The best way to think about the deal Trump and his son-in-law are offering the Palestinians is to remember that they are real-estate developers. If you listen closely to Kushner's discussion of his proposal with Ian Bremer, his approach comes to this: the Palestinians aren't in a strong enough position to expect to be treated fairly, whatever thay means. There are many approaches to deal-making, but many dealers ask for everything their position of leverage allows, and then a bit more. You figure out what the options are for the person on the other side of the table, and offer just one penny more than his next best option. This kind of deal-maker sees it as a zero-sum game.
Of course in the context of human, of which international relations is a subset, considerations of fairness and justice usually constrain the exercise of leverage, and hold players back from demanding everything their position allows. It is not surprising that Kushner doesn't attempt to explain why his proposal is fair, however, because he is of the zero-sum-game school.
The interesting thing is, the deal-makers who do best in the long term understand that deals that disadvantage one party far more than the other have a nasty way of unravelling as time goes by. In the commercial world, what happens next is litigation. In international relations, it's war.
Of course in the context of human, of which international relations is a subset, considerations of fairness and justice usually constrain the exercise of leverage, and hold players back from demanding everything their position allows. It is not surprising that Kushner doesn't attempt to explain why his proposal is fair, however, because he is of the zero-sum-game school.
The interesting thing is, the deal-makers who do best in the long term understand that deals that disadvantage one party far more than the other have a nasty way of unravelling as time goes by. In the commercial world, what happens next is litigation. In international relations, it's war.
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