deal, rather than “I beat you” one.
2
I agree with many of the columnist's comments. I do, however wonder about his credibility, as he was an initial supporter of the Iraq War (and no, I never was). But one of his points is the value of moving forward from the past. So here I ask myself, can I do the same?
1
The article started with a broader view of today's tragic middle east. Then, it seems to me, the article turned to be about M.B.S., the shiny object in the Middle East of interest to the west. MBS is no reformer, he is a brutal dictator seeking a cover to do his deeds before anyone in the west is the wiser. He is just as King Faiasl was, a wolf in a reformer's clothing. Faisal was courted by the west and was proclaimed as a reform, he brought TV to the Saudi Arabia - the west declared him a hero. King Faisal, as you may recall, gave us the spread of Wahbbism and extremist brand of Islam, Bin Laden, etc., and we know what that gave us. At home, Faisal was a brutal dictator and, as MBS now, a thief who stole the wealth of the country to buy fancy boats, real estate, etc., and to enrich the so-called royal family (or the chosen few of them). All this while the population suffers and young folks cannot find job or earn an honest living, and the west celebrates the "reforms." There are no freedoms of any sort in Saudi Arabia, including free speech, free expression, free practice of religion- including Islam, etc. MBS is the shiny object that seems to fool and attract the west, there will be a price to pay over time, hope we are ready to pay the price!
127
Spread the wealth. Feed the people. We have the resources; Billionaires...they must sustain us all. Bibi Trump have no idea, thinking of business and technologies. All religions must meet in a room and create a plan. It can't be hard to do. Desire will Drive Positive Results
1
We stupidly kicked the hornet's nest in 2003, in Iraq. The rest follows. All Russia wants out of this is a warm-weather port. My money is on Erdogan leaving NATO and giving Putin basing rights.
Eventually, this will escalate into a global war, pulling the US in. It's more volatile than the Balkans 110 years ago. Wait for it.
8
I'm no expert on Asian socioeconomic issues but I'm pretty sure the rich Asians of "Crazy Rich Asians" represent a very, very, very small percentage of Asians. Let's not let "Crazy Rich Asians' falsely convince us that all Asians are rolling in cash.
4
The obtuse Mr. Friedman really doesn’t get it. The people that voted for Mr. Trump do not care that there will be more “ poor middle easterners”. Mr. Trump was elected to put America First, particularly with regard to military matters.
Mr. Trump does not share Mr. Friedman’s globalist views, and, regardless, just where has all this costly meddling over the last few decades gotten either us, or them? Are things really that much better off; I don’t think so.
How much more treasure and American lives would Mr. Friedman sacrifice at the altar of his movie-driven fantasies?
49
@VFO
'...Mr. Trump do not care that there will be more “ poor middle easterners”.'
Trump's first visit as President out of the country was to Saudi Arabia, from there he flew directly to Israel.
He moved the embassy to Israel's capital, Jerusalem.
His administration, through the Taylor Force Act, has defunded terror. No longer will Palestinians be using $300 million of US taxpayer funds to pay terrorists and their families.
Trump through all of these actions, have let the Palestinians know that it is no longer business as usual in the Middle East and it is time to stop using weapons and start negotiating.
1
@VFO
"Mr. Trump was elected to put America First, particularly with regard to military matters."
And just how have his actions, not his campaign rhetoric, demonstrated that? How does his North Korean failure square with that? How does his subordination to Putin put America first? How does his rejection of NATO help Americans? If you think Trump rejects globalism, why are his neckties made in Asia?
@VFO Sadly Trump's supporters don't grasp how the world operates. Chaos in the Middle East will bring a great deal of blood shed and a chance for conflict with U.S. forces still in Iraq. There is also the issue of oil and shipping. Trump has already lobbed missiles on Syria to no effect and is likely to want to show how tough he is. With so few diplomats on the ground Trump is unlikely to have any idea what should be done in the Middle East.
not mentioned is MBSs crazy family fight with Qatar, which he is now reputed to be wanting to turn into an Island by building a huge canal around it. The man is crazy and the less Mr. Friedman praises him the better.
4
If Israel torn down the walls and "opened" its borders the way we do, it would bring much good will to the Middle East.
Not gonna happen on Friedman's Opinion Kingdom watch, right?
4
"the whole Arab Gulf"? Why didn't you just come straight out and call it the 'Arabian' Gulf?!
The rest of the piece is ideologically warped. One need only read the conclusion to understand the U.S.-centricism in Friedman's piece:
"Being the reality principle, balancer and honest broker has been a U.S. role since the 1970s. If we abdicate it, we’ll just end up creating more crazy poor Middle Easterners."
'Honest broker' since the 1970s? You mean ever since Nixon and Kissinger established the Devil's Pact with Saudi Arabia to allow the rise of Wahhabism in return for 'royal' protection of the Petrodollar?
You mean a policy of Divide and Rule to protect Saudi Arabia and Israel from potential threats to those nations at a cost of millions of lives of innocent bystanders?
Sorry, Mr. Friedman, but those 'crazy poor Middle Easterners were created by those 'crazy, greedy Anglo-Saxons'.
9
“Israel’s prime minister has smartly built a relationship with Putin over the last three years.”
The reality:
In 2010, Isreal signed 5-year military agreement with Russia.
Israel has repeatedly sold drones - developed with US tax dollars - to Russia: 4 deals from 2009 to 2015 totalling $853 million. Putin has used those drones in both Syria and Ukraine.
Isreal refused to be part of US led UN and EU condemnation of and sanctions against Russia for annexation of Crimea.
All while Isreal with per capita GDP greater than that of UK, France, Japan takes $4 billion/year of US tax dollar handout.
I guess Friedman considers the Netanyahu, Trump and Putin alliance to be smart.
5
Your so-called 'modernization,' and peace and prosperity and all that may be really great, but keep in mind that your guys killed my guy 800 years ago, and for that, we are going to get you. Nothing could be more important.
3
Canada (mildly) criticised Saudi Arabia ?!! Great writers twist the words in order not to compromise the facts. Others, twist the facts in order to compromise the words. The Canadian foreign minster asks Saudi Arabia to -immediately- release a prisoner who is a Saudi citizen tried and convicted by a Saudi court, yet Tom, who knows all the details surrounding the dispute, considers this a (mild) criticism. It will be very very difficult to assume Tom can't tell the difference between mild and harsh criticism, therefore the Theory of Induction tell us Tom is misinforming his readers.
2
@Hamad S Alomar
Actually Canada and all countries that believe in human rights should not just mildly, but harshly criticize Saudi Arabia for:
For routine public beheadings and even crucifixions for a wide variety of transgressions, including murder, adultery, atheism, and sorcery and witchcraft.
For gender apartheid - women require male guardianship of their father or husband or son if widowed.
For exploitation and even death of your foreign, brown skinned (but not white skinned) workers, who do the vast majority of actual work.
For being an absolute monarchy and theocracy in the 21st century.
For your Wahhabism, whose central tentant is hatred of non-Wahhabi Muslims, particularly Shia (seen as apostates and second class citizens - 15% of Saudi population), hatred of Jews (virulently anti-Semitic), Christians and all non-Muslims. No churches or synagogues are allowed. Israelis are not allowed, while you ally with Netanyahu’s Israel. Wahhabism gave is Bin Laden, 15 of 19 9/11 mass murderers, and remains primary ideological foundation for Al Qaeda and ISIS.
For exporting your Wahhabism and systematically destroying moderate and modernizing versions of Islam.
For considering women being allowed to drive (still under male guardianship) in 2018 a “reform.” And then arresting the women who fought for that ridiculously overdue right.
Canada stood up for basic human rights. While US, UK, France look the other way for cheap oil (killing the planet) and Saudi weapons purchases.
5
Oh I see. So US backed and essentially enabled ally Saudia Arabia in adopting a sloppy ill thought out miitary solution first invade and bomb foreign policy and aggressively ignoring international opinion as regards its foreign policy is "adopting the 'China model'"? If only! The China model is joint invesmtent in infrastructure, development and science based education. I think a flailing Friedman is mischievously confusing his models here. With regard to his South China Seas disputes, China did not tell "the world" to "get lost". China along with the other countries directly involved initiated and quite logically negotiated peaceful settlements within the ASEAN structure. This normal and laudable diplomatic approach to avoiding conflict is termed "bullying" by Friedman. Well, Mr. Friedman if that's "bullying" what do you call recklessly invading other countries killing tens of thousands creating millions of refugees and the largest humanitarian crisis in the world? I'll tell you what you call it - " the US model". (Now as per usual I'll wait 2 days before this comment is posted if at all.)
5
Mr Friedman I am surprised that despite your experience in the Middle Eastern Countries and your knowledge of their culture and religion, you have not diagnosed the malaise of the Middle Easterners correctly. The fundamental problem with these countries is their Religion wich really is not a Religion but an Idealogy. Treating Islam as solely a religion will give it the reverence that the other two Abrahamic Religions undeservedly enjoy, and makes it immune to objective criticism. Islam deos not just ask its followers to worship Allah and the Prophet and follow the Scripture. Islam is a way of life with broad and encompassing set of rules and regulations that cover all aspects of life from dressing to eating and drinking. From paying taxes to how to divide inheritance amongst the siblings. From legal age for marriage to legal age for just about anything else, to name just a few. The complete Laws of Islam known as SHARIA is what every Muslim is obligated to obey. This renders any other Civil Laws inapplicable to Muslim Societies or Nations. And that is why the Middle East shall for ever remain a backward region torn between the forces of modernity and the draconian rules of Islam.
4
@Kami How come then that only the US's biggest pal, namely Saudi Arabia's laws are based on the Sharia?
2
@Elisabeth If you look closely at other Muslim countries that have a "Civil Law" instead of Shariat, you will notice that those Civil Laws follow Shariat very closely. As I said, the forces of Modernity are at work in these countries but for the foreseeable future they are and shall remain in minority. And even if a secular dictator enforces non-Shariat laws, as it was done in Iran before the Islamic Revolution, we know what happens.
#1 - America has never been an "honest broker" in the Middle East (ever!).
#2 - your infatuation with Saudi Arabia's young wanna be dictator, seemed a good idea only to you (a few women drivers and cinemas is not "reform" - it is only a strategy to get people like you excited - reform is not some sort of "fad" of the day, it's serious business, that may have to start small, but it always needs to be the "real thing," which in Saudi Arabia, it never has)
#3 - why is Iran "over extended?" Because we (and Israel) ensure that it is always penned into a corner, requiring it to create allies where it can find them, and itself, go into Lebanon to protect Shi'ites there
#4 - all the liberalization and democratization trends and hopes of the Middle East, have, in recorded history, been undercut, undermined and destroyed by our actions (and in some cases, inaction)
#5 - the biggest problem in the Middle East is America, its policies and its pundits, who, with abysmal "understanding," and often, underhanded motives, actively work to destroy every good development in the Middle East (often our destruction is deliberate; sometimes it is due simply to our ignorance)
#6 - if we want positive change in the Middle East, first we need to change "us" - Trump is the latest disgraceful destructive blot we have put on the area. He is, even for those with the weakest imagination and understanding, nowhere near the first, just the most recent "worst"
4
This column was a lot of wasted time and effort. It is meaningless. No Moslem majority country is capable of democracy nor of anything remotely resembling democracy. Islam's two main branches are totally incapable of anything resembling reconciliation or cooperation. If you could return to earth 1000 years from now, you would find nations in the Middle East and in Africa at each others throats with tribal warfare and Sunni versus Shi'ite. As for the United States, any country that is stupid enough to elect Donald Trump president and to elect a Republican majority in both houses of Congress none of whom have anything resembling moral values or principles, is incapable of solving its own problems much less the problems of other countries. Give it up.
7
“And the Saudi-U.A.E. war in Yemen has been so badly botched by incompetents in the Saudi Air Force that they are now being accused of possible war crimes.”
