A tremendous start, but there are challenges to Trump’s peace plan

President Trump Peace plan for Gaza It opened with tremendous success, but challenges remain. One of the truest truisms of war is that the next war begins, or does not begin, because of what happened after and before the war.

This conflict will be no different.

Trump’s to-do list

Let’s start with Dangerous to-do list In the face of the administration – and there is no doubt that the United States has this matter.

Step one, ending Armageddon.

Few wars ended worse than World War II: most countries were flattened like pancakes, and European GDP was measured in fractions. Tens of millions of homeless and displaced people. Most countries were teetering on the brink of famine.

However, the United States led Western Europe through the worst of it. Even before the Marshall Plan went into effect in 1948, every country in Western Europe had a functioning government and enough food and coal to get through the winter.

Postwar planners called this formula “disease and disorder.” If a country had a functioning government, a modicum of public security and safety, and no mass famine or plague, the people could get by.

This formula has proven to be almost universal. Trump should meet A coalition of forces can achieve this result in Gaza.

Step two, a better world.

if Trump wants to take Gaza off the table As the button that bad guys push when they want to destabilize the region, Gaza will need a flexible political structure immune to extremism, corruption, and foreign manipulation; Housing and reconstruction, a thriving economy that integrates well with Israel, and a healthy civil society that produces more soccer players than suicide bombers.

After the war in Europe, this was achieved in part through the Marshall Plan.

However, this was a one-time event that cannot be repeated in Gaza, but Trump will need a figure like Marshall to figure that out. Please, not Paul Bremer.

Step three, the need for speed.

Post-World War II reconstruction succeeded because Russian President Joseph Stalin was largely preoccupied with absorbing Eastern Europe until 1948, which gave the United States and its European allies enough time to work together.

Trump’s watch is about three years. He must set the course before the end of his presidency, and before any malicious actor can devise a plan to stop him.

Challenges

First, be considerate of intruders – Hamas is likely not the No. 1 threat.

The great danger will be external parties that want the Gaza reconstruction process to fail.

Unlike after World War II, the United States did not receive a free lunch during the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq. The Taliban were constantly harassed by Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Iran has stoked violence in Iraq, paying no price for spoiling post-war reconstruction efforts. Trump will not only have to move quickly, but he will also have to be prepared to deter or punish any force that tries to tamper with their success.

Second, taming the global uprising.

The globalized network of Jew haters and promoters of organized political violence, protest and terrorism will take no time to have fun Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Show.

They will redirect their global campaign to undermine reconstruction efforts. This global network

They must be disarmed and demobilized.

Third, keep the band together: Trump will have to invest a lot of time and effort in encouraging, supporting, empowering, and perhaps, at times, disciplining the coalition he has assembled to get the job done.

The payoff

Why do you care? Simple: That’s a lot Bigger than Gaza.

Just as Europe’s reconstruction prepared America for a long Cold War, peace in Gaza is a prerequisite for a succession of serious global changes that will make the world safe and secure for the United States, as well as its allied friends.

A good game in Gaza would put the Abraham Accords, Trump’s plan to normalize Arab-Israeli relations, back on track.

Trump will be better able to broker good relations between Israel and Turkey.

Success in Gaza would accelerate efforts to expand a zone of prosperity and stability across the South Caucasus and Central Asia, which would curb the expansionist aspirations of China, Russia, and Iran in the region.

What’s not to like?

The real test for Trump will be to achieve this without deepening US military engagement, distracting from his domestic agenda, or burdening Americans with the cost of reconstruction that the nation cannot currently afford.

James J. Carafano is an expert on national security and foreign policy.