We have recently witnessed the collapse of Syria’s decades-long, oppressive regime.
There is room for the people of Venezuela and the U.S. administration to learn something from the Syrian experience and consider applying its lessons to the Maduro regime.
Syria’s quick collapse is widely attributed to the weakness of the powers that sustained the Bashar al-Assad regime and to the well-armed and well-organized opposition forces.
Now that President Donald Trump has won a second term, he has the opportunity to reorient U.S. Middle East policy from that of President Joe Biden. Out is Biden’s appeasement of Iran. In is “Maximum Pressure.” Out is demonization of Saudi Arabia. In is Trump’s partnership with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Out is the Biden administration’s passive-aggressiveness toward Israel; in are close ties with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After the latest Iranian missile attack on Israel, a significant Israeli retaliation is a certainty. This situation is fraught with risks of escalation and widespread global impact. In the face of these dangers, Western policymakers should explore strategic approaches to drive change in the Islamic Republic.
We are surprisingly bloodthirsty people. We impose the longest prison sentences in the world. We are one of only seven countries that inflict more than ten death penalties a year, with the others hardly our demographic, developmental, or political peers (China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Somalia, and Singapore).
Israel needs to come out of the war with Hizballah as the undisputed winner, and that should be in total contrast to the impressions created after the 2006 war. It has to be the LAST war with Lebanon, or with factions inside Lebanon. The idea, therefore, is to lead to that result, which, IF achieved, will be THE victory for Israel as well as for Lebanon.