This is wildly misleading. The Saudis were hitting civilians from the start, beginning in 2015 under Obama. They are incompetent, which is why US refueling of their planes is necessary. This makes us complicit in their war crimes, under two Presidents. The Saudis also have much of Yemen under blockade, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of children every year. Friedman is whitewashing all this- I suspect he only mentions it at all because after the bombing of the school bus war crimes in Yemen are currently receiving widespread attention.
As for Idlib, Friedman has double standards. Idlib is controlled by Al Qaeda. The Syrian campaign to retake it will undoubtedly be brutal, but the concern expressed would be less hypocritical if people like Friedman had noticed the American bombing of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria was similar or worse than what the Russians did in Aleppo and East Ghouta.
5
I think you are missing the point on Trump’s treatment of Palestinians. He’s writing them off. There will be no Palestinian state and Israel won’t lift a finger if the PA collapses. There is no peace process and Israel is grabbing as much territory as it can. The US withdrew its funding of the UN agency that deals with Palestinian refugees. How much more clearly can Trump scream “we are writing you off. You are behind us and have ceased to exist. Ignore sunk costs.”
7
Because of Trump war is coming. Real war, not news story war.
2
Dear Mr. Friedman,
Were you in my writing class, you would certainly get an "A." Too eloquent, too smart and too original not to get anything else. (And, as it happens, this teacher almost always agrees with you, wishes more people would listen to you.)
But please begin fewer of your pieces with the word "I." It lessens, rather than increases, the authority of what you say and you've surely the rhetorical tools to come up with a workaround.
Thank you,
Mr. Ted
1
Islam has members all over the world. South East Asia, Indonesia, Africa, Bosnia and as immigrants, Europe, America and Canada. It is true that primary education and secondary training is not easily available, reading much besides the Koran isn't encouraged and can get you dead. Iran and some other Muslim Nations have an educated middle class thru training in the west.
However, the immigrants I've met are very happy that their children are in school and support their adaption to economic advantage. I believe circumstances in most Muslim Countries will never allow the peasants to be educated.
It's been a policy to suppress creativity as a threat to the State. No matter what we try to do from the outside, it's the inside where change will happen to this feudal Religion. Maybe the immigrants to the west will manage it.
2
Mattis describes Trump as having the understanding of a fifth or sixth grader. That is being generous. He has the understanding of a certain kind of kindergartner--the kindergarten bully who lashes out because he has no tools to understand or to solve even the most basic problems we face. All he is capable of doing is watching Fox News or putting on his MAGA cap and playing golf. There truly is no there there when it comes to his brain or his emotions. This is why Friedman's column is so frightening. Navigating the Middle East requires knowledge and careful thought and rational action. It can't be managed by Twitter outbursts and white nationalist rallies of Trump's most rabid supporters.
4
Article makes many great points, but steered more deeply into current scoreboard of conflicts and US policy than further illustrating the case made in his opening. We know too well how self-defeating the mostly Arab Middle East is. Tom, what are the root, underlying causes that keep this part of the world in its choke hold? Can’t all be blamed on Trump. Why can’t they move on? Do they need WWIII to jolt them into a post-war reality like we have with Japan and Germany? Is it religion? The political systems? The hatred of Christians and Jews, and rival Muslim factions? Is it the culture? How does that world move forward in a self-propelled way, not because of something Trump or the US did wrong?
2
How many times can you mix religion, oil and human nature and expect an eternally peaceful outcome? More than a common definition of insanity, this recipe that has always resulted in hatred, death and war should perhaps also be linked by its participants' sometimes subconscious desire to derive a certain pleasure and enjoyment of the suffering it's guaranteed to inflict and prolong.
Just one more ironic conundrum that's designed to remain unsolvable.
31
I don't understand Friedman's essay but the comments are very revealing.
I wish world at large would stop reproducing... from what I understand and from the refugee situation.... the beat goes on possibly faster than before (as more persons survive childhood), the ideologies are kept.
With two billion more on the planet in 30 years ( I shall be gone but most not) -- IMO thing will just get worse. And PS why is it always about men?? Poor women.
2
The US has handed out more than a hundred billion dollars to the various Palestinian authorities over the past 70 years. This aid is used to wage war against Israel by building underground tunnels. One would think that after 70 years, and a hundred billion dollars, the Palestinians would have improved conditions with electricity, running water, schools and hospitals. Instead, Arafat, and Abas, have always thought of lining their own pockets, and keeping Gaza as an eyesore, hoping that by doing so, it would pressure the world into feeling sorry for them. Gaza remains a welfare state, with most folks sitting around playing sheshbesh, smoking hookahs and discussing their hatred of the US and Israel. Yet when they are sick – they pop into Israel and get free medical care. Finally, your suggestion that the US should urge the young Saudi Prince to shift Sunni Islam onto a more open and moderate path is a pipe dream. That will never happen - after all, why don't you also add that men in this country should stop telling us American women what we can and cannot do with our bodies.
6
American Left, and especially the MSM, adores Palestinians and Jihadists not in spite of, but exactly because they refuse to put their miserable past behind them.
If Israel is able to prosper, even under near-permanent siege conditions, so could the other ME countries which have far more natural resources. A few less gold-plated vehicles and French castles for their rulers might be a good start.
5
Don't forget that the U. S. aid for the Palestinians also keeps their leaders and families living in luxury in Europe.
8
With all of the disruption in the Middle East has anyone thought about the mental illnesses foisted upon the population. The Middle East needs about a hundred years of peace just to begin to address the disorders in the population.
1
Mr. Friedman, what the “Crazy Rich Asians” comedy should sadly remind us of is that there's an overwhelming divide that exists between the "haves" and the "have notes", globally ...including among the citizenry of your seemingly prosperous role model nation, Hollywood glamorized, Singapore.
The Middle East is not the epicenter of economic inequality gaps between the rich and the poor, the oppressor and the oppressed. Even in our United States, the richest 1 percent now own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent (According to The New York Times).
Trump can be blamed for a lot of what's wrong in America at this moment in time, but Middle East poverty, and Middle East warring, were set in place well before candidate Trump considered a run for POTUS.
47
@Stone There's no question that there has been trouble in the middle east, that doesn't mean you stop and do nothing.
@ESA I don't believe that I implied anything of the sort. I was just reminding Mr. Friedman that almost all countries, developed and emerging, are controlled by their 1%, just as ours is. And...in fact, 80% of the WORLD'S population lives in poverty, including the inhabitants of Middle East.
I personally don't know what can be done to thwart extreme poverty on an overpopulated planet, with limited natural resources, and vanishing job prospects for the unskilled in mass production and manual laboring.
1
@Stone The "haves," have because they defer immediate gratification for investment in education (human capital) and infrastructure (universities, technology, industry and housing), while the "have nots," all too often make war against those who produce wealth, to seize what they are unwilling to produce on their own. Such envy driven greed is the major cause of war in the Middle-East. Trade and International amity and trade are far more productive means of spreading peace, wealth and prosperity.
1
"Trump tweeted: President Bashar al-Assad of Syria must not recklessly attack Idlib Province. The Russians and Iranians would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of people could be killed. Don’t let that happen!”
I wish Mr. Trump could find enough of a glimmer of humanity in his heart to stop assisting Saudis and Emirates in their war crimes and, instead, tweet:
“M.B.S. of Saudi Arabia must not recklessly attack cities in Yemen. The Saudis and Emirates would be making a grave humanitarian mistake to take part in this potential human tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of innocent children could be killed. Don’t let that happen!”
3
To reduce chaos and disorder in the Middle East, the world needs a New President of the United States.
One who is sane and not pathological. One who is competent and knowledgeable. And one who can work with others and distinguish between reality and fantasy. And one who cares about something and someone else other than himself.
1
Mr. Friedman, they will always be crazy and poor until they change their values and culture. It’s that simple.
5
The Middle East does have vast potential beyond what it is today, but I disagree with most of Mr. Friedman's analysis. Why no mention of Netanyahu conspiring and executing a withdrawal of the United States from the Iran Nuclear Accord? We have forgotten that he spoke to the American Congress arguing for its demise? We are ignoring Israel's support, both obvious and covert, to install Trump to do its bidding to withdraw from this treaty that prevented Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons? And the Iranians shouldn't be furious with Israel for completely undermining their economy?
And I still don't understand Mr. Friedman's infatuation with Saudi Arabia's MBS. Women can now drive in the country and that is earth shattering progress? Never mind intentionally slaughtering Yemeni school children or planning the beheading a peaceful female activist? What about the government of Saudi Arabia posting a photo on Twitter of an airliner flying into the skyline of Toronto after the Canadians rebuked the Saudi human rights record? Change, Mr. Friedman? Really?
And as a stalwart supporter of Israel, it has become unrecognizable when compared with its idealistic founding and early years of development. The complete and utter marginalization and dehumanization of non-Jewish Israelis is something to celebrate? It is no better governance than Israel's neighbors.
Yes, the Middle East is a mess, but we need an honest evaluation of the situation there if it is ever to improve.
8
Tom, where is word of our Middle East Plenipotentiary, Majordomo and Minister without Portfolio Jared Kushner? The solution that’s bedeviled Administrations for decades was on the cusp of deliverance.
3
Religious states always are destructive to the common good. Flawed human nature takes over and someone is always the "devil". The Enlightenment and the European memories of the Thirty Years War and its innumerable similar disastrous religious persecutions helped forge the U.S. Constitution. The Middle East is a lesson to the U.S. Get religion out of civil life, schools, hospitals, science, medicine, the military, and gun ownership. Maybe leading by example is the best approach to the Middle East.
Just a few days before the anniversary of 9.11, Mr Friedman ought to be reminded that Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of Bin Laden and the majority of his criminal acolytes. Until such time that we - and Mr. Friedman - are honest to ourselves and consider Saudi Arabia to be the malignant tumor in the Middle East (not only Iran), we are fooling ourselves into believing it's our ally and friend.
It's neither.
130
There are many good policy recommendations here. The basic premise is nonetheless contradicted by facts on the ground, some of them set out clearly right in this column.
"The" Mideast is a bundle of contradictions; not all of it is crazy nor is all of it poor. Contrary to rhetoric about how it should be "thrown into the sea," Israel is part of the region, not merely some foreign colonial outpost. It may be tending toward craziness under its current government, but it is prosperous not poor, and did not get that way through craziness. The Saudi royals and the Arab emirates are far from poor, and many of their local opponents have been shrewd not crazy despite being poor.
In fact, the logic of encouraging good impulses and restraining bad ones applies across the board, regardless of rich or poor, not just to the rulers of Saudi Arabia. The ineptitude of the Trump administration is rightly pinpointed, but America being AWOL did not start with it.
Finally, apart from oil and (and to a lesser extent) solar power, the Mideast does not have the resource base Asia has, nor its cultural cohesion and economic heft, and its demographic trajectory -especially in the context of a warming planet- is recklessly unsustainable. Rich is not a realistic goal for the region as a whole. Try safe, stable, fair and unoppressed. They are hard enough objectives, but without them poverty and inequality will remain and appeals to material improvement and entrepreneurial ambition lack credibility.
41
@Sage Giving the increasing probability of climate disaster that will render most of the Middle East uninhabitable, the discussion here may, to surviving historians, seem touchingly naive.
If we followed realpolitik we would have treated Israel as one ally among many. Instead because of the many crazy rich Americans with loyaly to Israel we were swayed to consistently back them, thereby making enemies of the entire Islamic world.
MBS has lately become an Israeli ally for fear of the growing might of Iran, especially since the Iraq war backfired giving Iran an opening. Islam is a strong force in the middle east and beyond. If democracy means anything, they should be able to choose their own government even if it's an Islamic one. America should come to terms with Iran and Turkey by respecting their religion. Nuclear weapons are something entirely different, which before Trump was handled diplomatically.
From a strictly territorial view Israel is a small enclave in an Islamic middle east whose enmity sadly goes back thousands of years. It has had to fight wars and build up its military including nuclear weapons, and has survived by leaning heavily on American aid.
