In Israel, the US's foreign policy lies in ruins: MEMO in Conversation with Chas Freeman

America is Israel’s closest ally today. Every US administration since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War has closely embraced Tel Aviv. Washington’s political elite’s support for Israel goes beyond strategic interest and is treated as a fundamental moral issue. US President Joe Biden’s reaction to 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war on Gaza by Israel follows the moral script set out by both previous US administrations and DC elites. Despite this, Israel’s war on Gaza is not in America’s strategic interests and is harmful to US foreign policy. We are joined by former US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman who believes support for Israel’s current war has wrecked American credibility, isolated the United States and will destabilise the Middle East. In this MEMO conversation, we delve into why Freeman believes Israel does not share American values and how Tel Aviv’s racism has led to a genocidal war. We also speak to Freeman about his diplomatic career including working for US President Richard Nixon, going to China, dealing with King Fahd and his observations of Saudi society.

Freeman is the author of five books and numerous articles on statecraft and the editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica article on “diplomacy”. He is a former US assistant secretary of defence, ambassador to Saudi Arabia, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, chargé d’affaires a.i. at Bangkok and Beijing, acting US commissioner for refugee affairs, and director of programme coordination and development at the US Information Agency. He was the principal American interpreter during the late President Nixon’s 1972 opening of US relations with China.

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