Now this is clever - getting some skin in the game

The nations of the Middle East have always been isolated from each other - never combining forces to form a political front. Part of this is that a hundred years ago, the individual tribes were at each others throats competing for scant resources. The discovery of oil has shifted them away from being from nomads but not changed their cultural makeup. President Trump is going to be doing something very interesting. From The Washington Post:

Trump to unveil plans for an ‘Arab NATO’ in Saudi Arabia
When President Trump arrives in Riyadh this week, he will lay out his vision for a new regional security architecture White House officials call an “Arab NATO,” to guide the fight against terrorism and push back against Iran. As a cornerstone of the plan, Trump will also announce one of the largest arms-sales deals in history.

Behind the scenes, the Trump administration and Saudi Arabia have been conducting extensive negotiations, led by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The discussions began shortly after the presidential election, when Mohammed, known in Washington as “MBS,” sent a delegation to meet with Kushner and other Trump officials at Trump Tower.

After years of disillusionment with the Obama administration, the Saudi leadership was eager to do business. “They were willing to make a bet on Trump and on America,” a senior White House official said.

Very clever idea - make each Arab nation have some skin in the game. NATO members pay about 2% of their relative GDP to fund it. The Arab nations could fund their own NATO with the coins they find under their sofa cushions. We seem to actually have some intelligent foreign policy being done - what a breath of fresh air.

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by DaveH published on May 17, 2017 5:54 PM.

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