My point is that we have given Israel the means to survive; but we need to make foreign policy in our own interest. The nuclear agreement with Iran is an example of the good. The Iraq war shows where we went wrong.
4
If Ireland and other countries can stop the internal madness to affect the future, so can the Middle East.
Where is it written that perpetual conflict is the rule of life?
1
A good piece, but tell me why America, if you go with the MAGA philosophy, is even in the Middle East? Allow me to play the Devils advocate here. With that philosophy all is transactional; nothing is relational isn't it?
Given this being involved in the Middle East is akin to having a hole drilled into your head. It's Crazyland there, and this isn't recent news. It's been that way more often than not since the days of Rome. So nothing we do can change this if the people of that region do not do it themselves. As has occurred, as Thomas points out, in the Far East. This is the philosophical underpinnings of MAGA.
Don't get me wrong, I'm just pointing out those underpinnings. I agree with Thomas Friedman that if we wish to be the Leader of the Free World then this is our work. But "Free World" is something of a misnomer isn't it? Let's say what is implicit in all such arguments as made by Sir Friedman. We want to lead, to bolster regions, so they fit more comfortably into....dare I as an American say this, even though it is true...so those regions fit more comfortably into our Empire?
Face it; we are Empire. And some of the provinces are in flames and/or are being threatened. The President and his administration either deals with this or he/we watches our Empire crumble. Given the philosophy of the current administration it seems the latter is the more likely outcome.
John~
American Net'Zen
1
Oh I see. So US backed and essentially enabled ally Saudia Arabia in adopting a sloppy ill thought out miitary solution first invade and bomb foreign policy and aggressively ignoring international opinion as regards its foreign policy is "adopting the 'China model'"? If only! The China model is joint invesmtent in infrastructure, development and science based education. I think a flailing Friedman is mischievously confusing his models here. With regard to his South China Seas disputes, China did not tell "the world" to "get lost". China along with the other countries directly involved initiated and quite logically negotiated peaceful settlements within the ASEAN structure. This normal and laudable diplomatic approach to avoiding conflict is termed "bullying" by Friedman. Well, Mr. Friedman if that's "bullying" what do you call recklessly invading other countries killing tens of thousands creating millions of refugees and the largest humanitarian crisis in the world? I'll tell you what you call it - " the US model".
2
The only thing that ever will change or improve the Middle East is a massive wave of agnosticism that undermines all the religious leaders (if they are worthy of that name) in every religion or sect thereof. I see little chance of that happening soon.
Greater interest instead in making money selling goods and services would help also. No business person, in his or her right mind, wants to kill off or frighten away paying customers or those who might become paying customers.
This is true the world over.
4
As someone who lives in the Middle East, I can tell you that the biggest problem that the ME has is the meddling of the West. Almost to a person, people tell me that they just want to be left alone to take care of their own problems. Iraq, Syria, Libya, Palestine, Egypt, Iran: the list of short sighted interventions it long and destructive.
3
What common interests do we have with Saudi Arabia, save oil? M.B.S.'s initiatives should have them caught up with the modern world in no less than another 50 years.
3
@George L in Jakarta
You are correct. The only common interest, dating back to the FDR administration, is access to Saudi Arabia's petroleum reserves. That's been the case whether we have had a democrat or a republican in the white house, and is unlikely to change in the near future.
So this is a nice touchy feely article to please the new Jewish State. The State that is no longer a Democracy. I find it incredible that Mr. Friedman does not find any fault on the Israeli side. All he said about Bibi is that he is to the rite and that we should have used the Embassy move to halt further settlements. He skipped over the biggest part of the problem in the Middle East, the settlements. Why is it that no-one talks about the rule of law when it comes to Israel ? We have backed Israel from the beginning, rightfully so, but we need to put there feet to the fire when it comes to for filling there obligations to the Palestinians. There are many problems in the Middle East and all need to be rectified but the biggest is the settlement issue it is the star in the sky for the Arabs. It is the star because everyone can see Israel is not following the rule of law.
3
Well, a part of the Middle East is prospering, whose per capita GDP is the same as Europe's and the U.S. and yet goes unmentioned in this article. Israel, of course. It's like their totally amazing, unheard of, against all odds success is completely nonexistent or unimportant. It's a shining example also of comparison. That when countries are not driven by insane, hateful, eliminationist beliefs lives can be hugely improved. Mr. Friedman mentions Iran but does not mention how it's devoted to Israel's destruction, as is a big part of Lebanon (Hezbollah). The fact that Israel is not the model, not called upon by local countries to improve their lives, says all that needs to be said.
1
I really hate to say this but "I don't care, do you"? We have a VERY important election coming in November. We need to focus on saving our democracy. As small minded and parochial I am, I just don't care anymore. And I am not the only one.
1
@L'historien
If you really don't care then please get your finger out of every pie in the middle east.
Frankly, they have the same disinterest in you as you have in them. Like you, they just want to be left alone, but unlike you they don't have the choice of getting their voice heard in elections.
This article would have much more gravitas were it not authored by someone holding no small responsibility for turning a formerly prosperous M.E. nation -- one in which even hairdressers could afford to take foreign vacations -- into rubble -- and thereby destabilizing the entire region. I wish it were possible to read these pieces without that knowledge.
3
The real shame of us turning our back on this part of the world is that it served three groups of deserving people simultaneously.
First, our interventions helped the people over there. After European colonialism and American adventurism did so much damage to the region, it is our obligation to help.
Second, our interventions helped the people here who were foreign policy heroes, like Hillary Clinton and John McCain. Intervening allowed them to show off their genius.
Third, our interventions have helped the flyover people who don’t even realize that spreading democracy abroad helps them out most of all - by giving their sons exciting jobs in the military with real missions and a chance to travel to vibrantly diverse places, thus broadening their dismal horizons. And when it becomes necessary to take crazy poor Asian refugees in they often settle in low cost and stagnant flyover places, bringing diversity and wonderful food to them.
I think this is probably one of the worst and least covered aspects of Trump. Think about it. While Bush, Obama, Clinton, Dick Cheney and other foreign policy giants gathered to mourn the passing of John McCain, Trump went golfing.
We already knew Trump didn’t care about crazy rich Asians (look at how he behaves on trade), but he seems to care even less for crazy poor Asians - by turning his back on them, and then not letting them migrate here like Angela Merkel did. It’s tragic!
1
Incompetent Rich America Keeps Middle Easterners Poor
How far back should we go to counter Thomas L. Friedman's neglect of the role of America and even earlier Great Britain? Sykes-Picot 1916 and Churchill's "with the stroke of a pen on a Sunday afternoon" creating Iraq and Transjordan set the stage, but I'll jump ahead.
1953 the CIA deposes the democratically elected Muhammed Mossadegh in Iran, the starting gate for the USA's 60 years plus of keeping Iran from what it could be, prosperous and not crazy. That was all about oil of course, US and GB as oil masters.
1970s through Iran-Iraq War. The US "creates" Saddam Hussein, supports him fully during the I-I war, lies about the gassing of Halabja Kurds, Saddam is our man, Iran is seen as enemy no. 1
2003 Bush starts war to bring down long-time friend, Saddam Hussein
2018 Trump withdraws from 5 + 1 agreement and states that sanctions will be restored
Tom, how could Middle Easterners, here those residing in Iraq and Iran, possibly prosper when the so-called greatest country in the world keeps swinging the wrecking ball year after year?
Written here in Sweden on Wednesday after having spent a couple of hours at the Red Cross yesterday talking with 5 Iranian men (two of them Kurds) and one young woman from Eritrea, all of whom have taken refuge in Sweden and are all doing well, step by step. Never in my America.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
5
Why has there never been any consequence for the fact that the vast majority of 9/11 terrorists were from Saudi Arabia? It's like they came from some where else. Secondly: Why was Saudi Arabia the first place Trump went and why has he allowed them to do whatever they want without so much as a peep out of the U.S. ? He attacks all our allies, but a country that kills innocent people in Yemen, that he ignores. Why is that? The ONLY thing that comes to my mind is there is something in this for Trump and Jared, personally. What other conclusion can you come to? And that, Trump supporters, is another trophy you can put on your mantle. The "We don't care if innocent women and children are killed elsewhere in the world" award in exchange for our leader enriching himself. We sent tens of millions of dollars of missiles to an empty Syrian airfield for Assad gassing his people. But bomb innocent humans, that is OK by us. When Obama did it, well, he has to go. Trump does it and you pull your hats down tighter onto your small heads. VOTE.
2
@Walking ManHere in Dubai, there exists a giant TRUMP branded golf course that has opened in the last two years, with condos to follow in a large development... The UAE/Dubai is Saudi Arabia's 'public wingman', for when Saudi Arabia needs a public front that ISN'T Islamist.
Great article, TLF. Instead of adding my two cents, which would only muck up what you so clearly said, I'll just say "atta-boy", a fine opinion piece!
Great perspective but it omits and important point: Asia hasn't had to endure US intervention the same way the Middle East and North Africa have had to. No "regime change" due to illegal invasions under the false pretexts of WMDs and no CIA instigated Arab Springs. It's amazing what political stability can do for the prosperity and well-being for nations.
2
As Friedman has so often argued, there's nothing wrong with the Middle East that a thorough standardized testing regime couldn't fix.
“Asia became rich” is laughable. The US has largely stayed away from being a long term occupying force in most of Asia and has mostly left those countries alone. Oh and the US has been patrolling the Pacific Ocean since WW II which has provided just a touch of stability to the region.
Although incomes have grown a lot in most other Asian countries (China, Thailand, Vietnam etc) over the last few decades, income gaps have grown and all of these countries have a long way to go to with regards to getting “rich”.
Interestingly in 2011 Egypt’s per capital GDP was similar to or greater than that of China. Don’t think that the Chinese leadership didn’t notice... a lot of these countries are not as poor as many think.
In short, fun to watch, but Crazy Rich Asians is about Rich Ethnic Chinese Singaporeans. Singapore is a city state of 5 million people. Tough to compare it to larger countries. I’m sure one could similarly make the movie “Crazy Rich Saudis” or “Crazy Rich Lebanese” and have similar scenes (though they would Pratt in Dubai or London rather than in their native countries!)
@J, clearly you are unaware of Asian glory before Islam And European colonial powers started binging on occupation and empire building frenzy.
2
As Woodward's book so brilliantly exposes the chaos of this White House, we have a querulous old man with a fifth-grade understanding of the world occupying the highest office in our land. Trump's mistakes are too numerous to mention but perhaps his biggest one in the Middle East is putting Kushner in charge of forging a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
1
Now, Mr. Friedman, putting its past behind it would not be politically correct, it would not champion diversity.
1
All of the problems cited by Friedman are made worse by US abdication in Foreign Policy. In fact, as John McCain pointed out: We have no Foreign Policy under Trump. The absence of a policy results in ad hoc , unrelated and random actions as opposed to coordinated, meaningful and principled responses to events on the ground.
Friedman cites two examples: Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and Defunding the UNRWA. There is no way either action can lead to Peace.
Trump is de facto leaving the Middle East but he promised a "wonderful Peace" during the campaign. He even assigned that invaluable resource, his son-in-law, to that task.
It is clear that his definition of Peace is US-Israeli-Saudi hegemony over a subjugated, poor, exploited, landless, divided and powerless Arab community. Arabs will have no right of return and their land will be full of settlers. We will support Israel no matter what steps they take in violation of International norms and we will mindlessly seek to destroy Iran and punish the iranian people.
As with any mega-complicated tangle what to do next is to say the least not obvious but I believe it must start with development of a policy which can lead to a strategy.
That policy must be based on our solid American values of freedom, fairness and Justice. Then and only then can we return to our a role as honest Peacemaker-Peacebroker.
There can be no Peace without Justice.
2
Friedman makes some sensible suggestions, but I wonder whom he thinks he is addressing in this column? If it's Trump or his keepers, even Friedman should recognize that Trump is unsalvageable and that Bolton and Pompeo are ideologues, not pragmatists searching for advice. If it's the American public that Friedman is trying to advise, he must know that the only people who have any power to change American foreign policy are already actively working to promote Trump's insane Neo-Colonialist objectives. I think it's now time for Friedman to abandon the role of interpreter and consider options of praxis. Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their country.
