The showman, the reconciler and the cynic – why this trinity must succeed

How is this supposed to work? It may be the most honest question about the attempt to link Donald Trump, Tony Blair and Benjamin Netanyahu in a new regional initiative.

- Avraham Burg

Three men who appear to share almost nothing, yet together embody a fading world struggling to understand the new order of the Middle East. At heart, they represent three versions of leadership in a changing world. Trump is nostalgia for an America that wants to withdraw but is repeatedly drawn back into global affairs. Blair is a remnant of idealistic global liberalism, broken on the rocks of reality. Netanyahu is the cynic, a master of control through destruction. So how can they work together? The answer is simple: never leave Netanyahu alone on his domestic political field. He can only be restrained if he is beaten in the one arena he understands: Israeli politics itself.

Blair learned the hard way that public relations and intelligence briefings cannot be a substitute for truth. Iraq will follow him for ever. Netanyahu will leave this world convinced that manipulation can replace reality. And Trump, the inventor of alternative facts, completes the trinity. All three operate in an era when control of public perception has replaced what used to be called leadership.