Trump may have finally managed, after flailing around erratically, to stop the Gaza war. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Still, it does appear his actions have had the effect of halting the carnage — a very big thing. If Arafat got a Nobel there, should Trump?
He touts himself as a great peacemaker, asserting he’s resolved conflicts all over the place. Mostly bullcrap. He actually infuriated India by falsely claiming credit for resolving its recent hostilities with Pakistan.
It’s not peace Trump loves, it’s only himself. Thirsting always for praise; and obsessively craving a Nobel just because his bête noir Obama got one. It might seem clueless to imagine Europeans, who largely despise him, would so honor him. Yet all his peace efforts are in service to that quest born of ego.
But altruism is a human conundrum. Most good things we do are ultimately bottomed in making us feel good about ourselves. Or avoiding bad feelings for not doing them. Pure altruism is rare. Trump differs only in being so transparent in this.
Israel’s September air strike on Doha was thought at first to kill any chance for peace. However, it seems to have made Israel even more of a pariah than it already was, shaking Netanyahu. With Trump’s newfound fed-upness pushing matters over the line, leaving Netanyahu unable to blow him off.
Hamas, meantime, seems to have basically, finally, surrendered, realizing that continued fighting was pointless (or worse). But maybe the Doha strike played a role there too. Israel didn’t get the leaders it had targeted. Yet those guys may now have newly feared for their own lives. It could be just that simple.
Anyhow, Trump’s role was important and might seemingly be Nobel-worthy. But there are some big caveats.
First, we don’t know how things will work out going forward. The matter of administering Gaza is very fraught, reconstruction a challenge beyond immense. Who will pay for it? Israel, in justice, should be made to pay, but good luck there. Meantime, rogue Hamas bitter-enders, and others radicalized to hate Israel, could make a lot of trouble; another October seventh-like event could blow everything up. While Israel’s Jewish zealot movement is still running amok in the West Bank.
And Trump’s ostensible achievement regarding Gaza should not be viewed in isolation. For all his peacemaker posturing, he’s actually done much to wreck a global order that for many decades kept the peace (more or less). He’s weakened America’s network of alliances; weakened the UN; legitimized Putin; ratcheted up enmity with China; slashed foreign aid, presaging great numbers of preventable deaths. He’s slammed the door on refugees. And his tariffs have seriously damaged the world’s trading system. The latter a very big thing that should weigh heavily against any positive achievements he might claim elsewhere.
Further, here at home, Trump is anything but a peacemaker, inciting divisions, hatreds, and violence (much as he blames opponents; remember January 6 and the pardons). He’s sending armed troops into cities, stoking conflict rather than soothing it. And the lawless depredations of his ICE thugs are hardly peaceable.
Finally: regarding a Nobel peace prize, should character and morality count?