41
Let’s be honest.
Israel agreed to a Palestinian State in 1948, 2001 and 2008, and each time the Palestinians rejected it, demanding Israel withdraw to indefensible borders and take in 5 million refugees who claim to be descendants of the 600,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from Israel in 1948 - either of which would be the end of Israel. (Actually in 1948 the Arabs only wanted Israel’s elimination.)
I agree with Friedman that Trump should have asked for some concessions from Israel in return for moving the embassy,
But when was the last time anyone asked the Palestinians to compromise on anything?
11
I see, mr Roth. So all of Palestine’s problems are caused by Palestinians, none you say by their Israeli overlords. Very plain and simple. Also very factually wrong.
3
@RhporterL Would you care to share your alternative facts with us, or is your position that truth is not truth? Simply calling something "factually wrong" does not make it so.
1
@Charlie in NY
On this one I'll go with the declaration of Independence: some truths are self evident. Such as Israeli violations of un mandates on the settlements, disruptions of farming by bulldozer and walls, choking commerce in and out of Palestine. Do you really claim to be ignorant of that, or is the truth that you are at best indifferent to it?
1
The region of Middle East states have to understand Russia - a very subtle long time poisoning power for a country. It's modus operandi - control a ruling family, divide the internal society to fighting parties to weaken the civil society for political reform, when needed commit assassination of political leaders and do not allow the economic policies those are beneficial for the country and society. US intelligence understands this game plan of Russia but could not develop any counter strategy - today even US is under the same game plan of Russia. The countries that are able to come out of this game plan - China, Vietnam and now India. This has happened through strong development of national identity. It is not military, foreign aid or war that can counter this Russian game plan. Russia understood, if West can not accept it on his block, it will remain controlled by Russian game plan. Russia, a country with economy smaller than California, population is declining, and military power much smaller than US, is acting like a ghost on all world issues - Middle East, Europe, and now US. If you solve Russia problem, all problems of the world will be resolved.
1
@Kalyan Basu -- "It's modus operandi - control a ruling family, divide the internal society to fighting parties to weaken the civil society for political reform, when needed commit assassination of political leaders and do not allow the economic policies those are beneficial for the country and society. US intelligence understands this game plan"
That IS the US game plan. All over the middle east, the US has been doing that, not Russia.
8
The Middle East is about five percent of the world population. We have spent large amounts of money and blood on this area. We have proven we do not know what we are doing in the region. Because of water and war issues, this will continue to be a nightmare for Europe, because immigration pressure will not go away. So, what do you do? We have proved we do not have a clue. My sense is we need to largely check out. Offer technical assistance on things like water and food production. But, at the end of the day, their culture and history will dictate where they go. We need to spend our time on the part of the world we live in. I would much rather have us invest our efforts in Mexico and Central America, places that have an immediate impact on us. It is not that I wish the Middle Easterners bad luck, but, it is their part of the world and is up to them.
27
@Robert -- "I would much rather have us invest our efforts in Mexico and Central America, places that have an immediate impact on us."
I agree, and I feel considerable urgency about that. I think our next door neighbors are at serious risk of falling apart as badly as too much of the middle east.
If that process continues, it will be our problem in a huge way, right here on our border, tied in to our economy and many of our population.
Think Afghanistan is bad? Try it next door. We failed to "pacify" Mexico when Black Jack Pershing invaded it just before WW1, trying to catch the terrorists who had crossed the border and attacked a US town.
6
The same problems in the same region involving the same families from the same countries. If and when the leaders and people of the Middle East actually want to make a positive change in their circumstances, then we should be prepared to help in some way. Until then it's a waste of resources.
Interesting that Friedman neglected to even mention the primary driver in all of this chaos. Islam. Western observers consistently want to view Islam through the mirror image of today's Christianity and Judaism, meaning a personal/family belief system that is mostly sequestered from public life. Islam is so much more than this. It is a legal system, a political system, and an economic system, in addition to being a religion. Until Islam finally has it's own 'reformation' the problems of the past burying the future in the Middle East will continue unabated.
12
Middle easterners are not crazy, but poor, and the western world, mainly the United States, is largely to blame. As long as we want their oil, take sides, go to war with them, and forcefully change their government, they will remain poor.
16
@BB, nope. The rulers and elites in these countries never give their poor a chance.
2
Western empire no longer expands successfully by means of military force- what is left is the most positive method anyway- cultural influence.
This is the power of persuasion over people that want the same rights and economic meritocracy as they see being enjoyed by wealthy, industrialized, western nations and their imitators.
America, in spite of some terrible mistakes in military policy, used to lead the world in influence in promoting socialistic capitalism achieved through legitimate elections.
What a tragedy for us and the world that this influence has been sabotaged by our current president.
Who wants to be like us now?
2
I find these kind of articles infuriating. One of the main reasons that the Middle East is such a mess today is because of the interference in its internal affairs throughout the 20th century by Western powers, powers who were after its natural resources for their own purposes. The Islamic Republic would not exist today if not for the US/UK overthrowing Iranian democracy in 1953, thereby laying the groundwork for a radical response in 1979. Saudi Arabia was cobbled together through deals with the West for access to oil. Israel has been nothing but a massively destabilizing regional influence, the last European colonial project, that the West refuses to rein in. (As an aside, Friedman misses the critically important roles of the Korean and Vietnam wars in making modern Asia possible - devastating events that many other regional states managed to capitalize on). Friedman's characterization of Iranian influence as malign is rich, coming from an American. The US has been nothing but a malign influence in the ME since the 1950s. Almost all of its actions have made things worse, from it coddling of Israel, to creating dictatorship in Iran, to destroying Iraq and unleashing instability across the region. The fact that Americans miss these obvious truths either illustrates fantastic historical amnesia or an incredible political arrogance. Yes, the ME must leave the past behind; part of that past is the harmful influence of the US on regional affairs.
36
@Shaun Narine Thank you for this. I tried to point out the obliviousness and 'acceptable' racism that underlines OUR malign influence and hypocrisy. Some here either blame Islam or Russia for OUR meddling. WE support Saudia Arabia. We destroyed Iraq, Libya, and Syria to 'fight Assad' even giving money and support to ISIS.
You do not need to read RT ( I don't) to remember WMD's, our support for the Taliban in Afghanistan but apparently my merely mentioning these internationally known facts means my other letter here was not deemed worthy of being printed!
It scares me that today's liberals seem to be as impervious to reason and facts as the Trumpists.
I have agreed with Trump on only two things.That it is wrong to allow colleges to act as courts in sexual harassment or rape cases rather than having the police do it and the other is the futility indeed criminality of our ME policies but then again Trump is just as bad when it comes to his un nuanced support for Bibi and his gang of theocratic apartheid criminals that we back like we do Saudia Arabia.
2
Isn’t it time for the Middle East to take responsibility for it’s own future? Why is it the US responsibility?
And no one wants to speculate why it stands in stark contrast to Asia. Climate? Resources? History? Religion?
5
@Mark Haimann Mark, just re-read Friedman's opinion piece. The answers are all there. It's lack of forward looking leadership and vision in the ME vs Asia that makes the contrast. Sure, one can argue that it is not the responsibility of USA. Except that with relatively small investment in diplomacy (except for misguided wars in Iraq) the USA has accomplished a great deal and is (or was) respected for its dogged insistence on things that ordinary ME people want: jobs and the secular education that will produce them, rule of law, functioning economy, good roads, etc. Friedman's diagnosis seems correct: Trump's uninformed and short sighted "policies" are upending decades of valuable accomplishments.
7
If this depiction is true, the Middle East is the one place where Trump is right. Let 'em have it. We can start our withdrawal from the civilizationally suicidal project of world occupation by withdrawing from the especially useless and expensive middle east. We need "to lead" like we need the latest gizmo the salesman wants us to buy.
7
"Most of Asia became prosperous not by discovering natural resources but by tapping its human resources — men and women — and giving them the tools to realize their potential"
Maybe the explanation lies in the diverse history of the two regions.
China and Singapore, two wonderful examples of successful Asian economies, are authoritarian regimes. And no Western powers has bothered to subvert them.
Curiously,the writer prefers ignoring that notwithstanding the political limits of the Syria and Iraq autocratic regimes under the Assad and Saddam parties, those two countries did enjoy a decent economic and political stability.
Then the USA pushed Iraq against Iran for a bloody, terrible conflict, which brought nothing to the Iraqis. Saddam then turned on Kuwait and there was the Gulf War.
Afterwards, the American government decided that Iraq should not remain independent and started its invasion and occupation.
Finally, considering strategic the American stabilization of the ME, the USA built up rebel groups in Syria to put an end to the Assad regime. Instead, while Assad is still there, the ME got an horrific civil war and the ISIS occupation of large swathes of Syria and Iraq.
ISIS, born by the Syria crumbling, launched a disastrous terrorist offensive in Europe and elsewhere.
The British and American ME policies are perhaps a supplementary factor of the current, poor economics of this strategic area.
8
Mr. Friedman completely misses the forest for the trees here. There is in fact a conspicuous success story in the Middle East, a country built from penniless refugees that is now a first world country and leader in virtually every advanced technology. Israel. The answer to the regions problems is simple; instead of trying to destroy Israel, other middle eastern states should emulate it. Trump has virtually nothing to do with this.
14
@bartleby
It will help if we can set aside a separate entity in Manhattan for the Saudis to develop as a successful, new country
@bartleby I do not think ethnic cleansing should be emulated. Israel created the largest refugee problem in the region in 1948, and refuses to even take responsibility for it. As to the recent refugees from Syria: All Israel's neighbors have taken in many millions of refugees, Israel not one.
2
@bartleby Israel is another country that bases its existence on a single religion -- Judaism.
There has never and will never be a truly good and successful nation that bases itself on a religion. Theocracies, including Israel's, have always been bad ideas.
What makes America great is that we still at least retain our Constitution and that FIRST Amendment, separating church and state in our civic affairs.
Now if we could only honor that call to sanity.
"But America’s real choices there are not stay or go, but be smart or dumb." This statement would also be true for Europe if the US didn't cover their obligations in the ME. Of course, as both Trump and Obama have argued, we're also covering their obligations to contribute to protecting Europe itself. Much easier to build social welfare systems and commercial infrastructure when you only spend 1% of GDP on the military. Merkel lectures the world and forces the rest of the EU to accept o overwhelming (literally) numbers of refuges, but she refuses to act against the evil that causes the refuges. Half of Syrians, more likely 66%, live as refuges or in camps. it's a dystopian wasteland of violance, but Merkel won't act. I actually agree with Trump - let Europe step up or we should stand down - and Obama and Hillary said very similar things. Enen within Europe Merkel and Germany dont shoukder the burdens of their own decisions - they coerce the EU to force refuges upon all countries in uneven and unfair (and unsustainable) numbers. Now, because its Trump, the Times and these comments lecture us on how dumb the US is - but at least we've been proactive against evil (there is no defense of Bush-II in this comment).7
4
@TJ -- "she refuses to act against the evil that causes the refuges"
True, she did nothing to stop the US, Israel, or the proxies of the Gulf Arabs from running a horrifying terrorist insurgency for most of a decade, that destroyed an entire country.
"Much easier to build social welfare systems and commercial infrastructure when you only spend 1% of GDP on the military."
The US wastes more on overpaying for health care than its entire defense budget, compared to German health care costs as a % of GDP. Just fixing health care to German standards would free up more money than entirely disbanding our armed forces.
Germany spends less on defense, but it also is not fighting wars of choice all over the globe. Do we really want Germans to do that (again)? We could just stop ourselves.
2
I keep up with international affairs so no single point surprised me. But all these failings tied together is chilling. The Middle East was supremely difficult before Trump but he has made things so very very much worse. In particular, his efforts seem to be directed towards "This will not turn out well!"
