Trump should try to end, not manage, the Middle East’s oldest conflicts
And he should see the region as more than a source of instability and arms deals
IT IS becoming an odd tradition: America’s secretaries of state use their final days to catalogue their failings in the Middle East. John Kerry did it in 2016. Antony Blinken took his turn on January 14th. In a speech at the Atlantic Council, a think-tank, he described a litany of problems in Gaza: the misery of civilians; the failure to find an alternative to Hamas; the lack of a broader peace plan. As a piece of analysis, it was spot-on; as a farewell from America’s top diplomat, it was self-indictment.
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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Back on the president’s desk”
Middle East & Africa January 25th 2025
From the January 25th 2025 edition
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