A New ‘Honeymoon’ with America

The American government is going through some tough times, grappling on the one hand with the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, and on the other with a social and political racism pandemic.

Yet despite the anti-racism demonstrations that have rocked the country, the existence of 45 million unemployed, and a collapsing health care system, the nationalist U.S. president, Donald Trump, still has a better chance of crossing the finish line in the Nov. 3 election than his globalist Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.

The anarchic positions of the radical left and outlandish liberals, particularly the attacks on monuments to white slaveholders in history, are once again driving chauvinistic but common Americans back to Trump. Meanwhile, Trump, who has the most to gain from political polarization, is already busy honing his “America First” strategy for after the election.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration seeks to blockade and undermine China – militarily, politically and economically. To succeed, the administration must deal with restoring normal relations with Turkey.

To gain a strategic advantage over China, the United States has shifted forces from the Middle East, Europe and the Mediterranean to the Indo-Pacific region and East Asia. Syria and Libya in particular are places where the U.S. is walking out of as Russia and Turkey are walking in.

The U.S. must also urgently find an alternative to China, which enjoys the central position in the global supply chain. Such a supply chain strategy, considered part of the overall trade war, would serve to reduce the dependence of the U.S. and the world at large on China for critical medical, military and other crucial technological products.

Turkey itself has risen to the fore, both in the coronavirus pandemic and in the power struggle taking place in Libya. In a way, we now find ourselves sitting across from an America dependent on Turkey.

The reason is that the military success of Libya’s legitimate government, supported by Turkey, has scuttled American and Russian plans to dominate all of Libya through Libyan Gen. Khalifa Haftar. If the revolutionary Haftar had been successful, Russia would have acquired permanent bases in North Africa, as it has in Syria.

With this Libya maneuver, Turkey has, for the first time in 100 years, managed to once again exert influence over Asia, Europe and Africa, the three continents bridged by the Mediterranean.

And so, having turned into a hegemonic power in the eastern Mediterranean, this new Turkey has become an open gate to the Persian Gulf, the Middle East and Europe.

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For this reason, the most sensible path the U.S. can take to reach Africa, Europe and Asia as it searches for new markets for agricultural products embargoed by China and for its oil and gas stockpiles is one that passes through Turkey.

And this is why President Trump, contrary to the positions of Congress and the Pentagon, favors improved relations with Turkey. As a matter of fact, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement following a June 8 call with his counterpart, Trump, that “a new era between Turkey and the U.S. may start” in Libya caused quite a stir not only in Western capitals, but in Moscow and Beijing as well.

Just 10 days after this announcement, the Turkey-U.S. Business Council organized a seminar headlined “A Time for Allies to Invest in Allies: Turkish American Global Supply Chain” which all but provided a roadmap for this new paradigm.

But one must be mindful of the political and military pitfalls in any move to replace “Made in China” with a U.S.-supported “Made in Turkey.” Because while the U.S. goes to the Pacific to fight with China, China itself comes to the Middle East.

Normalizing relations with the United States is certainly important. In fact, this development would strengthen our hand vis-a-vis Europe, China and Russia.

Yet, in order for this supply chain move not to turn into a chain of oppression, and to avoid another surprise coup, it is vitally important that we not get any closer than punching distance to the U.S.