cassavaleaves
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 28, 2010
- 1,799
- 2,237
Many people say that Donald Trump, the returning US president, is merely making loud noises. My opinion, in short, is that Trump could be anything – a sound bomb or a devastating explosive.
We are facing four years that will probably be extraordinary. They could be the nightmare we fear – Palestinians without land: or the dream – a Palestinian state. His policies may lead to a dangerous regional war with Iran, or he could achieve a regional peace that concludes 40 years of battles and tensions with Iran, both in the Arab world and in the West. He may cause the fall of regimes and widespread chaos, or he could help establish security and peace in the region.
This is not an exaggeration – Trump is an unpredictable figure. We cannot ignore the US president, whether he is mocking or serious. As the poet Al-Mutanabbi said: “If you see the fangs of the lion bared, do not assume the lion is smiling.”
Trump has not yet completed 100 days in office, but he has already dismissed senior officials at the FBI, disrupted the activities of the US Agency for International Development, relocated thousands of its employees, withdrawn from the World Health Organization, and begun using military transport planes to deport undocumented migrants from the US. Some Latin American presidents were forced to receive them. Meanwhile, to avoid US tariffs, the Canadian prime minister quickly deployed about 250,000 military personnel and border guards to prevent smuggling and illegal crossings, and Mexico did the same. In Brussels, headquarters of the EU, meetings have begun to discuss Trump’s intention to withdraw support for Ukraine and to raise tariffs on European goods.
If these actions do not clarify Trump’s character and management style, then what comes next may be even more significant.
Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington, Trump lifted the ban on selling 2,000lb bombs to Israel, which had been imposed by his predecessor Joe Biden, and announced efforts to prevent Iran from selling its oil.
Now that we have “gotten to know” the US president, who is now more powerful than before, we must reassess the issues he will engage with.
SOURCE: Dangers and opportunities in the second age of Trump
We are facing four years that will probably be extraordinary. They could be the nightmare we fear – Palestinians without land: or the dream – a Palestinian state. His policies may lead to a dangerous regional war with Iran, or he could achieve a regional peace that concludes 40 years of battles and tensions with Iran, both in the Arab world and in the West. He may cause the fall of regimes and widespread chaos, or he could help establish security and peace in the region.
This is not an exaggeration – Trump is an unpredictable figure. We cannot ignore the US president, whether he is mocking or serious. As the poet Al-Mutanabbi said: “If you see the fangs of the lion bared, do not assume the lion is smiling.”
Trump has not yet completed 100 days in office, but he has already dismissed senior officials at the FBI, disrupted the activities of the US Agency for International Development, relocated thousands of its employees, withdrawn from the World Health Organization, and begun using military transport planes to deport undocumented migrants from the US. Some Latin American presidents were forced to receive them. Meanwhile, to avoid US tariffs, the Canadian prime minister quickly deployed about 250,000 military personnel and border guards to prevent smuggling and illegal crossings, and Mexico did the same. In Brussels, headquarters of the EU, meetings have begun to discuss Trump’s intention to withdraw support for Ukraine and to raise tariffs on European goods.
If these actions do not clarify Trump’s character and management style, then what comes next may be even more significant.
Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington, Trump lifted the ban on selling 2,000lb bombs to Israel, which had been imposed by his predecessor Joe Biden, and announced efforts to prevent Iran from selling its oil.
Now that we have “gotten to know” the US president, who is now more powerful than before, we must reassess the issues he will engage with.
SOURCE: Dangers and opportunities in the second age of Trump