The world needs JD Vance right now |
Donald Trump has long thought, despite abundant evidence to the contrary, that wars are easy to end. He seems to sincerely believe that he has ended at least eight of them in the second term of his presidency – even claiming that the ceasefire he negotiated in Gaza secured peace in the Middle East “for the first time in 3,000 years”.
That Trump has found himself at war in the Middle East just months after making that audacious claim is perhaps as telling about the gap between hyperbole and the realities of peacemaking as anything could be.
US and Israeli action against Iran has brought the global economy to the precipice of disaster, not least because Iran has blocked the vital Strait of Hormuz in response to the attacks. If normal passage does not resume soon, the world will face shortages of oil, gas and petrol – but also vital commodities like aluminium, fertiliser and even helium (essential for operating MRI scanners and other industrial uses).
This war needs to actually end, and soon. The problem is that Trump seems to have no plan to do so. In the space of hours, he jumps from claiming the war is already won, to demanding allies reopen the Strait of Hormuz, to threatening Iran’s civilian infrastructure, to saying peace........