1
@Marvant Duhon -- "his efforts seem to be directed towards "This will not turn out well!""
I think it is more reckless. He's taking reckless gambles with positions that are not his to risk. If it works, great. If it doesn't, it isn't his problem, but the injury to others would be vast, deadly, and long lasting.
There is a good reason everyone before him was cautious to the point of near frozen. Once the Gordian Knot is cut, it can't be put back together.
Mr. Friedman once wrote of an Arab cultural approach to negotiations that read if one is weak, how can one negotiate, and if one is strong, why should one negotiate? The Shia-Sunni penchant for killing each other reminds me of the Protestant Catholic proclivity for the same in the 16th Century. The UK only decided to remove the prohibition that the monarch be a Protestant in the last few years. Irish Catholics and Protestants only stopped killing each other rather recently in the way the millenia are reckoned. I doubt the USA can influence people determined to kill each other, especailly when each most truly believes God to be on their side. Israel aside, "Crazy Poor Middle Easterners" may be the fate of the region until its peoples grow to complete exhaustion over the rivers of blood. I think presidents from Eisenhower through Obama learned this the hard way. Trump certainly has no magic formula to overcome centuries of hate.
8
@Jack Kay -- I have had some very successful negotiations with Arabs in the middle east, specifically Gulf Arabs and Lebanese Arabs.
You are right, but catch only part of the story. You can't negotiate with them based on strength or weakness, or pushing advantage. You can't do it in the usual US way at all, not even with zero sum, win/win thinking.
Their negotiations are personal relationships first and last. You form a partnership, perhaps informal but still real, for mutual advantage. That is why the tea is key to the talk. No tea, no deal.
Mutual advantage need not be the same advantages. They can be the advantage of side effects. The can be very opposite cultural concerns. It requires an entirely open mind, a willingness to understand what can be pretty alien.
It is a serious mistake of arrogance to think you can do it from deep knowledge, because we just don't know and can't know. But we can listen.
Mr. Friedman, the region could prosper perhaps without constant western interference, which interestingly is what you are calling for. Let us not forget that the Iraq war you championed has been a great cause of the mess the Middle East is in today.
17
@Fakkir -- And the Libyan and Syrian wars after that.
2
Religion and long memories are the two greatest problems in the Middle East. It is no accident that Russia and China -- two aggressive, post-religion nations from outside -- have taken positions in the Middle East.
European influence in the competing centers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran is temporarily diffused by Europe’s need to deal with homegrown nativists.
American influence has waned because the deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats, which began under Reagan, began to spill over into foreign policy when it came to dealing with the Middle East.
Now, we have an American president whose incompetence and dangerous impulses have tended to make matters worse in any region of the world he touches.
Donald Trump’s vulnerability to the flattery of Benjamin Netanyahu and to the money of the House of Saud ruined any chance of the United States being viewed as an honest broker by countries in the Middle East.
Every time it seems that the lives of people in the Middle East cannot get worse, they do.
1
I think it is time to get beyond the idea that the West and the US is to blame for all of the current problems in the Mideast and ,more importantly , that we have any idea on how to fix the Arab world.
We can't.
Whether people like it or not the US is an energy independent nation and it is now the Chinese who are the great industrial power dependent on Mideast oil in the 21st Century.
Lets see how they do trying to herd cats.
2
As a Bangladeshi who's lived in Malaysia and travelled to Singapore, I can certainly attest that there's some truth in Mr. Friedman's words about Asia. But make no mistake, all these developed countries can be terribly racist as well. So, in a way, most Asian countries have not fully left their pasts behind. But yes, as far as the economies and prosperity is concerned, Mr. Friedman's words truly hit the mark; much of the backwardness has been scaled back.
6
“Trump and his team don’t understand: The U.S. can’t just subcontract order-making in the Middle East to Israel, Russia and Saudi Arabia and write them blank checks.”
If I’m not mistaken, a large part of the rationale behind implementing the JCPOA was to bring geopolitical stability to the broader Gulf region, along with easing tensions with Tehran — an issue that Mr. Friedman only obliquely alludes to.
3
"Being the reality principle, balancer and honest broker has been a U.S. role since the 1970s. If we abdicate it, we’ll just end up creating more crazy poor Middle Easterners."
So we run the middle east for 48 years and it turns out a disaster and you advise against abdication?
12
Putin has no interest in ending the Syrian conflict. Continued warfare drives continued flows of refugees seeking shelter. In turn, Eastern European autocrats (Orban, Duda) and Western European right-wing and fascist parties (AFD, National Front in both France and Britain, Northern League, etc.) eagerly use refugees to foment fear and hatred among their "populist" followers, and once-liberal (that is, open to as many persons as possible) societies sink deeper into an authoritarian abyss.
It's just the environment that Putin-led Russia wants, to destabilize and eventually destroy the West. He'll be happy to keep up the carnage as long as he has planes and bombs.
3
@BobAz -- "Putin has no interest in ending the Syrian conflict."
It is the US that has adopted a policy of keeping the chaos going, if it can't just win and hand the place over to Saudi-radical jihadis.
From the first Russian involvement after Assad lost so much, they counseled taking back the country piece by piece, concentrating limited resources instead of trying to do it all at once. The help has been a few dozen airplanes, and no ground troops units of their own. But it has worked. They are now down to the last pieces.
Their strategy was economical, slow and steady. However, they are not the ones who have insisted on fighting on forever, even when they can't possibly win.
It is the Western bungling that has brought down on Europe the evils of a bungled war. If it helps Putin, that is just a gift to him, not something he did to Europe.
Mr. Friedman: "Being the reality principle, balancer and honest broker has been a U.S. role since the 1970s. If we abdicate it, we’ll just end up creating more crazy poor Middle Easterners."
Sorry, Mr. Friedman, but the U.S has never been an 'honest broker' in the Middle East.
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Mr. Friedman, it's time for a reality check. The US has tried to control the Middle East for 75 years. The results have not been good. The prospects for the US controlling the Middle East in the future are even worse. The US has intervened forcefully in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya and Syria. The facts just don't support the argument that US policy succeeded in establishing strong governments that respect human rights.
The US has given Israel almost total support, and as you have pointed out, cannot even persuade the Israeli government to put a peace proposal on the table today. Past US efforts to promote good faith negotiations have failed utterly because neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are willing to negotiate in good faith. Neither side wants a negotiated peace. Each side is determined to have its way at the expense of the other. The heavy thumb of the US tilts the balance toward Israel.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, and the Emirates are neither democracies nor vibrant economies. They are moribund.
The Middle East is driven by religious intolerance and tribal conflict. The religious conflicts of its past have buried its future. The US cannot compel resolution. The poor Middle Easterners are in control of their societies and they have the power to choose their own destiny.
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I think that Friedmann sees the role of the US and of Saudi Arabia in the recent history of the Middle East too positively, and in turn the role of Syria and Iran too negatively. One should remember, and this is still relevant even at this terrible stage of destruction in Syria, that under the authoritarian Assads Syria was a multireligious and multiethnic society, a unique Middle Eastern civilization, whereas almost all of the rebels stand for the dschihad, belong to the Hayat Tahrir al-Scham, the successor of al-Qaide, and have long been supported by the religious dictatorship of Saudi Arabia, a declared foe of the secular government in Syria and unfortunately a very close ally of the United States. In view of the upcoming battle for Idlib a close consultation and even cooperation of the West with Russia and the Assad regime might in my opinion be very helpful. The American diplomat James Jeffrey met on tuesday with Turkish secretary of defense Hulusi Akar to discuss the situation in Syria, perhaps a beginning. Trump and the West should appeal to the rebels to give up their arms and their radical religious goals to prevent the worst.
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If Friedman bothered to address the question of "why" - the authoritarian regimes imposed on proto-states - he would see how easily that is said and never done. China was and is a unified country, brutally organized with executive authority that has been intelligently wielded in the service of freeing up the economic energies of those below without ceding political power. No middile east power is anywhere near this yet.
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@Rob Crawford -- "No middile east power is anywhere near this yet."
Those middle east elites have no need to do that. They are massively wealthy and have total power without freeing up the economic energies of their populations. They just sell the resources out from under them, the delivery handled by Western companies. The only role of the local government is to crush any dissent, to prevent any mobilization of their population. That they do.
Europe before WWI was a pretty messy place. It erupted in war and the war begot another WWII. Then finally Europe got settled while we in the US, got the prize. Lets see that was about 100 years ago. So if the Middle East is 100 years behind Europe, there is some hope that the regionalism and spats will eventually lead to rapprochement hopefully without a disastrous war. But then Europe didn't have people on the sidelines that were not honest brokers, like Russia and Israel. I would like to think that US has been close. In my magical thinking I hoped that a deal with Iran would allow those people to use their great talent better than they have. I don't know if that experiment was a failure because it didn't fit the narrative needed for some votes in Alabama. Allowing Russia and radical Israel (aka Netanyahu) to have major influence has been a big mistake. Mr. Friedman is right, though, the waste of talent is bracing.
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@William Trainor -- Russia has nothing to do with those troubles. They are with Europe and China, defending the nuclear deal against Trump and Netanyahu.
Resource extraction. That's always been the problem. Nations that are rich in natural resources always end up with largely, poor and suffering populations. Authoritarian dictatorships and corrupt governments lead them.
This happens all over the world. We see it in South America, Africa, and throughout the Southern Asia and the Muslim lands. We see it in America. The poorest, most undeveloped areas are the ones rich in natural resources.
Why does this happen? Because only a few benefit from owning and controlling the money making resources. Few are needed to extract the resources. These nations, and areas here in America, do not invest in their people. They have few opportunities. Little education, if any. No infrastructure investment. The resource owners exploit the land and the people also. Trump is a strong supporter of resource extraction here and supports dictators who control large amounts of natural resources. That's not a coincidence.
Religious zealotry and fundamentalism are also tools used to suppress populations. Trump also supports these things and the people that push them.
Everything Trump is doing in the Middle East is just making the place worse off by maintaining support for the resource extractors and not pressuring for investment in the people. Trump supports billionaires and dictators only. Always has, always will. The people of West Virginia and other resource rich states have yet to figure that out.
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@Bruce Rozenblit your analysis works for me. Tie it to " family and clan" building and presto you get the 1% here and elsewhere. Tie it to Trump's winners and losers or his zero sum game and you get the eventual resourse depletion, clear cut Amazon basin and the relentless heating of our joint home: planet Earth. But let's face the evolutionary truth, we evolved from vicious primates with their flaws conserved. A part of me dreams of a joint future where we all simply follow the ten commandments. Maybe in the race to annilation someone cooks up a gene therapy in a simple adenovirus that literally drives some sense into all our selves and we all heed what Jonah was sent to say.
@Bruce Rozenblit - "Nations that are rich in natural resources always end up with largely, poor and suffering populations. "... as a Canadian, I disagree!
1
If we really wanted to see peace in the middle east, the first step would be to stop selling arms to anyone. But no, we keep throwing fuel on the fire.
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@S.E. G., you are absolutely right. If someone was to trace the weapons used by so called terrorists (who were former "friends"), they would be surprised to find US brands in the mix. We the people of America are participating in, proliferation of destructive weapons, so we can destroy other human beings we do not ideologically agree with. Its all make belief theatre in any case. (shrug)
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@S.E. G. Alas, war is profitable.
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One aspect of the political situation in the Middle East that Mr. Friedman appears to misrepresent is the role of the U.S. Did we not prop up authoritarian regimes during the Cold War? Did we not encourage the Saudis to export radical Islam to Central Asia in the 70’s and 80’s? Did we not fecklessly and unnecessarily invade Iraq, strengthening both Sunni extremists and the Iranians, and further destabilizing the region?
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On the other hand we've interceded repeatedly since the Eisenhower presidency (when he put the Shah in power; if not since the end of WWI when the Western powers divied up the region on non-tribal lines) - and when Reagan sent marines into Lebanon, not to mention our actions in Iraq; and probably hundreds of other interventions, major and minor ---> and what do we have to show for it?
