There are provocative, if not dangerous, crossroads in history which can easily take us down either smart or dim-witted paths. I suspect the recent break in relations with Qatar announced by KSA, UAE and Egypt . . . and with the full blessing, if not lead, of the White House… will prove to be one such weighty moment.
I also suspect that with Trump in the vanguard there is a great chance he will turn a periodic and unfortunate regional flex into a tragic raging fire. Lost for meaning and purpose… it’s what he does best.
I’m no stranger to the region having spent much time there, over the past few decades, as a welcome guest, attorney, advisor and friend who has seen and shared in both its beauty and its pain.
There’s no country, in the Middle East, Gulf and parts of Africa, where I’ve not been asked to provide counsel to persons and movements… including some designated as “terrorist” by those against whom they struggle, or by governments that call them friend or foe alike.
I’ve been to Qatar … often. Though I may have disagreed with some of its policies, on whole, that matters little. Mature political minds learn to distinguish between what’s wanted and what’s needed… and do so without sacrificing principles along the way.
More important, decades of travel on the hard scrabble roads of resistance and dissent… and years of courtroom battles all over the world… have left me with a pretty good understanding of who I am and why.
I’m a fan…