CAIRO, Egypt — There might be more than one leadership with global impact that ends this week. (The election was still undecided at the time of writing.) In addition to the possible leadership switch in the White House, two other world leaders may be on their way out: Yasser Arafat and Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
And before you accuse me of dancing on the graves of two men still very much alive, know that death is never a thing to be rejoiced.
It may be four years too early to write the epitaph on George W. Bush’s presidency, but either way it’s safe to say he made an impact on America and the world. He was president Sept. 11, 2001 and took the country to war against terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. He angered much of Europe for rejecting the Kyoto Treaty and Russians for pulling out of the ABM agreement. And his handling of the war in Iraq has it seems at the moment to have turned the anger an entire generation of frustrated young Muslim men against the United States, the consequences of which are yet to be known.
Arafat emerged unscathed and breathing time and time again from dangerous situations in Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia and most recently from his compound in Ramallah. He is loved by Palestinians for making the world care about the Palestinian issue but hated for never delivering on his promises of peace. No doubt the pictures of a sickly Arafat waving from his wheelchair will soften history s view of him, but there are plenty of people who blame him for the thousands of dead in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially after turning his back on the Oslo Accords.
The critics of Rehnquist, whose thyroid cancer may be of a fatal variety, will point to the conservatism he brought to work in his 32 years on the bench. When he does step down, he will leave a legacy of empowering states, limiting abortion and preserving the death penalty. His ultimate place in the history books may be the vote he cast in the 2000 election, placing the importance of meeting voting deadlines before counting all of them and therefore handing the election to Bush.
So there we have it. Bush may have lost and Rehnquist and Arafat may have to step down for health reasons. So what’s the big deal? The ending of the leaderships come at a crucial time. With the war in Iraq as it is and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at a rare moment of rationale thought, the stars may be in alignment for peace.
If Rehnquist is unable to come back to bench, as current reports say he is, he will not be there to potentially cast the deciding vote in a 5-4 decision in the event of a close election like in 2000. If so, a spilt decision from the Supreme Court would mean the decision from the state court would stand. If this had happened in 2000, Al Gore would have won and if similar events unfold, Kerry could benefit.
On the other side of the world, the newly elected President Kerry needs to do what Bush did not: Force both the Israelis and the Palestinians back to discussions of peace.
“It now seems that the baseline conditions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at least, are on the verge of changing,” said an editorial in Haaretz newspaper this week. “On the Israeli side, Ariel Sharon is fighting against extremist political rivals to anchor a new ideology that advocates the evacuation of settlements, while on the Palestinian side, Yasser Arafat, who until now has been perceived as the principal obstacle to progress in negotiations, is gradually disappearing from the scene.”
It is possible that this conflict, which has known more disappointments than hopes, is once again on the brink of a turning point. Such a junction would necessitate the mobilization of a determined American government, which will want to reexamine the policy of shrugging its shoulders that has characterized it for the last four years.
The time of three leaders Bush, Rehnquist and Arafat may be at hand.
Perhaps regime change can be a good thing, after all.
Jesse Shuger-Colvin is a Trinity junior.
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