Civil war, revolution, protests and general unrest have swept through the Arab world in the past few months. What once might have been a small prairie fire–the suicide protest in Tunisia–became a widespread conflagration in part due to social media’s ability to connect and incite people.
Historians Victor Davis Hanson and Peter Berkowitz discuss the uproar throughout the Middle East, it’s causes, potential outcomes, the threat to Israel and the role of the United States.
They discuss our status as hostage to Saudi oil (not for our own imports, but due to the potential impact on the global capital markets) and the fear of the Muslim Brotherhood and other radical Islamists gaining power. Both argue that President Obama’s inconsistent policies are terribly misguided, and that the President must follow in the path of President Truman and promote the conditions of freedom around the world.
Obama’s “reset diplomacy” needs to be reset once again. There must be a “principled, clear cut, consistent support for constitutional, consensual government, an independent judiciary, human rights and a secular transition without violence.”
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