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Before challenging the Europeans with his annexationist ambitions regarding Greenland, Trump has already expelled them from the Middle East, just as he expelled the United Nations...
The excavator and the wrecking ball are indispensable military tools, along with the bomb or dynamite charge. They have been used for years to punish the families of Palestinian terrorists who have committed a deadly attack. The method, used on a small scale in the West Bank, has been extended since October 7, 2023 to the entire territory of Gaza, also as a profitable revenge system, since the demolition is usually followed by the occupation of all or part of the flattened territory.
It is not surprising that these weapons inspired the authors of “Into Destruction,” the report of the Munich Security Conference devoted to the transformation of US foreign policy, especially in relation to Europe. Fascinated by the demolition of the East Wing of the White House for the capricious construction of a grand ballroom, political scientists Tobias Bunde and Sophie Eisentraut found the metaphor for Trump’s attack on “the system of international norms, disregard for legal procedures, and the consideration of the presidency as personal property.”
Gaza was not on the minds of the two political scientists, although in few places do the collapse of the international order and the use of the excavator and the wrecking ball to reduce a vast urban area already bombed to rubble coincide so precisely. There the work is almost complete, with 90% of the buildings demolished, cultivated fields destroyed, 60% of the infrastructure of communications, sewage, water and electricity rendered useless and 50 million tons of rubble piled up. Meanwhile, 10% of the population has also been lost, between the quarter of a million who have fled and the final and incomplete figure of 71,000 dead, recognized by Israel.
The peace plan is also part of the collapse of the international order. There was no participation or representation of the Palestinians in its negotiation, and there will be none in the political bodies destined to implement it. There is no rush to intensify humanitarian aid or to respond adequately to an exhausted population sheltering in tents in the rain and cold, in contrast to the megalomaniacal display of urban projects that feed suspicions of a generalized expulsion. Nor is the ceasefire fully in effect, as it brings a constant stream of death and destruction from the Israeli army and from criminal gangs, some armed by the Netanyahu government. The toll of 600 dead and 1,500 wounded since the declaration of the ceasefire, not counting the sick who have died, belongs to a low-intensity war.
Before challenging the Europeans with his annexationist ambitions over Greenland, Trump has already excluded them from the Middle East, just as he has excluded the United Nations. They were part of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and played a key role in the Oslo peace, all of which Netanyahu has destroyed, especially with his annexationist decisions on the West Bank and his radical rejection of any steps towards a Palestinian state. However, no one opposed Trump’s Peace Council in the Security Council. It received the five European votes. Algeria also voted in favor. Russia and China abstained, reserving their vetoes for Ukraine now and perhaps for Taiwan in the future. In return, Trump has taken some liberties, such as attributing the presidency to himself, demanding a $1 billion quota for anyone who wants to participate, and extending his peacemaking capabilities worldwide, as he aims to replace the United Nations and absorb its resources. The iron ball that destroys the multilateral international order thus enjoys the blessing of the institution that suffers its blows and best represents it.
The collapse actually began in the Middle East, before Trump came along, with the 2003 invasion of Iraq and George W. Bush’s global war on terror. The Europeans, like the United Nations and humanitarian organizations, no longer have any role in the region, and no one will inform them before Iran is attacked. It is no wonder that the Middle East has had such a light hand at the Munich Conference. Its annual report does not even pay attention to the impossible reconstruction of the Strip, the growing occupation of the West Bank, the destruction of the Oslo Accords, or the risk of a regional war that accompanies Trump’s diplomacy through force against Khamenei.
In other times, these issues would have attracted maximum attention in Munich, but now the elephant in the room is Donald Trump's foreign policy turn, as the president of the Munich Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, has pointed out. After being reassured by Marco Rubio's polite and conciliatory speech, we can breathe a sigh of relief. Order reigns in Gaza... and in Europe./ Adapted from "Pamphlet" by "El Pais"
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