No one has utilised the Orwellian dictate that “war is peace” better than Donald Trump. In Orwell’s 1984, the party maintains stability at home by waging constant war elsewhere.

Some contend that the American president is “illiterate” and “ignorant”. Others argue that his intellectual skills are limited. I have read some negative assessments of Trump’s mental condition. But no one can really dispute Trump’s achievements. Against all odds, he became president. Despite relentless efforts to evict him from office, he has managed to cling to the White House. He regularly makes unpredictable and unpopular decisions that make no sense to most reasonable, intelligent people. He communicates with the world by means of snippets and tweets. Yet, miraculously, he prevails.

North Korea is too dangerous for Trump. As a regional power, Iran is also not an ideal enemy. Trump needed to launch a new battle against a substantially weaker foe. The Palestinians made the perfect antagonists.

For a person who allegedly hasn’t read an entire book in his life, Trump has managed to achieve quite a lot. How does he do it? What goes in his mind? “War is peace” appears to be at the core of Trump’s survival strategy. War is Trump’s comfort zone.

From his first day in office, the American president has not missed an opportunity to threaten global conflict. He provoked Iran, he enraged North Korea and now he aims to upset the Palestinians. The ostensibly impoverished North Korea proved highly capable of countering American aggression. It took Kim Jong-un’s engineers only a few months to present a ballistic capability that could reduce American cities to dust. North Korea is too dangerous for Trump. As a regional power, Iran is also not an ideal enemy. Trump needed to launch a new battle against a substantially weaker foe. The Palestinians made the perfect antagonists.

War in Palestine is peace of mind in Washington. This seems to fit the Trump doctrine. But are the Palestinians really ideal for the role? Israeli commentators believe that Arab and Muslim leaders won’t side with Palestine. The risk is that the Arab and Muslim masses react very differently. The situation could quickly become volatile. And the crucial question that Americans must ask themselves tomorrow morning is how Trump’s “war is peace” makes “America great again”? It doesn’t. This is simply a survival tactic on Trump’s part. It benefits Trump and Trump alone.

As far as I can tell, Trump is doing a great job obliterating what is left of America’s world hegemony. Give Trump another year in office, assuming that the planet can take it, and American prestige and influence will shrink to none. Some may well argue that this alone makes Trump a positive force in contemporary world politics.