Wars always resolved by prospect of prosperity

The latest study by the Rand Corporation on Israel’s complex relationship with its Palestinian neighbours — the Gaza Strip is Hamas-controlled — concludes that “a two-state solution provides by far the best economic outcomes” for citizens of both sides of the conflict.

This is presented as the outcome of a “a US-based non-profit research organisation” (Irish Examiner, world news, June 9).

One would infer that this report is unbiased, a new template for conflict-resolution that has escaped generations of expert negotiators on both sides of this tragic conflict. But the Rand Corp is not an impartial think-tank. It represents the official thinking of the American administration, and is aligned to, and sponsored by, the military industrial complex, which lies at the heart of American economic prosperity.

In many respects, the Rand Corp is advocating a peace settlement not based on what is best for either Israel or the residents of Gaza, but on prospective economic opportunities that would reward the unnamed donors who fund the organisation.

Moreover, if and when a peace settlement is implemented, it will merely reflect the historical reality that conflict between even the bitterest of ideological enemies has always been resolved by the economic imperative of future prosperity, which remains unobtainable if violent confrontation continues.

The lure of massive American investment, with its consequent reward, trumps ideology.

Dr Kevin McCarthy,

Kinsale

Co Cork