Middle Eastern tyrants

Chapter 52 Negotiation
The disputes at the UN General Assembly did not subside quickly; on the contrary, they tended to escalate.

Arab countries and Zion seem to be caught in a vortex of examples, self-justification, and counter-self-justification, bringing up the frictions of the past two decades, while the progress of peace talks and troop withdrawal seems to be stuck in a quagmire, making no progress at all.

A month later, the summer heat in New York made this marathon conference even more grueling.

During this period, representatives of Arab countries not only had to endure the humiliation of defeat, but also faced rising domestic criticism and pressure to resettle refugees.

Meanwhile, Zion forces are consolidating their occupied territories, and intelligence reports indicate that oil facilities in Kirkuk, which was captured in Al-Ilag, have been restored to operation.

As a geographically large country but a diplomatically and militarily small one, Shuangzhi was almost entirely a spectator at the United Nations General Assembly.

Their only substantive involvement was testifying about Zion's acts of aggression at war crimes hearings.

For the rest of the time, Lu Lin and his colleagues could only sit in the audience and watch as representatives of major powers dominated this game.

However, Prince Mohammed's plan is beginning to take effect, and it's making headlines in the United States media these days.

"Middle Eastern royal entourages numbered over three hundred, and they stayed in top-tier luxury hotels."

"Luxury stores on Fifth Avenue were cleared out; people bought retired warplanes and chartered cruise ships to transport their collections."

At this critical moment of international crisis, the Shuangzhi delegation took a different approach, grabbing public attention with its astonishingly extravagant behavior.

Lu Lin also specially invited his old friend, journalist Armani Press, to send people to follow and film them.

Press also expressed great interest in this kind of gossip, and the two hit it off immediately.

This unprecedented "reality show" style exposure is a media spectacle in this era.

When Lu Lin arrived at the presidential suite, he saw Prince Muhammad reading the day's newspaper.

He casually found a seat and sat down, when he heard the prince ask, "Have you spent all your money?"

"There should be some left."

Lu Lin thought for a moment. In the past few days, he had bought six white lions, thirty owls, thirty falcons, a spear that was said to have been captured by the Persians from the Spartans, two civilian helicopters, more than a dozen sports cars, rented a castle to host a party for Arab students, and also established the Shuangzhi Foundation to fund talented but poor young people from Shuangzhi to study abroad.
His young princes were even more extravagant, scattering petrodollars across every corner of Manhattan.

Well, he initially looked down on the extravagance of those nobles, but now he seems to be the most extravagant one himself.

How is the conference progressing?

As a time traveler, Lu Lin already knew the outcome. Although the United Nations General Assembly had reached a solution, the final result was still a mess.

All he wanted to know was when he could return to his unit.

"It didn't go very smoothly. The Zionites' intelligence network is very powerful. Their intelligence agency called Samod has produced a great many examples, and in the mutual evidence presentation phase, the Arab side was actually at a disadvantage," Muhammad said.

Samod, one of the world's four major intelligence organizations.

At this moment, Prince Faisal also walked in, sat down next to his brother without any hesitation, and greeted Lu Lin: "You're back, nephew. How was your trip these past few days?"

"Let's get down to business."

Prince Muhammad shoved his chubby younger brother and expressionlessly pulled out the newspaper that had been pressed under the other's buttocks.

Prince Faisal's smile faded: "Although most countries support us, only Ant and Seris among the five permanent members have a clear stance."

The United States' attitude is ambiguous.

The prince turned his gaze to Lu Lin: "What do you think?"

Prince Faisal also looked at his eldest nephew with great interest; it seemed that Muhammad was intentionally grooming this illegitimate son who had made military achievements.

Lu Lin pondered for a moment and then expressed his thoughts: "I believe this is a transition between the old and new orders."

On the surface, Ant and the United States are using this war to weaken the old colonial system, and the influence of the United Kingdom and France in the Middle East will be completely disintegrated.

This would also leave Zion without its support. In fact, the United Kingdom had issued a ban on Jewish entry into Zion several years ago, which led to dissatisfaction among democratic parties within Zion. However, before the war, the United States proposed to lift the ban, clearly supporting Zion's continued recruitment of Jews from around the world.

