Incentives for Peace

Good Moral Compasses has consistently advocated for peace in many of our blog posts and objects to those who want to continue wars indefinitely. Too often, the loss of life is not the determinative factor during these conflicts, especially when it comes to the United States’ foreign policy. Even though the U.S. is not always directly involved in wars, the influence of a superpower can, and does, influence whether the violence will continue.

The American people, over the years, have sadly become accustomed to wars and can accept them more when our troops are not on the ground fighting. The George W. Bush administration raced into war after the 9/11 bombings, sending young men and women into harm’s way. Many did not make it home, and those who did came back significantly damaged, both physically and mentally. Bush sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. The billions spent on America’s incursion into the Middle East paid an enormous amount of money and lives to curb the terrorist threats.

During his campaign to succeed Bush, President Obama campaigned on removing our troops from Afghanistan, a promise he could not keep. Instead of getting our troops out and shutting down the fighting, Obama sent an additional 30,000 troops to the Middle East while at the same time claiming he would be withdrawing forces after 18 months. All at a cost to the taxpayers of over $30 billion.

Much to the chagrin of the left-leaning and war mongers, Trump entered office with a pledge to get all of our military home. Although he could not complete his plan due to the election of Biden, there were no new wars. During Biden’s tenure, his administration disastrously exited Afghanistan, causing unnecessary deaths and abandoning billions of dollars of military hardware left for our apparent adversaries.

During his campaign and the early days of Trump’s second term, he often spoke about his wish to end the world’s growing wars. Unlike those before him, Trump is not utilizing military power to curtail violence; instead, he uses an ingenious new strategy of incentivizing peace. His method is simple and is in his wheelhouse. He uses money as his negotiation tool. The skirmish between India and Pakistan led to a cease fire after Trump told them that the amount of trade with the U.S. would be severely diminished if peace were not on the table. “I said, come on, we’re going to do a lot of trade with you guys. Let’s stop it. Let’s stop it. If you stop it, we’ll do a trade. If you don’t stop it, we’re not going to do any trade.”

The same holds for Iran. With the return of the sanctions against Iran to prohibit them from acquiring a nuclear weapon, his executive order warns that any business defying the sanctions will face criminal charges.  

In his latest attempt to stabilize the Middle East and avoid potential violence in the region, Trump lifted the sanctions on Syria and met with the king of Saudi Arabia. Trump met with Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince and considered the country’s de facto ruler.

After the meeting, the White House announced that he secured a $600 billion investment commitment from the Saudis. The business between the two countries aligns them as partners, with the motivation of continued prosperity for both countries.  The common theme of mutual benefit through prosperity is a brilliant foreign policy that has never been used. Instead of fighting against one another, the potential of a better life through economic growth stabilizes countries and vastly improves their citizens’ quality of life—a good recipe for peace.  

By leveraging American wealth, Trump strengthens our country and others and makes the world a much safer. This is the foreign policy Christians have been praying for.