If Donald Trump is following any media apart from Fox News, he must be perplexed by the reaction to his decision last week to bomb a number of sites across Syria. Barack Obama, he might note ruefully, was criticised for not responding to a chemical weapons attack – now here is the media criticising him for responding.
But the problem with the missile strikes last week was not that they attempted to deter the use of chemical weapons but that they simultaneously went too far and not far enough.
After several days of trailing a military response and with politicians in all three countries issuing tough rhetoric, the United States, Britain and France eventually adopted what some publications and broadcasters have been calling a "Goldilocks strategy" – or, as former supreme Nato commander Admiral James Stavridis told NPR earlier this week, neither too tough nor too weak.
The strikes were coordinated by the militaries of three members of the UN Security Council, who fired more than 100 missiles at targets across Syria. From one perspective, this was a tough response. It was, however, calculated to be not too tough.
A genuinely tough response could have targeted Russian or Iranian military facilities – but that might have invited a reaction, dragging all the countries further into the Syrian morass, which none of them wants.
So it was weak enough not to provoke a reaction while also seeming to draw a faint red line around the use of chemical weapons – or, as analyst HA Hellyer wrote in The National on Sunday, to send the message to the regime that it could continue killing but just by other methods.
As I wrote in these pages last week, the West cannot strike Bashar Al Assad's regime hard enough to genuinely deter it from its use of chemical weapons. The strikes have proved this, making any future use of chemical weapons expensive for the regime but not impossible to contemplate.
Because, after all, the regime has suffered no great loss from the air strikes. On the contrary, it has drawn Russia and Iran closer because both publicly warned they would defend the regime and it exposed splits between the leaders of the west and their public.
Each of the three leaders have their own reasons for attacking Syria and none have to do with Syria itself. For Mr Trump, it is looking tough on the issue in a way his predecessor did not. For Theresa May, it showed Moscow that chemical weapons attacks – such as the one her country suffered a few weeks ago – won't be tolerated. For Emmanuel Macron, it is being seen to wield influence on the world stage.
But this Goldilocks strategy by the leaders was always going to provoke a Goldilocks response from the public. And so it happened.
For some, the strikes can never go far enough. For those people, the 100 missiles can only ever be the opening salvo in a much longer battle. These analysts and politicians are dismayed by the strike for various reasons: some want to see the regime unseated by force; others want America's power in the world restored and want it done at the tip of a missile; still others want to see Israel’s power in the Middle East enhanced and desire that end by weakening its neighbours. But all agree on one thing: that a policy which limits military strikes to one day in April is doomed to fail.
On the other side is what appears to be a much larger contingent at the moment, of those for whom the strikes, limited though they were, went too far.
This was particularly noticeable in Europe, where left wing opinion has shifted, after the debacle of the Iraq war, against any intervention. From their perspective, this round of rhetoric over Syria feels very similar: the rush to a judgment call over the presence of biological or chemical weapons; the demand for weapons inspectors to go in; the threat of more attacks to come.
Rather remarkably, then, the strikes have managed to unite a broad spectrum of public opinion, from the far left, which sees in the strikes the imperialism of the US, through the mainstream, which is sceptical of another Middle Eastern war after the fabrications of Iraq, to the far right, which prefers the Assad regime and its supposed firm hand against Islamist extremists.
Worse, for the leaders, as the background to the strikes emerge, they begin to look less resolute and more self-serving.
The US and Russia, far from being adversaries, were in constant communication to ensure Russian troops were not hit. Moscow was informed of the targets in advance – which means it is beyond imagining that that information did not make its way to Damascus, and beyond imagining that the Americans did not know that the information would reach the regime.
No wonder that not a single casualty was reported by the regime. So the strikes were purely cosmetic, a vastly expensive piece of theatre. You don't have to be a pacifist or a supporter of the regime to wonder what was gained by the estimated $200 million the strikes cost, nor to ask how many Syrian refugees that astronomical sum could have clothed, fed and schooled.
After so long waiting for an international response, the results were disappointing. By adopting a Goldilocks strategy, the West has tried to implausibly square a circle: to look tough without provoking a reaction. But as the dust from the raids settle, they would do well to recall how the fairy tale actually ended. When Goldilocks left, apart from an empty bowl of porridge and a wrecked chair, the house of the bears was left exactly as it had been before.
SPECS
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Inside%20Out%202
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SCHEDULE
6.30pm Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 1,600m
7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap Dh210,000 (D) 1,200m
8.50pm: Handicap Dh210,000 (D) 2,000m
9.25pm:Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
Amith's predicted winners:
6.30pm: Down On Da Bayou
7.05pm: Etisalat
7.40pm: Mulfit
8.15pm: Pennsylvania Dutch
8.50pm: Mudallel
9.25pm: Midnight Sands
It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.
Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.
Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.
“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.
The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.
“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.
“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”
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The%20specs
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Your Guide to the Home
- Level 1 has a valet service if you choose not to park in the basement level. This level houses all the kitchenware, including covetable brand French Bull, along with a wide array of outdoor furnishings, lamps and lighting solutions, textiles like curtains, towels, cushions and bedding, and plenty of other home accessories.
- Level 2 features curated inspiration zones and solutions for bedrooms, living rooms and dining spaces. This is also where you’d go to customise your sofas and beds, and pick and choose from more than a dozen mattress options.
- Level 3 features The Home’s “man cave” set-up and a display of industrial and rustic furnishings. This level also has a mother’s room, a play area for children with staff to watch over the kids, furniture for nurseries and children’s rooms, and the store’s design studio.
Company%20Profile
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
