Leon Hadar
A“new Middle East” seems to always be on the horizon. In 1982, Israeli defense minister Ariel Sharon envisioned a new order in the Middle East, with a free Lebanon under a pro-Western Maronite government and a Palestinian State in Jordan. An Israeli invasion of Lebanon would destroy the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and ensure Israel’s security.
Shimon Peres and Tom Friedman promised a “New Middle East” in the aftermath of the Oslo Agreement in 1993. Instead of fighting, young Palestinians and Israelis would launch high-tech start-ups. The Lexus would smash the olive tree and usher in the “end of History.”
Then, a democratic and pro-American Middle East was supposed to emerge, starting with Iraq, after President George W. Bush’s exercises in “regime change” and “democracy promotion” in the 2000s.
That was followed by the “Arab Spring” in the early 2010s, which was expected to launch a wave of liberal-democratic revolutions in the Middle East led by all the young Facebook users assembled in Tahrir Square.
No comments:
Post a Comment