Fox News
Expand
Browse All Video
Watch Live

You're watching...

How does cease-fire impact US foreign policy?

Details

  • Description

    What issues will Middle East face next?

  • Duration 5:02
  • Date

Clips

Also in this playlist...

Editor's Picks

Auto-advance: ON

Auto-advance
View All

Transcript

This transcript is automatically generated

-- fire in Gaza solving the immediate crisis there bringing an end to Hamas rocket attacks in Israeli airstrikes.

For now anyway but what the larger foreign policy issue.

In the mideast region Christian white men think former State Department senior advisor and a principal -- DC international advisor and he joins us now.

Happy Thanksgiving first of -- Thank you had a happy Thanksgiving to you so resolving the immediate problem doesn't change the larger issue in the Middle East -- what's in the immediate term does this mean for the Obama administration and then what in the long term.

Well I think it's important to consider that this means that Iran is still on the march you have to ask why the -- why this happened now lighted.

Hamas which runs Gaza attack Israel now I think get a couple of objectives one was to try and -- Egypt into a broader war and -- Egypt to.

Rescind its treaty with Israel but more broadly Iran which is the main backer of Hamas giving Hamas money.

Training.

And giving it the arms that he used to attack Israel.

Iran wants to put Israel back on its heels it wants to distract from its own nuclear weapons program in -- wants to distract from.

The proxy war it's fighting in Syria and Syria civil war and it's successfully done that it's changed the topic away from those things so.

You know we still have this very dangerous regime and also very dangerous ideology -- -- -- them.

Chief proponent of which is the Iranian regime and nothing in this cease fire does anything to address that unfortunately and -- ceasefire brokered in large part by Egypt what about what this means in terms of our relationship with them moving forward.

Yeah Egypt a lot of people I think -- -- -- I see this as a positive development which is unfortunate.

Egypt still has an Islamist government one very narrowly 52 to 48%.

But if you look at the rhetoric that they use especially in Arabic as opposed to what they tell us in English.

It's very anti Israel is very anti American talks about restoring -- Caylee state with Jerusalem currently the capital of Israel as its capital so.

You know.

I think Egypt is not quite at the point where they're ready to rescind the peace treaty with Israel and really go all in against Israel United States they still want our money.

But they can learn from Pakistan that basically.

You can take US foreign assistance and then do whatever the heck you want in Pakistan they take our billions every year and are basically waging a proxy war against us and Afghanistan.

And -- -- learned that trick to they know it I just think they're not quite ready yet.

Being so new and power and so close to their own revolution.

To really have a full break with the US and Christian you briefly mention -- that -- -- it still reverberating in Syria.

Libya beyond what about the future in terms of that.

Well it -- continues to be something for which the US really doesn't have a policy or a strategy.

You know this administration throughout Arab Spring and before that through Persian spring.

The green revolution in Iran basically has been answering the inbox reacting.

To each crisis as it comes often with a mixed message you're -- the early days of the Egypt revolution sometimes some officials were out saying.

Mubarak was good others were saying he was bad -- with Libya didn't really know where to go.

At first so we don't really have any policy to drive this in a direction that would benefit US interest then you really see.

This hopeful exceeding any sort of factual basis that Egypt and the islamists are -- Egypt are going to be our friends just because we're -- them fat checks every year.

There's just no evidence that we still have.

Islamist and you know if you look at at times where the terrorists have really.

Done quite well for themselves killing our ambassador in Libya you know that's a terrible thing good for the terrorists.

But that's nothing compared to the political advantages they've gained over the past year -- sweeping elections in Egypt and Tunisia and unfortunately.

You know we don't have anything like what we did in the Cold War which is a strategy to push back ideologically on our adversaries.

-- and that you mentioned the criticisms going through the air of spring initially.

-- a -- initiation accused of many times of leading from behind as they enter -- ended.

The second term here do you believe that will change.

-- in fact I think we're seeing that today.

Turning to more -- in Egypt basically is leading from behind I mean it's pretty shocking that we've outsourced our foreign policy.

And a you know that the resolution of a conflict that involved our chief ally in the region.

-- we outsource that to the Muslim brotherhood of all people the Muslim Brotherhood is the party.

Of which Egyptian president Morrissey is a member.

So now I don't see that they're changing -- all.

This is an administration -- came into office for years ago thinking that Obama himself was a transformational figure.

They're just going to the Middle East that day apologizing for US conduct in the past -- he did.

Would would just radically change the way the world looks at us it hasn't happened but for odd reasons.

This administration has never really changed its path that I never or its strategy.

I Christian wife and thank you very much for your insight we appreciated once -- happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you either.

Load More