Trump’s amateurish Lebanon plan exposes failing US diplomacy

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1. When US envoy Thomas Barrack visited [Lebanon ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/lebanon?srsltid=AfmBOooakpMAMIwKdUGZo4Q1NHWFJ1QmmPCesxVCx2gSnnQr_5TO95Oa&ico=in-line_link)last month, his trip made headlines – but not for reasons the White House might have hoped.

   Barrack calling Lebanese reporters “animalistic” sparked widespread outrage and dominated headlines for days. Yet it wasn’t the only eyebrow-raising episode of the trip.

   In [Beirut](https://inews.co.uk/topic/beirut?srsltid=AfmBOopRy_9JpDkU57yqJa9stIgYia5pq8804622iVydM7HVKLz8P7xb&ico=in-line_link), Barrack floated a plan for an economic zone in southern Lebanon, which he claimed would bring money into local communities.

   In true [Donald Trump](https://inews.co.uk/topic/donald-trump?srsltid=AfmBOorPbSIUEsDLbZIw6wzdKjTViPJl35sbalYBlzWWmucwm5KQskc2&ico=in-line_link)-era fashion, the proposal reflected a basic miscalculation: that deeply rooted political grievances can be dealt with through financial means.

   First discussed with Israeli officials in Paris, the plan envisions an industrial buffer zone aimed at preventing [Hezbollah’s ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/hezbollah?srsltid=AfmBOooi3o3O-RlJ4o15FdOHJqLFdchp1zfBrKn2UuH_HszTZjGcKtSl&ico=in-line_link)return to Lebanon’s southern border. Israeli analysts have argued that it could address [Israel](https://inews.co.uk/topic/israel?srsltid=AfmBOorN-TxC7PduyczY9zxbbEFZ4VWmvpVAix_MRhU0Ga_hwp41tYY-&ico=in-line_link)’s security concerns, without the need to reoccupy Lebanese territory.

   The plan would see state-run factories established in the area, physically separated from Israeli communities across the border. Some Lebanese media reports have said that recent Israeli military incursions along the frontier may be intended to lay the groundwork for this “industrial buffer zone”.

   Barrack has suggested that the investment for this zone would come from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

2. “America’s reputation as a trustworthy broker across the Arab world is declining”

   I’m not sure I would say that’s America’s reputation in the Arab world.

3. One doesn’t have to be an expert in geopolitics to understand how ridiculous the plan is.

4. MMM I think Biden’s disgraceful job in Afghanistan exposed that already.

5. This a maamtuer non-serious plan, President Trump is failing hard at foreign policy the second time around, the arab leaders behind closed doors having to laughing hard at this, and at us as not serious amateurs.

6. This is an…interesting?…attempt. On the face of it there are about a thousand problems with this idea that basically prevent any serious thought but to give it a start:

   – It has been said, perhaps apocryphally, that Lebanon will be the last Arab country to forgive Israel for everything that happened between them. This is likely less in reference to the Sheeba farms (*Long story*) and more about Israel’s intervention in the Lebanese Civil War. This seems to do little to ameliorate the Lebanese’s political class’s and “Lebanese street’s” view of Israel as a whole, let alone Hezbullah’s. It’s worth remembering Hezbullah was explicitly created in opposition to the Israeli intervention in southern Lebanon and this plan on the face of it doesn’t really help with that.

   – Most countries don’t like giving away sovereignty **period.** It usually only happens in cases of threat of war (*hence why the US has bases in places like Germany and Japan*) and…actually, even the EU was partially a result of fears of Soviet influence driving the Western European states to improve their economies by working together. In this case the US would probably have to offer the Sheeba Farms or something because no Lebanese government would survive the deal and it would basically guarantee Hezbullah’s control of the country as a whole as opposed to just the south.

   So yeah I’m not sure who came up with this. I guess they just want a headline of “Lebanon refuses Israel peace plan?” But that can be accomplished with a lot less work so even that seems unclear.

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