This Year in Jerusalem, Next Year in Jerusalem
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The latest flare-up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is over- for now.
In a world newly torn by global conflict- faced suddenly with the looming prospect of more- the news yesterday that recent hostilities have ceased between the Israeli military and the well-armed forces currently in control of Gaza was very welcome.
“Cease-fire between Palestinians, Israel takes effect in Gaza,” announced the Associated Press Sunday evening to a great collective sigh of global relief- with good reason. This latest outbreak of violence seems part of a growing, and very troubling, trend.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recently concluded official diplomatic visit to Taiwan seems to have worsened tensions between the Chinese Communist Party and U.S. officials, though it’s doubtful the CCP would have needed such a pretext much longer anyway.
It isn’t looking good for Taiwan in the coming months, if the People’s Liberation Army waits that long to strike. Signs are growing more ominous by the day. Foreign policy experts and world governments are nervously noting that this period eerily resembles the one we noticed just before Russia marched on Kiev.
North Korea has offered to send volunteer soldiers to bolster the efforts of the Russian Army in Ukraine, which isn’t good news at all for world peace.
Countries like China and India bought all the Russian energy the EU and US sanctioned, softening the threat and effect of any such future sanctions- against Russia or anyone else. The world has become too globalized for a strategy of isolate and starve to work; unless every other country agrees to participate.
On the subject of condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine with strongly worded sanctions and embargoes, not every country was on board. As it turns out, China- predictably- had no problem with Vladimir Putin’s action in Ukraine. Xi Jinping has his eye on a similar fat economic prize for China, after all, one for which he will be similarly shamed by the EU and US for seizing.
India- perhaps unpredictably- did not side with the world’s other democracies against the twin towers of communism in the East, but remained a robust Russian trading partner, buying 5x the usual amount of oil and gas.
