Mr.Kerry and his 4-billion dollar peace package

Could this be a new American ploy? The ‘carrot and stick’ approach minus the stick?

If so, I don’t see how it can hope to work out in the long term. It may provide some initial inducement for starting the talks but the amount of staying power that $4 billion buys these days is not nearly enough to keep the conversation going for much more than a week or so. And that’s nowhere near the time necessary for things to settle down into a nice leisurely round of discussion about this, that and the other where fundamental Arab-Israeli peace issues are concerned.

I feel there is still room for the ‘stick’ to come into play even if its sole purpose might be to have these new deliberations locked into some form of permanent stasis, the production of a final settlement stage being the only release mechanism for all the parties concerned.

Jaw-jaw is, after all, always so much better better than war-war.

Of course, the effectiveness of the stick would be immeasurably enhanced if its application was seen by all to be self-inflicted. Not only would this hurt the most, the image it presents to those observing such chastisement is one to be strenuously avoided, even when this might mean having to engage in the peace process time and time again.

www.laxiankey.com

Best ‘carrot and stick’ procedure ever devised. That $4 billion would then be just so much more icing on the cake.

And everyone, but everyone, would want a slice of this particular cake.