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The first new foreign policy challenge for Trump just became clear

Opportunities in foreign policy can come totally out of the blue – and the great presidents are the ones who seize them, even if it means eating a little crow.

Thomas L. Friedman

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I have a simple rule of thumb when assessing the potential instability of Middle Eastern countries. They come in just two varieties: countries that implode and countries that explode. That is countries where, when central control collapses, the ruined pillars fall inside its borders, and countries where, when central control collapses, the blast radius of the political shrapnel extends far and wide.

No country in the Middle East explodes more than Syria. Whatever happens in Syria will not stay in Syria.

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    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/world/middle-east/the-first-new-foreign-policy-challenge-for-trump-just-became-clear-20241214-p5kycg