Peloni: I think that Trump’s decision to move into the Middle East quandary is just part of his continued move against China. In fact, his bold proposal has significant implications for the fickled nature of US allies in the Middle East, whose moves toward China in recent years is simultaneously harmful to the US and emboldening of China. With a base of operations in Gaza, it places the US in a position of independent power projection, the likes it has never had in the Middle East, with which to influence its allies into accepting that American military dominance in the region is far more relevant than Chinese economic incursions into the region. The consequence of this is that Saudi Arabia and Egypt will be under significant pressure to return to their previous positions of being stronger and more reliable allies than they have become due to US waffling in the region. This will also allow the US the means by which to stabilize the region and maintain peaceful support for the development of the launching the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, all while turning Gaza into an enterprise which enterprise which compensates the US presence in the region. Notably, this was among the first initiatives undertaken by Trump, even as more specific elements of his foreign policy are yet to be developed or stated. For all of these reasons, and others, I believe that Trump’s Gaza proposal is very important to his second term, and likely one which he will not easily abandon.
Trump offers a way out of this cycle of bloodshed. He proposes evacuating the civilian population from Gaza, even if temporarily, allowing the process of rehabilitation and rebuilding to begin in a Gaza empty of both residents and Hamas. Yet everyone rushes to refuse the proposal.
The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
