The DLC's Idea of the Week: A Trade Agenda For The Middle East
The Democratic Leadership Council suggests free trade with cooperative muslim countries as a way of rewarding allies and weakening the hand of anit-Americans that owe their appeal to the despair of the muslim world. I couldn't agree more, but protectionists have been shooting down efforts to promote trade with muslim allies. The Bush administration seems almost entirely indifferent to this problem, because while the Republicans are in theory supporters of free trade, they don't really. The Bush administration has been one of the most protectionist in recent memory. Trade policy is just another case of the GOP being its usual shameless self.