A View From The Left- NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

STEPHEN WALT: Could There Be a Peace of Trumphalia?

Is there a foreign-policy formula that is consistent with Trumpism yet not wholly destructive of the current international order?

I think there is. It’s an old idea and one that is not especially fashionable in academia, the think tank world, or the current foreign-policyestablishment. But it is a venerable idea and one wholly in sync with the message Trump has been preaching ever since he announced his candidacy.  That old idea is “Westphalian sovereignty.” If Trump is looking for a unifying concept for his approach to foreign policy, it is the idea that states are responsible for their own territory and citizens and that other states shouldn’t interfere with either. This notion is consistent with Trump’s own “America First” mentality, and it resonates with the sentiment of populist nationalism that has driven everything from the Brexit vote to the assorted European xenophobes who are so jazzed by Trump’s success…  Under this mantle, the United States would get out of the business of trying to spread democracy (whether by force or through less coercive means) and would instead adopt a “live and let live” approach toward governments that are different from its own.   More

*   *   *   *

ISRAEL, PALESTINE . . . and the U.S.

ISRAEL PREPARES FOR THE AGE OF TRUMP

Israel’s political scene reacted with surprising enthusiasm to Donald Trump’s shocking election last week. While the celebration from the Israeli right wing was to be expected, even figures on the center left have praised the president-elect… The most interesting of these, perhaps, was Education Minister Naftali Bennett, leader of the right-wing Jewish Home Party, who called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take advantage of the rare opportunity to immediately declare that Israel is stepping back from its support of the two-state solution. “This is the president-elect’s vision, as it was declared during the campaign,” said Bennett, whose party represents the settlers’ interests in both the government and the Knesset. “This should be our policy — simple, direct, and clear. The era of the Palestinian state is over.’   Other right-wing politicians were in a state of near-ecstasy over Trump’s promise to finally move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a commitment made but never acted upon by many of his Republican predecessors.   More

Trump adviser: He doesn’t see settlements as peace obstacle

President-elect Donald Trump’s top adviser on Israel said Thursday that the incoming US leader doesn’t see Jewish settlements in the West Bank as obstacle to peace with the Palestinians, and predicted Trump would keep his campaign promise to move the US embassy toJerusalem — essentially recognizing the holy city as Israel’s capital.   Successive US administrations have maintained that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal and their presence and continued expansion are major stumbling blocks in the path to reaching a peace agreement…   Many right-wing Israeli politicians have hailed Trump’s ascension as an opportunity to expand settlement construction, and Education Minister Naftali Bennett even said his election meant Israel could officially drop its commitment to the two-state solution.  “Trump’s victory is an opportunity for Israel to immediately retract the notion of a Palestinian state in the center of the country, which would hurt our security and just cause,” Bennett said Tuesday. “This is the position of the president-elect … The era of a Palestinian state is over.”   More