A nation must think before it acts.
Now that the Senate has finally confirmed an assistant secretary of state for Africa and President Donald Trump’s National Security Council has a senior director for Africa, it is time for America to revamp its policies in the region. If it does not encourage economic growth and representative government, then terrorist attacks and destabilizing emigration will devastate Europe and the United States.
The most disruptive element in the Arab world is not oil, but people. Waves of migrants who head for the shores and safety of America’s NATO allies in Europe—as well as the millions of young Arabs and Africans who stay home. The youth movements still threaten to topple America’s allies in Arab lands. The so-called Arab Spring is not over, it has simply retreated from Western headlines. Most migration and domestic unrest have the same underlying causes.