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Not a word about the war in Yemen.
I wonder why?
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@Kevin Rothstein I'm thinking you skipped over this part of the article.... "And the Saudi-U.A.E. war in Yemen has been so badly botched by incompetents in the Saudi Air Force that they are now being accused of possible war crimes."
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Paragraph 18 - "And the Saudi-U.A.E. war in Yemen has been so badly botched by incompetents in the Saudi Air Force that they are now being accused of possible war crimes."
@Kevin Rothstein
Did you actually read the article?? Yemen was mentioned. Agreed, it was only a sentence.
"And the Saudi-U.A.E. war in Yemen has been so badly botched by incompetents in the Saudi Air Force that they are now being accused of possible war crimes."
This is brilliant and really true. There are many topics in here that are quite right. My own life has been long and even cancer cannot do it in - yet. I have seen foolishness in the way people act for a long time and there are many trends in this thoughtful piece that are truthful and it's way past time for folks to pay attention to them.
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Looking around the world, I don't see a single nation that puts its religion(s) first with a modern economy. True religious practice and money focus simply don't mix. The US and Israel have money as their one true religion, and their economies reflect that fact. To a lesser extent the same can be said for Europe. Asian religions are more pragmatic, resembling life and cultural philosophies more than religions, which not only allows but fosters economic development. The Middle East, for all its profound problems, does at least try to live its religion, giving it primacy in daily life. I don't think money is the primary driver of Middle Eastern thought, at least not outside the sheiks' palaces. That might be changing, but only slowly. And, anyway, by the time it does, the planet will be cooked.
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@Michael
This is actually a conservative approach and don't buy it. The primacy of religion is the problem in the Middle East, as it is in most countries that allows it's government and citizens to use it to personal advantage. This is a cultural problem.
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@Michael
"The Middle East, for all its profound problems, does at least try to live its religion, giving it primacy in daily life. "
Oppressing women? Beheading adulterers? Murdering 'blasphemers'? Attacking infidels? Persecuting other sects (of the same religion)? This has nothing to do with religion and everything with cultural inflexibility. Cultures that refuse to grow and adapt in sync with the rest of the planet are going to have problems, no question about that.
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@Michael Are you saying Evangelicals worship money? They're the main Trump voting bloc.
Iran is "malign" while Saudi Arabia just needs some TLC.
This is one of the basic fault lines that puts Friedman's analysis in precarious territory. The US cannot "win" in the Middle East by taking sides in age-old religious wars, yet that is what we are doing, indeed, are forced to do to exert whatever influence we can. They insist we take sides, and we do. But this is a trap. This is why we will be there forever, wondering why that is.
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The historical involvement of The United States in the political affairs of Iran is well documented and accepted as fact.
The Islamic Revolution and resulting 30 year isolation of the Iranian economy by the west gave rise to regional financial centers such as Dubai, UAE – and to some extent Istanbul.
The "craziness" in Iran is a direct result of our involvement in their state affairs.
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@RA LA
Didn't Khomeini return from Paris and impose strict religious control after the revolution? I recall those who supported the revolution hoped that the elected leaders would moderate Khomeini and make Iran better for the people.
That was decades ago. Not only hasn't it worked out well for the people, Khomeini, the cancer, has metastasized throughout the region.
And we know the people of Iran are being denied government resources because of their leader's forays into Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, etc.
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Going back much more than 30 years, at least to the 1950s overthrow of Mossadegh, because he dared to think of nationalizing his country's oil.
This is a very good article, hitting many of the key issues. The need to contain Putin and the mullahs, guide the Saudis towards civilization, support the more reasonable actors in the Gulf and find a way towards a two state solution. What Friedman misses is that Trump did not give away the embassy relocation for nothing - this was a straightforward quid pro quo with Adelson, Singer and Kushner.
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"If we abdicate it, we’ll just end up creating more crazy poor Middle Easterners."
We've been creating crazy poor Middle Easterners for decades. We've been doing that practically everywhere we've been, except for Europe. We made a mess in Iraq, directly. We didn't intervene in Syria when we could and it is now way too late. We created an unnecessarily bigger mess in Libya by taking out Gaddafi without having an exit strategy or a commitment to see to it that a stable regime replaces him. What goes on in Libya now has repercussions far beyond its borders.
Our current government is neither interested in foreign policy, nor is it equipped to manage it. Just look at the hatchet job Rex Tillerson did. Is Pompeo any better equipped or disposed? The answer is no.
Until a saner crew is elected to the White House, let's leave bad enough alone. State will need to be rebuilt, civil servants retrained, and former State alumni recalled to their former jobs, before we can think - much less - begin to unleash our foreign policies on the world again, starting with the partners Trump has jilted over the past almost two years.
The task that will follow Trump's departure from the White House will be a monumental one. The media can best help by documenting all of the things Trump has undone. Make it a spreadsheet. Whoever is next will be grateful.
---
What Trump did while we weren't looking
https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2ZW
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@Rima Regas-Useful list but there's much more. Don't forget shredding the Iran agreement; putting Kushner in charge who has no diplomatic skills or background and given him free reign to push insane and vindictive policies. Kushner persuaded Trump to cut in half the U.S. annual aid commitment to help Palestinians (eat, work, and get educated) then Trump upped this grief by cutting the already allotted Congress-approved aid to "zero". Kushner tried to tap a Qatar billionaire for a $500 million loan to bail out his real estate--and when he was turned down persuaded Trump (with the Saudi prince) to place a U.S. blockade on Qatar; the site of the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East! Trump has also sided with the Saudi to sell military hardware that's unleashed destruction on Yemen, the world's poorest country, to great loss of lives and devastation. Trump Jr. sought money from Saudi Arabia and the UAE for the Trump campaign illegally to sell favor prior to Trump gaining office. Trump also shredded U.S. commitments to accept people from Iraq who'd helped the U.S. in its war as well as completely stopped people coming into the country with pre-approved Visas, leaving thousands in limbo and rural communities in America without doctors. The Administration's lack of fundamental knowledge of complex M.E. relations and adherence to proven diplomatic policies and practices honed over decades--is breathtaking in its arrogance and incompetence.
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@Rima Regas--No good ever comes whenever America intervenes anywhere in the Middle East. A century of redrawing the map of the Middle East and trying to get warring factions to make peace have resulted in monumental failures. From Wilson to Trump America just doesn't get the tangled mess that's perfectly normal in the Middle East.
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@Rima Regas. It is absolute nonsense to say we didn’t intervene in Syria. Only in America would a massive operation to pour weapons into the hands of rebels be called nonintervention. Much of that inflow ended up in the hands of either ISIS or alternatively Al Qaeda, which has had various names in Syria and is currently the dominant force in Idlib.
American pundits commonly claim we didn’t intervene in Syria. What they mean is that we didn’t bomb The Syrian government in a sustained way or launch a full scale invasion. We have armed rebels, there are thousands of American ground troops there and we do bomb ISIS in Syria after first allowing it to grow, hoping it would pressure Assad. It did — this is why Putin came in. And later we bombed Raqqa into rubble. But sure, we didn’t intervene, by some bizarre Orwellian American standard.
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Americans today, under the Trump administration, should not concern ourselves too much with what the Syrians and the Saudis are doing. Far more consequential to America and to the world is what Trump is doing to American democracy and American institutions. Let's spend all our energies focusing on the home front and then we can worry about the Middle East when we have sanity back in the White House. Otherwise, everything will be just an exercise in futility....
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Rather all over the map this morning. MbS' personality, what to ask for when negotiating with Bibi, what the Sheikh of Dubai says about Japan, you name it.
And I have to say, the surface plethora is covering a pretty hollow core. It seems the main theme is "If only they could put their past aside." Yes, if only they could do that one little thing.
Tom, nobody ever puts their past aside. They can't. For one thing, it's not past. And so they haven't. China is still China and Japan is still Japan. If Vhina and Japan, and, lest we forget anybody relevant, Israel have become rich not because they got rid of their pasts but because there was no contradiction between those pasts and having the mental freedom to modernize. In the Middle East, Israel aside, the opposite is true. That's the problem.
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Tom,
You are my Middle East expert but when you expound on the craziness of the region, it always makes me a little crazy.
I am astonished that because the region does have religious, tribal, and ethnic differences that appear to have no positive benefits to the region that leaders have failed to emerge who could inspire political consensus on a plan to make progress and begin to make the Middle East a better and safer place for families to live.
I don't like to say the situation is hopeless because I know a married couple who are from the two religious tribes in the region and they had to immigrate to the U.S. to live happy lives.
I also worked with the late Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was the 6th Secretary General of the U.N., on water, which is critical to the region, and we discussed at length the difficulty of achieving a better life for the region. He had remarkable insight that helped me.
In my days in the region, I was military and concluded that military force is not what is needed. But our humanitarian thinkers need to keep trying to come up with a plan and foster charismatic leaders to persuade the people in the region that they can live a better life if they evolve away from their traditional religious, tribal and ethnic societies and follow the guidance that you frame in this column and in your books on the region.
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Mr. Friedman, thanks for a succinct yet thorough description of the Middle East. I lived in Saudi Arabia for 5 years and your observations match up very well with my own. The potential for substantial, positive progress is there. The younger generation is very much ready to break with traditions, at least to some extent. But guidance is needed as well.
There have been too few articles in the NYT about the malignant influence of Iran's leadership throughout the region. I specify "leadership", because the younger generation of Iranians, like the Saudis, also wants to see a liberalizing of social rules and a setting aside of tribal squabbles.
12
This is the logical outcome of the US deciding it doesn't need the services, advice and expertise of experienced diplomats at the State Department. For those like Trump and his coterie this expertise counts for nothing because the results of diplomacy are not often able to be measured in such simple and immediate terms as a "winning" deal. It takes time and the building of relationships to be able to influence outcomes. The current approach of "outsourcing" as Thomas describes it and ultimately hollow threats based on punishment with military force will deliver nothing of value to the US.
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@Chris It has been proven over and over that the use of carrots always produces a better outcome than the use of sticks.
@Chris -- They did such a great job of the middle east before Trump?
While he's been reckless instead of helpful, the deep problems long predate him, and we fed by US diplomacy.
The world has watched peoples committed to Islam since the start of the 7th century. It worked, kinda-sorta, for a while – southern Spain for a long time until 1492, caliphates so long as one didn’t mind beheading for what most today in other parts of the world would consider trivial offenses. It wasn’t all that different for centuries under oppressive Christian regimes. But, as a Christianity 600 years older than Islam embraced markets, innovation and the rights of man … Muslims did not. And we are where we are.
However, proposing that they put their pasts behind them may be a bit naïve. Their pasts are central to their existences today, and changing current folkways to reject them may not be possible. Yet in order to generally prosper economically, much of the non-Islamic world has learned that power must be diffused, and institutions accountable to the people must rise and become entrenched. This is utterly opposed to the whole thrust of Islamic society, and certainly to stridently Islamist society.
And when it’s God telling you to destroy someone, it’s hard to argue with Him.
So, I don’t expect Middle-Easterners to become less crazy, less poor … anytime soon. Frankly, I don’t believe that an intrusive U.S. presence to inveigle them over to the dark or light side, depending on your viewpoint, will matter a small hill of beans. In the end, societies either recognize the obvious and change of their own volitions … or eventually die.
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@Richard Luettgen Good points. But the reason why Muslims did well in Spain before 1492 was because there were tolerant monarchs and a balance of Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Then along came Isabella and Ferdinand and they needed money to finance voyages overseas, so they discriminated big time against the non-Catholics.
1
@Metrojournalist
The "Catholic Monarchs" (Isabella and Ferdinand) weren't THAT different from the Muslims they kicked out of Spain -- while they killed those whom they marked "unbeliever", the Muslims merely enslaved all others and used them like barnyard animals. But I suppose one could argue that it was a life, of sorts, under them.
