High noon in the Middle East, with nukes

“Making peace in a rough neighbourhood.”

That’s how former US assistant secretary of state Chester Crocker described his diplomatic efforts in Angola in the 1980s.

If he thought that was bad, he should have tried the Middle East, circa April 2024.

The Angolans, Russians, Cubans and South Africans were positively docile compared with the people who now have their fingers on various launch buttons across the land of milk and honey and what was once called “the cradle of civilisation”.

Iran, of course, could not let the bombing of its consulate in Damascus pass without retaliation. Its leaders are already sitting on years of domestic unhappiness. True of bullies everywhere, showing any weakness could be the end of the regime and also the Revolutionary Guards — who, it’s probably fair to say, would not be missed by many.

Now it’s Israel’s turn to not show any weakness. It’s safe to say that if Israel attacked Iran, many of its munitions would likely reach their target, unlike the Iranian missiles and drones that  fell mostly on barren ground after being shot down.

This is called “escalation”, and round and round the mulberry bush we go.

Angola was a proxy war between superpowers, though there was nothing “proxy” about it for the nearly 1-million people who died over three decades and the millions who were displaced.

What’s happening in the Middle East is not a proxy war. It’s a heavy-handed battle for survival on the one hand against a thirst for regional super-dominance on the other.

Come back, Mr Crocker. We — by which is meant the world — could all use your negotiating skills. 

Because one of the parties there has nukes ... and the other is a dropped cat’s whisker away from getting them.

A rough neighbourhood indeed ... with some mad, bad and very dangerous people in it.