One of the most encouraging and promising words President-elect Trump said in his post-election acceptance speech was, “I'm not going to start a war. I'm not going to start a war. I'm not going to start a war.” Ta. Everyone understands that campaign promises often have a short shelf life even after the election is over, but the fact that the Trump campaign repeatedly talks about peace over war is, at least in his view, a winning point. It shows that you are thinking. American voters.
Will this talk of peace translate into action under the second President Trump, especially with the hawkish people he has appointed to senior foreign policy positions in the incoming administration? It's hard to say, but it would be a good sign if last week's reports that Iran had sent Elon Musk to meet with Iran's ambassador to the United Nations were true. Iran denies that such a meeting took place, and it may just be a media creation, as rumors are flying about President Trump's meetings with President Putin and other world leaders.
But even if it's not true that President Trump sent Musk to meet with the Iranians, it would be a good idea to do so. Why musk? Musk is not expected to have a formal role in the incoming Trump administration and is considered an informal adviser and friend to the president-elect. Additionally, businessman Elon Musk speaks a different language than government diplomats.
Why meet Iranians? What do you have to talk about? One important topic to address will be Biden's FBI claim that Iran was behind a plot to assassinate then-President Trump. The conspiracy outlined in the FBI's indictment seems unlikely, as many commentators, including former CIA analyst Larry Johnson, have argued. Is it possible that deep state hawks concocted this alleged plot to ensure that President Trump would not be tempted to open up to Iran once he took office? Unfortunately, this cannot be ignored because of the history of terrorist plots fabricated by the FBI.
Does that mean Iran's denials should be trusted? Of course not. But it's worth discussing.
President Trump is widely expected to return to the “maximum pressure” policies of his first administration in his second term. That's wrong. When President Trump returns to the White House, he will not step into the same world. The proxy war in Ukraine proves more than ever the futility of sanctions and pressure as foreign policy tools. Countries under U.S. sanctions are increasingly banding together and forming their own paths to trade and diplomacy without the United States.
In other words, we did not isolate Russia, China, and Iran by imposing sanctions upon sanctions. We isolated ourselves. The emergence of organizations such as BRICS makes this clear.
For America to become more prosperous, we need more foreign trade, not less. Frédéric Bastiat was quoted as saying, “If supplies don't cross the border, soldiers will.” We've already seen too much of that lately. Someone recently wrote that if only Nixon could go to China, perhaps only Trump could go to Iran. Making peace with Iran would be an outcome that would have repercussions in the Middle East and beyond. It would be in Israel's interest to decline its current near-war situation with Iran. War destroys and builds peace. Let's look forward to new initiatives.