Muslims did well in Southern Spain until they didn't because they conquered it over centuries and were its absolute masters. In their defense, while the rest of Western Europe was dark, they maintained civilization down there (for a price) -- everyone who could came there to be educated, including clerics. Educated, entertainingly, by Jewish slaves.
That place, time and people are one of my historical wheelhouses.
3
@Richard Luettgen
The Islamic Caliphate was one of the world’s greatest civilizations, created at a time when Christian Europe had retreated into the Dark Ages and lasting for 7OO years. Great libararies were built in cities like Córdoba and Baghdad that preserved much of the learning of the ancient world.
Mathematicians adopted the zero, first used in India, then created the Arabic numeral system which is vastly superior to the Romans numerals system. They went on to invent algebra. Their science, architecture, medicine, were very advanced as was their system of laws. Women were allowed to own property and get divorces. Jews and Christians were not only allowed to live in peace, but to prosper. Many worked for the governments in influential positions.
Eventually this civilization was weakened by reverting to tribalism/factionalism ( much like the West is experiencing today) and fundamentalism that completely distorted the teachings of Mohammed. When Spain was conquered by the Christians Isabella and Ferdinand, instead of beheadings, the people of Spain were treated to torture and burning at the stake for not being Christian and Jews that had lived there peacefully and prosperously for centuries were expelled.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age
2
For the Trump administration, lopsided gifting to Bibi and cruelty towards Palestinians are the aims, not unintended consequences. Trump has said nothing more severe about settlement expansion than that they are not helpful, but certainly has no convictions against them. He wouldn't bother extracting from Netanyahu something that doesn't interest him. Moving the Embassy to Jerusalem was inflammatory and one sided, but Trump was no doubt pleased by the praise it got him from Evangelicals. Trump wouldn't question the blockades against goods reaching Palestinians, or the obstacles they face in moving freely. Most recently, the administration stopped funding Unrwa, which is vital to Palestinians, in an unconscionable move. Jared Kushner, said to be behind that step, carries on his parents' far right Israeli agenda. And Nikki Haley had the gall to cite the number of people who need that aid as a reason to stop the aid.
Supporting the Likud platform is politically expedient for Trump, he admires Bibi's ruthlessness, and he had an anti-Muslim bias to began with (he likely doesn't even know that a third of Palestinians are Christian). Please keep in mind that the Asians haven't had these malevolent forces acting against them.
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@NM Nikki Haley is a well spoken, amazing, brave and effective human being. She deserves America's full support. Her singular excellence and dedication often makes me forget who our secretary of state is at times. I have never seen such strong advocacy and forthrightness across all issues, not just the middle east, from the stage of our UN representative. She should be celebrated, particular by the executive branch, as well as all of the rest of us. Political positions and our emotional and rational differences are one thing. But a human being with a real heart and soul is an example for all of us, and should be recognized, appauded, and studied by all women throughout our nation.
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@Mark
"I have never seen such strong advocacy and forthrightness across all issues, not just the middle east, from the stage of our UN representative."
It would be helpful if you could kindly remind us how many times she has condemned Saudi Arabia for its war crimes in Yemen.
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@Mark-You mean the Nikki Haley who withdrew the US from the UN Human Rights Council?...denied Gaza violence was related to the move of US Embassy to Jerusalem? ...rejected the UN's critique of US border policy separating children from their parents which broke international laws? ...spearheaded a campaign to withhold some $65 million in US aid earmarked for food, schooling, and health care to Palestinian refugees? ...threatens the UN with defunding over resolution... You mean 'that' Nikki Haley?
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/30/the-double-life-of-nikki-haley/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/nikki-haley-human-rights-counci...
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I admire Mr. Friedman for trying to discuss this issue in a forthright way at a time when someone on the left risks all kinds of accusations of bigotry when critiquing Muslim countries. In the modern era - Buddhist countries of North and much of Southeast Asia are open societies where, although sexism exists as it does all over, men and women are for the most part considered equal and are encouraged to participate in civic and work life. Modern Buddhism is tolerant and more concerned about individual good works and enlightenment than culture wars. Without that heavy burden of religious dogma - Asian countries have been able to build modern, thriving economies and nations. Religiosity and modernity are incompatible - regardless of the faith. Fundamentalist Christians at home scare me as much as they do in Saudi Arabia. I'll take secular Asia any day!
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Ah, yes, Buddhism in its perfection...until you stumble on Myanmar (Burma) and the Rohingyas and then they don’t look quite so rational (including the sainted Aung San Syu Ki). As the Trumpster would say, Sad!
@Dana
"Modern Buddhism is tolerant and more concerned about individual good works and enlightenment than culture wars."
Tell that to the 1.2 million or so Rohingya displaced by mass genocidal violence perpetrated by Myanmar's military with nary a sideways glance from Aung San Suu Kyi. The Rohingya are Muslim. The state-sponsored violence against them is Buddhist. A very popular monk teaches that it's okay to kill Rohingya because they are not really humans; they are reincarnated insects and snakes.
@Dana 90% of Myanmar is Buddhist and they can't stop the systematic abuse and raping of Muslim women. Not sure you got that memo, as they are neither an enlightened society nor free of sexism. In fact the situation is considered a full blown genocide. Also, secular Asia includes North Korea, good luck moving there. China's treatment of Muslims is also pretty dismal. Be careful of your generalizations, they don't stand you in good stead.
A few clarifications for the respected , although pandering to the Western thinking crowd, Thomas Friedman;
1. We all miss the strengths and qualities of President Obama, but he threw the middle east into disaster. Two examples were the bombing of Libya( creation of another failed Arab State), and the financial unleashing of the Theocratic regime in Iran to pursue their violent regional domineering agenda. It is not a pretty thing to turn these issues around, but it is a mess being handled at this time on both fronts.
2. The movement of our Embassy to Jerusalem was purposefully planned for by a Congressional act in 1995 set to follow a timeline in case the Oslo Accords failed to proceed as intended. Oslo failed, so by timing alone, we moved our embassy.
3. PM Netanyahu has an open door policy for any Palestinian leader,to meet with him at anytime. The PA won't do it out of fear for the lives from their own. De-legitimizing Israel by making a single country ante up to the non-democratic international bar is distinctly inappropriate for our democracy. Israel is an ally, not an adversary. The concept that we as a nation should undermine Israel under the guise of needing to be a "balanced" broker is a sad commentary on the morals of any educated person that would prose such a thing.
3. There has been no abdication in Syria or Saudi Arabia. We have to work with who we can to avoid a devastating future consequence. Good day sir.
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Mark, the Middle East was a disaster before President Obama’s term. In many ways and for lots of reasons.
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Nonsense! There is a fundamental distinction between the Hard Right, religious/nationalist Settler movement and Likud - pandered to by cynical opportunists by Netanyahu (until he’s finally brought down by bribery and corruption) - and the modern, wonder that is secular Israel.
Israel gets a lot of free kicks in the region simply because it is a democracy and has worked economic wonders in its 72 years, but it’s founded on a contradiction: you can have the land (West Bank, with all the apartheid and oppression ruling it brings) or you can have peace. You can’t have both.
Tom Friedman gets abused because he continues to point out this simple choice.
1
The curse of oil requires nothing from the population for the leadership to take the money, while their own people go without anything, not needed and really ignored.
It was not just Saudi and the Gulf. It is the story of Nigeria, and Venezuela before Chavez, and more.
The Saudis have nothing but money. They don't need foreign investment. They need to put their people to work, using the money they've got.
The Iran bashing in this column is absurd. The ones overstretched are the Saudis, as MBS lashes out. That the Shiites are doing ethnic cleansing of Sunnis in Syria is absurd, when that was the behavior of the Saudi-backed Sunni jihadis there. The excuses for the Saudi war crimes in Yemen are absurd.
Also absurd is the excuse, "a few very extreme advisers who keep telling him to follow the “China model." What Friedman himself is proposing IS the China model of the autocrat investing in economic activity without democracy. "Democracy is not on the agenda in Saudi Arabia, but social, economic and religious reform is." This done by "tapping its human resources — men and women — and giving them the tools to realize their potential," but without democracy.
At least he says it is a mistake to give Israel a blank check, but even there he makes only a criticism of Trump for permitting them to do as they wish, rather than them for wishing it and doing it.
This is absurd in its effort to say nice things of Friedman's friends, despite attacking everything they are doing.
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@Mark Thomason
I am an immigrant who has lived here for almost 50 years and yet my perception of the world is somewhat different from most of the natives here. I always look forward to reading your comments on almost all world issues.
I find you to be one of the most knowledgeable commentators on these pages and I almost always seem to agree with you - and that makes me vicariously proud!
I guess you have the knowledge and the language skill to present issues as most people living outside the US see them - which is somewhat differently than how it seem to appear to the likes of Friedman, who, BTW, I also like to read.
Thank you for all your perceptive comments.
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@Dreamer -- Thank you.
I try for objectivity. That is a challenge, so I may not always accomplish it.
I think objective reality is key to actual understanding. Therefore partisan loyalty clouds judgment, and is not helpful even to the side to which one is "loyal."
There are places for partisan loyalty, but I am just not interested in being in those places or doing those things.
Is Israel among the Middle Eastern countries Friedman considers to be economic basket cases? I ask because Israel's GDP per capita is now on par with that of major Western European countries such as the UK and France, its tech sector is the most dynamic in the world outside Silicon Valley, and it ranks among the top 10 countries by life expectancy.
Regressive as Netanyahu may be, Israel as a whole would seem to be doing some important things right that distinguish it from all its neighbours.
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@Grouch Israel wouldn't exist if not for unlimited military and economic support from the US. Moreover, Israel is like other European colonial states (Canada, the US, Australia, NZ) that transplanted a system of government into a foreign land, even as they "pacified" and colonized the native population. Thus, with the additional factor of that unlimited American aid, Israel's success is no different than that of similar European colonial states. Of course, what is happening in Israel now is that its tribalist tendencies, always present, are taking over, with predictable effects on its democracy. This is part of a process that has been going on for decades. This tribalism has flourished, in part, because, unlike Canada or the US, the Israeli settlers were not able to overwhelm and conquer the native population through sheer numbers. The distortions in the society that have resulted from the continuing occupation and suppression of the Palestinians have empowered more and more radical political and ethnonationalist forces within Israel.What effect this will have on its economic development remains to be seen.
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@Grouch A lot like Singapore; a competent planned economy with a strong and mildly repressive government.
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@Grouch
We Dutch did a similar good job in South Africa! Why weren't the blacks in South Africa more thankful? And now the Palestinians in Israel are also such ungrateful brutes. Ah, it is a cruel world!
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This is just one more piece in a dreadful jigsaw puzzle.
One might ask whether the Yom Kipper War of 1973 has been the defining moment of the last fifty years. The thought seems far fetched. However consider the consequences.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab exporters imposed an embargo on oil exports. Oil prices quickly quadrupled. The Middle Eastern countries then seized the reserves which had been developed by the multinational companies. They then worked to keep oil prices high, building their wealth and then using the wealth to destabilize the Middle East and attempt to dominate the world.
Later President Carter pushed policy to increase the use of coal so as to cut dependence on Middle east oil. The world is warmer today thanks to the effort.
In 1990 Sandam Hussein invaded Kuwait to punish that country for resisting efforts to keep oil prices high. The 2003 US invasion of Iraq which has cost this country dearly was a direct consequence.
The list is far longer. It is hard, though, to avoid the conclusion that the failure of Western nations to move aggressively to restore peace in 1973 and prevent oil price increases was a historic blunder. It ranks with mistake made by the allied victors when they forced the one-sided Treaty of Versailles on the vanquished Germany.
Everything that has followed is predictable.
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No: coal IS responsible for a large fraction of the warming. Even if there have been other factors, coal enabled them.
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The world is warmer because stupid humans could not stop BREEDING. Religion is partly at faulty, egotism, stupidity and ignorance as well.
