Let’s see…
Cheer up friends of America in the Middle
East: President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt, check; King Abdullah, Jordan,
check; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, check. DONE!
Bind Japan more tightly to US
security policy: change interpretation of Constitution to allow collective
self-defense, check; push base relocation to Henoko against Okinawa’s wishes,
check; fully engage the U.S.-centric weapon systems development network, check.
DONE!
Support U.S. global economic
structure: commit to TPP negotiations, check; stay away from Asian Infrastructure
Development Bank, check… um, only two? Oh well, done.
All supported by the Obama administration,
but even more copacetic for the Republican Congress. But did the rumored coolness
between Prime Minster Abe and President Obama also help the former secure this speech
before a joint session of Congress? Not nearly Netanyahu-Obama bad, but still,
I wonder.
I can already see the post-talk editorials
lining up, WSJ on one end, NYT on the other, and WaPo somewhere in between. I also think
that I could write an op-ed on any and all points of that spectrum (I don’t
know, extended out to BBC, say) send
them out now, with little need to edit them after the speech. But it would be
so much more fun if Mr. Abe proves me wrong and surprises us all.
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