From the “One picture worth a thousand words” Department:
[State Department photo/ Public Domain]
A shopkeeper sells an oil lamp to Secretary of State John Kerry during Mr. Kerry’s visit to the Muttrah Souk in Muscat, Oman on November 10th, during a break in the stalled nuclear negotiations with Iran.
Kerry said:
Sometimes one has to resort to unusual measures to solve all these difficult problems.
The guy in the souk, apparently named Ali Baba (of course!) told Kerry:
This genie lamp will magically enlighten the world about your wisdom.
Really? Enlightenment about John F. Kerry’s wisdom? It is difficult to resist commenting. Is Kerry purchasing tchotchke to put in one of his many homes? Is he onboarding a new foreign policy tool for his team? Possibly, Kerry is asking, “what can you tell me about its provenance”? Maybe he’s thinking that it would be cool to bring an exotic, three wish device to his next Skull and Bones drink up, and that he could summon a young woman from the lamp.
Is Kerry hoping that genie power is stronger than nuclear power?
Another way to view it is that the merchant is trying to close the deal by reassuring Kerry that the magic genie lamp will definitely grant the US Secretary of State three wishes. After all, it was made in China.
Maybe Kerry thinks he can use the lamp to:
1. Make Assad disappear
2. Make Putin disappear
3. Make Xi Jinping disappear
All Departments of State want a secret diplomatic weapon. Sadly, ours is not John Kerry.
And it probably isn’t a Genie Lamp purchased at the Souk
While I agree that Kerry is more hairdo than competence, I think there is little the US can do to thwart folks who want to re-establish relationships that existed before the USSR fell.
Both Russia and China are outflanked (on the oceans)by geography and out alliances. So they will have to squeeze their navies through areas we can control easily in the event of war. In the meantime, they are making space for themselve. inevitable and not a thing we can do.
On the other hand, China cannot replace trade with the west with China. And the USSR needs hard currency which is cannot acquire if it pulls in its horns and tries to confine its dealing with its co-dependent communist peers.
Time is what we need. We need to let things play out. Perhaps also a little benign neglect.
@ Terry: agree with you. My greatest concern is that, should we strike a deal with Iran that brings about a transformational change in the ME, the new Senate will not ratify the treaty.
The influence of money has caused the Republican Party to ally with Netanyahu and againt the president (and against the US) in both our policy toward Israel and toward the middle east as a whole. The average non Jew has little interest is supporting a state that is becoming xenophobic and racist. But the Replican Party, in thrall to money from right wing supporters of Israel (Jewish mostly) is acting in a manner that verges on treasonous.
This will be the big takeaway for the idea that “elections have consequences”