George Bush’s Aqaba lesson – Jethro’s ‘The Man’

In this opinion piece from the Jordan Times, the author offers some advice to visiting US President George W. Bush. "You would do well to remain humble in Aqaba when you're advising the local Arab and Israeli Semites about how to achieve good governance, because this is the place where it all started some three and a half millennia ago," he writes. The region is steeped in history and not short on politically savvy locals who know how to handle "powerful generals with their impressive imperial armies from the West", just as they did 2,000 years ago when ambitious Romans tried to take control of the Arabian Peninsula. The article concludes with a call for Bush to "ponder the question of why so many biblical personalities remain alive in the minds of men and women today, while Roman generals and imperial leaders from the past are mainly objects of curiosity at best." – YaleGlobal