Furthermore, given their similarities in faith and ideology (Judaism and capitalism), if the United States needs a leader in the Middle East, cooperation between the two countries is highly likely at this stage.

"You mean the United States will support Zion?" Prince Faisal's attention was quickly drawn. "Zion has committed blatant war crimes. If the United States were to back Zion, it would lose credibility worldwide!"

Lu Lin: "Yes, so the United Nations certainly won't support Zion right now, but it can choose to continue to sit idly by."

If Zion can hold onto the occupied territories, public opinion will be divided in less than twenty years, and the occupied territories will be assimilated in fifty years.

By then, if the United Nations chooses to support Zion, the opposition will not be as intense.

"According to you, our situation is very dangerous."

“That’s right.” Lu Lin looked directly into Prince Faisal’s eyes: “However, the United States will most likely not allow the Zionians to become the only dominant force. But by then, the Twins will only be able to become a puppet government of the Ant or the United States.”

Lu Lin's analysis is based on actual events that have already occurred in the future. Although the United States has not yet made peace with Zion for certain reasons in this timeline, from a military strategic perspective, this seems to be a historical inevitability.

Prince Muhammad asked with curiosity, "I remember you graduated with a law degree from university?"

Oh, so I'm the one who reads the law?

The diary didn't explain these things in detail, and Lu Lin thought that he was just going to university to get a degree, so it didn't seem to matter what major he studied.

Lu Lin coughed and said, "I have a journalist friend who works at the United Nations. He told me a lot about the United Nations, including Western capitalism and advanced political systems. In short, he gave me a lot of inspiration."

Muhammad nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“Then aren’t we in a dilemma?” Prince Faisal shifted to a more formal sitting posture. “We can’t win a fight, and at least for the next few years, neither Ant nor the United States will take the initiative to intervene militarily in the Middle East. If we want to solve Zion, we can only rely on ourselves. Isn’t that a disaster?”

"I'm glad we can reach a consensus on the view that 'Arab armies are all incompetent,'" Lu Lin thought to himself.

"Actually, that's not necessarily true." Lu Lin's gaze fell on Prince Muhammad's face.

They still have one trump card to play.

Some time ago, he discussed the topic of "oil" with Muhammad on a plane. Oil is a powerful weapon. Currently, Western industries rely almost entirely on cheap oil imported from the Middle East for energy. Once Shuangzhi takes the lead in implementing oil production cuts, it will inevitably cause panic in the Western world.

The United States also has another identity: the leader of the Western world. This step is tantamount to putting the United States in a very difficult position.

Playing the game of wrangling with a major power has always been a risky move, especially with the United States. If the timing isn't right, it can backfire.

Prince Faisal, however, was thinking in a different direction. "You mean, to involve Antara? To have Antara lead a military intervention to attack Zion?" he asked tentatively.

“There’s no need to go that far.” Lu Lin knew that bringing Ant into the picture would make the situation in the Middle East more complicated, allowing major powers to intervene in wars between small countries, and in the end, the small countries that started the war would be utterly destroyed. “However, we can import Ant’s weapons and take this opportunity to get closer to Ant. Just say that, uh, Masr introduced us.”

After listening to his nephew's analysis, he had two feelings. First, his brain, which had been in a daze for a while, seemed to have been enlightened. Although he couldn't stand that Amir's analysis was correct, it was still convincing.

Secondly, this kid's analytical and response strategies are too unorthodox, completely deviating from the Shuangzhi royal family's previous practices. He dares to play the balancing act between two major powers, and even the domestic hawks have to turn into doves when they see him.

Prince Faisal glanced at his brother, only to find that the other remained calm.

Could it be that Muhammad orchestrated this? Is he telling me this through his son?
"Please don't tell anyone about this yet," Lu Lin said, still considering the types of items to buy and the pricing. "Perhaps we have a better option."

Prince Faisal waved his hand to indicate that he understood, and after a brief chat, he got up and left.

Prince Muhammad played with the spear that Lu Lin had bought back and casually said, "You'd better prepare early and make a list."

"Why?" Lu Lin asked, puzzled. Hadn't he just given his uncle a heads-up?

Prince Muhammad sighed inwardly, knowing his younger brother's temperament well, and simply said, "Never mind, it's nothing."

(End of this chapter)