Pretty as a Picture

As details emerge about a signed agreement between the United States and Iran, there still may be room to protect the Persian people from Tehran’s despots, the Lebanese from Hezbollah, Yemenis from the Houthis and Gazans from Hamas.

It all depends on one mercurial and imperfect man in the White House. But whether he succeeds or fails, he is leading a free world, much of which no longer understands what it needs to do to survive.

Now Israel watches as its closest friend prepares to hand billions of dollars to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It sees the nuclear issue endlessly discussed but still unresolved, and Lebanon left hanging in uncertainty.

Ultimately, although he presented himself as a disruptor, Trump remains captive to the conceptual frameworks, values and norms of Western societies, which place them at a disadvantage in the current clash of civilizations.

In handing Tehran the keys to lock up the region without a fight, Trump would become the first American president to sign away his country’s right to ply international waters freely.