First, US President Donald Trump issued protective tariffs as part of his economic diplomacy campaign. A trade war with Canada and Mexico followed, which then moved on to
China. Meetings have been conducted to reach a solution for Ukraine’s recovery plan that is based on massive funding mobilization while, at the same time, Trump is also interested in a deal that would grant America a stake in Ukraine’s mineral wealth and that of Greenland.
Last week, Trump issued a warning of “major retaliation” against European countries if they sell American assets, including US government bonds. Danish pension funds have already announced they will proceed with that, as well as reviewing their investments in US equities. Trump has agreed to delay the imposition of new tariffs on European products but, in return, he wants the US to be able to regulate Greenland’s mineral rights to curb China’s influence.
The presentation by Jared Kushner at the recent meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos has reminded us here in Israel that, regarding the president’s peace plan for resolving the situation with the Palestinian terror base in Gaza, the team of Trump, Kushner, and Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff is wielding an economic diplomacy weapon.
While employing monetary pressure may seem to be less bloody and dangerous than continuing wars and battles, it is nevertheless just as lethal. Just ask the Kurds in Syria for an independent opinion, or the Venezuelans whose country is still ruled by the Maduro gang’s Delcy Rodríguez. The CEOs of the ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips oil companies indicated at a mid-January meeting with Trump that they could not commit to quickly re-enter Venezuela. Exxon CEO Darren Woods told him that the Venezuelan market is currently “uninvestable.”
Despite these setbacks, Kushner screened mock-ups of a touted “New Gaza” at Davos. His approach was to “plan for catastrophic success.” He displayed for the assembled world leaders a “master plan” for rebuilding Gaza.
His vision includes “coastal tourism” with waterfront developments and luxury residential buildings. There will be industrial complex data centers and advanced manufacturing parks further inland with sports facilities. Trump, at his side, added, “I’m a real estate person at heart, and it’s all about location… this beautiful piece of property, what it could be…”
He then said, “People who are living so poorly are going to be living so well.” How Gazans will be going from tents to affording high-rise rents is a matter left to the solution of other wizards – or will Israelis move in?
COMING BACK to sensical considerations, Witkoff, in a January 21 televised interview with CNBC, provided a glimpse into why economic diplomacy could be problematic, especially in the Middle East and for Israel.
Asked how the Board of Peace is going, the special envoy explained that they’re “excited” and indicated that a lot of conflicts Trump is seeking to solve, including in Gaza and Syria, “are just about miscommunication and bridging relationships.” But does Hamas, or the Palestinian Authority, for that matter, truly desire a relationship that bridges “Palestine” and Israel? Do they actually suffer from miscommunicating their messaging or are they disguising it?
A lack of realism
Negotiators are allowed to imagine and to hope – but they also are required to be realistic. As Mark Tapson, a Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, published on the DocEmet website on February 9, 2024, the larger backdrop to Gaza and the intense involvement of Qatar and Turkey is that both radical leftists and Muslim fundamentalists “see their goal within reach: the subversion of the capitalist West and its most… powerful exemplar, America, and the wiping of its ally, the Jewish state, from the map. They smell blood in the water.”
Money can buy a lot. But Trump and company need to know that ideologues and fanatic theocracy-driven terrorists are beyond the price he can pay.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey is oriented on a path of resurgent neo-Ottomanism. He is seeking to expand his country’s territory and subjugate neighboring minorities, and practices pro-Islamist moves such as revoking the historical status of the Hagia Sophia, reclassifying it from being a museum to being a mosque.
Hamas will never completely disarm or decommission. The towers Kushner and fellow investors will construct not only overlook the Mediterranean Sea but also Tel Aviv and Beersheba. Moreover, as the various monitors of Palestinian Authority media are pointing out, the rhetoric coming out of Ramallah – as well as the terror mobilization, training, and planning in Hebron, Jenin, and in-between – are still promoting the eradication of Israel as an independent Jewish state.
Economic diplomacy is useful and can, as a supplemental instrument, be effective. Most academics view it as a stabilizing policy, not a winning one. In our corner of the globe, other considerations must be taken into account.
Trump’s use of American military power has achieved notable specific, although limited, results. Iran, as of this writing, has gotten away with murdering thousands of its citizens, Venezuela is still ruled by a radical communist, and Hamas still rules in Gaza, above and below ground.
The writer is a researcher, analyst, and commentator on political, cultural, and media issues.