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"Considering the hugely damaging role that Saudi Arabia played in the Arab Muslim world, when, post-1979, it began to aggressively spread its puritanical form of Islam — which helped to seed 9/11 "
I do not believe that there was "moderate Islam" in Saudi Arabia before 1979 and the "puritanical form of Islam came into existence after 1979. That is nonsense, you cannot separate Saudi Arabia from Wahhabism.The existence of the Saudi monarchy is deeply linked to the existence of Wahhabism and Wahhabism came into existence in 1744, The Wahhabi establishment in Saudi Arabia has no interest in promoting any reform that could call into question its existence. I do not agree with Tom Frieman's glorification of this man, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, I agree he has done some social reforms but he cannot take the ultraconservative Kingdom back to "moderate Islam". Women driving to work and people going to movie theaters are not enough to call a country moderate.
Despite international praise for his strides towards liberalisation of Saudi domestic issues, commentators and human rights groups have been vocally critical of bin Salman's leadership, citing his detention and torture of human rights activists, intervention in Yemen, escalation of Saudi's diplomatic crisis with Qatar and the start of the diplomatic crisis with Lebanon, as well as his arrests of members of the Saudi royal family in November 2017, as failure to perform pledged reforms.
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@Padman The "puritanical form of Islam" is Wahhabism, which originated in the 18th Century. In the 20th Century, the House of Saud, of which MBS is a part, simply made a deal to fund their expansion world-wide in return for not demanding the end of monarchic rule at home.
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@Padman, at one time, what is now Saudi Arabia, was a land of pagan gods and goddesses (360 idols). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_pre-Islamic_Arabia
Some even claim that they worshipped shivlingam and the black stone is encompassed in a yoni symbol.
From wiki "The Black Stone was held in reverence well before the preaching of Islam by Muhammad. It had long been associated with the Kaaba, which was built in the pre-Islamic period and was a site of pilgrimage of Nabateans who visited the shrine once a year to perform their pilgrimage. The Kaaba held 360 idols of the Meccan gods. The Semitic cultures of the Middle East had a tradition of using unusual stones to mark places of worship, a phenomenon which is reflected in the Hebrew Bible as well as the Qur'an, although bowing to or kissing such sacred objects is repeatedly described in the Tanakh as idolatrous and was the subject of prophetic rebuke. The meteorite-origin theory of the Black Stone has seen it likened by some writers to the meteorite which was placed and worshipped in the Greek Temple of Artemis. Some writers remark on the apparent similarity of the Black Stone and its frame to the external female genitalia,and ascribe this to its earlier association with fertility rites of Arabia."
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@Padman
'I do not agree with Tom Frieman's glorification of this man, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, .... '
I have a feeling that Friedman knows full-well how bad things are in Saudi Arabia, but he also knows that if he appears to be making the slightest criticism, he will become 'persona non grata' in Saudi Arabia right away. So, take what he says about Saudi Arabia with a fistful of salt.
But I am grateful that Friedman does not appear to be trying to win any brownie points with Netanyahu and says things that need to be said about Israel.
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The Middle East is, indeed, a region dominated- one can say "maddened"- by religion and ethnicity, by ancient grudges and slights that continue to fester when they're not in an actual state of rage. I truly do believe that Trump's instinct is correct- that we should get out of there and let these imbeciles fight their own battles. What do they have that we need- oil? Just another reason to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, but we can in any case get all we need from countries outside the region (Mexico, Nigeria, etc.). What else? Frankincense? Dates? Figs? Please. The problem with The Donald's recommendation is that he refuses to see Israel as being part of the problem. The Palestinian issue is no less pertinent than are the conflicts between Sunnis and Shiites, Arabs and Kurds, Lebanese Muslims and Lebanese Christians. And Israel's treatment of the residents of Gaza and the West Bank (especially given the recent amendments to its constitution) is hardly less pernicious than is Assad's attitude towards his Sunni population. Yes, by all means, pull the U.S. out of the Middle East but ensure that we refrain from continuing to arm the Israelis and from using our veto power at the U.N. on the Likud government's behalf.
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@stu freeman Are you serious with this statement "And Israel's treatment of the residents of Gaza and the West Bank (especially given the recent amendments to its constitution) is hardly less pernicious than is Assad's attitude towards his Sunni population." Think a bit more about the death and destruction inflicted by Assad, with Iranian help, in Syria. There is no credible comparison. As well, you might consider Hamas's treatment of the residents of Gaza. Taking resources that could be used to improve living standards and use them for the construction of weapons and offensive tunnels. Then using weapons with civilian human shields. Moreover, Hamas' actions has necessitated a blockade of potential dual use supplies. Facts and perspective are needed.
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@EDT: One could better argue that Hamas' behavior is extreme if the Israelis were responding more reasonably and charitably to the non-violence practiced by Fatah in the West Bank. The latter organization is rife with corruption and incompetence but there's no question that the Israeli occupation of that area would have been a good deal more difficult to accomplish had it been necessary for them to deal with Hamas instead. The result: increased expansion of Jewish settlements. Insofar as Syria is concerned, I'll concede that the wholesale massacres of Sunni civilians committed by Assad is more disgraceful than the wholesale confiscation of Palestinian land conducted by Israel's government (along with extra-legal arrests and itchy trigger fingers on the part of their military), but is that the standard by which Netanyahu's conduct is to be judged? Their disregard for human life, dignity and self-determination make the two of them peas in a pod.
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@stu freeman Israel doesn’t have a constitution, and the recent law (which I oppose) does not relate to the residents of Gaza and the West Bank, but rather to citizens of the State of Israel. Whether Arabic is an official language or a language with a special status, for example, has no bearing on Gaza and the West Bank.
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80 years later and we are still debating this...What's the definition of insanity again ??
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So the Chinese model is the way now?
Lock up and murder critics, and dole out the least important freedoms while everyone who is connected gets rich and the masses are satiated with McJobs and phony nationalism.
Nuts to that. I chose to side with Canada and the brave dissidents putting their life on the line the way the US used to do
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@Paul, China is not a democracy. Don't be fooled by their growth and development. What use are riches and material goods when one's spirit is not free but wrapped in glitter barbed wires?
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Do you remember me, Mr. Friedman?
Sixteen years ago I sent an email warning you not to publicly support the invasion of Iraq.
I used Bulgaria as a bad omen. As the member of the Security Council at that time it was supportive of the Bush Administration in dethroning the Saddam Hussein regime.
In that email I explained that Bulgaria had lost all the wars during the previous century – Second Balkan War, WWI, WWII and the Cold War and that we should restrain from being allied with them.
You answered that it was brilliant and that you might use it in your column.
Then I took liberty to additionally explain what would happen to the world if we invaded Iraq. I know at that moment it was extremely gloomy and dark forecast.
However, from today’s perspective and current developments, one might say that it was right on the money!
Don’t you have a copy of that email to compare those old predictions with the contemporary situation on the ground?
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@Kenan Porobic Kenan that is fascinating. Makes me wonder about these things:
1) Was NYT OnLine then or did you read in paper edition? I was living in Sweden then but I do not think I knew that the Times was on line then so was surely not reading the Times.
2) You were able to get Friedman's Email address. Now I believe we are lucky if we get a tweet address.
3) I read often here that Friedman supported the war on Iraq and I know if I had ever known that then I would have objected strongly. I have met 100s of people at the Red Cross here in Sweden who fled from Iraq at different times - Kurds, Assyrians, Shia and Sunni Arabic speaking.
You have gotten me interested in trying to find Friedman's columns from that time.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
comment at http://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/04/opinion/middle-east-riches.html?commen...
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@Larry Lundgren
Actually I read it in Charlotte Observer paper copy that republished Friedman column. It got my attention because it was really independent thinking for those times. During that period in 2002 they would publish the email address of the author. Probably somebody else would read it at the NYT and preselect interesting reader comments for Friedman. If my memory serves me well when he personally replied he used different email address of the published one (it was some derivative of the published email)...
WHat Friedman meant to say, but can never quite get there, is that if the Arab states tried to emulate what is best about Israel and it’s democratic institutions, the region would be stable and the people more prosperous. It is apparently not enough that the Arabs control 99.75% of the former Ottoman lands liberated by the UK in WWI, because the Jewish people inhabit less than a quarter of what the international community identified as their historical homeland. And the Jews are fortunate to even have that. No other indigenous group in the region governs their homeland.
IT would be refreshing one day to read an article in which Friedman grants some agency to the Palestinian Arabs and holds them responsible for their actions. His comments on Saudis Arabia are a good start in that directions.
The central question on the peace process remains unanswered: with whom, precisely, is Israel supposed to be negotiating? Which leader of the Palestinian Arabs has the authority to reach a binding agreement and the power to enforce it? Friedman doesn’t say, though he knows the answer is "no one", but still objects to the US recognizing certain realities and thereby signaling that Arab "steadfastness" will now come with a price. What was that that Friedman once wrote about Arabs respecting the strong horse?
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@Charlie in NY: Israel no longer has democratic institutions. It denies Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza the rights it affords Jews who arrived only recently and who now occupy much of their land. Indeed, even within the borders of pre-'67 Israel a minority composed of ultra-orthodox Jews has ended up dictating policy to Netanyahu's government in much the same manner as a minority composed of Evangelical Christians has done here in the U.S.
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@stu freeman Israel gave Gaza back to Egypt. The people of Gaza voted for Hamas. Israel has every right -- no, obligation -- to defend itself. As for the "Palestinians" in the West Bank, why don't they return to Jordan? Oh, I forgot. Jordan didn't want them before 1967 and they don't want them now.
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@Charlie in NY"Liberated" by the UK? Well there's some revisionist history for you. The British were intent on dissolving the Ottoman Empire and expanding. They made a deal with the Sherif (Hussein) and post-WWII carved it up, rewarding various members of the tribe with new fiefdoms. They already controlled Egypt since 1888 and India since 1857. The Ottoman Middle East was smack in the middle of these two British colonies, and, all noble-intent aside, were determined to erase the Ottoman empire. Turks, Persians and Arabs, have been miserable with each other ever since.
The West loves a strongman style governmental authority when its purposes are served. Messy tribal warfare amongst various Muslim states keeps the region unstable rather than strongly united. Maybe the stakeholders should consider just what it is they want, other than the complete erasure of yet another ethnic group with its own other God/s. The 'we will wipe you off the face of the earth' strategy is not an actionable framework for "peace" that has ever worked out in the end.
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One must consider tribalism, groupthink conformity, and the honor-shame orientation of Islamic society as the root cause of violence and collapsed states in the Middle East. Until these societies undergo a dramatic psychological and philosophical reformation, the status quo will prevail.
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@Shenoa - I lived in Saudi Arabia from 2011-2016 and saw surprising changes in that short term, though there is still a very long way to go.
King Abdullah, among his first acts as king, created a program that sponsored any Saudi students who passed college entrance exams to take a "year abroad", at universities all over the world, all expenses paid. This has had a radical effect on the young of Saudi Arabia, because it opened up to them wide horizons as far as exposure to different social attitudes, as well as broadening their education. This program has been going on for about 13-14 years now and the first of its graduates have been in the workforce for a few years. It's an important disruption of the "groupthink" which you mention, a very real phenomenon that definitely needs disruption.
During the time I was in Saudi the female workforce went from 25,000 to 250,000, an amazing increase in 5 years.
I had a Saudi woman of 25 among my staff there. There was resistance on the part of some male staff in the company, but most welcomed her presence and treated her with absolute respect, perhaps taking their cue, at least in part from myself and other senior managers.
There is both a top down and bottom up desire from change among many Saudis. Let's hope it succeeds.
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@Shenoa
You realize that these "Islamic societies", with all the issues you have listed, were able to form a highly advanced society - some would say the most advanced society in the world - that lasted many centuries. I suggest you look for another explanation for their collapse and another justification for maintaining the status quo!
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@Shenoa What you say about the collapsed state in the Middle East also describes America. Tribalism, groupthink conformity, and the honor-shame orientation of fundamental, evangelical Christianity is destroying this country from within. Our nation's leaders, even the decreasing number of competent ones have neither the wisdom or attention span to deal constructively with the Middle East or much else beyond our own shores.
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