Peace in the Middle East

People make all sorts of compromises for money. We work not solely out of love, or dedication to duty but also because we receive payment. Financial incentives can liberate and focus our ingenuity. So when people talk about allegedly intractable conflicts, or ancient hatreds that can be ended only by the total crushing victory of one side or the other, I disagree. (See this discussion, on the Middle East for example.) In any conflict there are certain to be faults on both sides. But if we really want peace, we have to go beyond history, beyond notions of justice and revenge. All our activities and institutions must be subordinated to the goal of peace. Middle East Peace Bonds would reward people for reducing the numbers of people killed in that conflict to a sustained low level. We don't need to prejudge how peace is to be achieved, but we do need to reward its achievement. Bondholders could try all sorts of possibilities that the current protagonists cannot: they could set up school exchange visits; subsidise intermarriage between the opposing factions; or give everybody with beards first class, one-way tickets to the overseas golfing resort of their choice. The governments in the region have failed, so have the ideologues, idealists, generals and the men of religion. It's time to contract out the solution to the private sector. In short, to give greed a chance.