Consequences of acting in Donald Trump's usual egocentric, "I make the rules," way can be quite dangerous for all of us.

With the exception of Obama's belated lame-duck behavior, the US has always, in practice, supported Israel unquestionably.

Donald Trump has no sympathy with underdogs. They, including the Palestinians, are just "losers." So he will bring words and action together as Netanyahu wishes.

Most of the time, teachers who talk about the Middle East do not know the history, culture or present context of the problems they are discussing. So they go to the media, which quote government or academic "experts" (who often are no such thing) or journalists who, by virtue of working for the media, are supposed to know what they are talking about. In the end they know little or nothing beyond a standard line that reflects the perceptions of the US government and its special-interest supporters. That is what the students get. Indeed, that is what we all get.

Consequences of acting in Donald Trump's usual egocentric, "I make the rules," way can be quite dangerous for all of us.

If Trump takes an aggressive anti-Iranian stand, I suspect it will complicate his relations with Russia; how much so, depends on what else Trump does, particularly about participation in NATO.

If Donald Trump shows signs of backing out of Europe, the Russians might be willing to stay out of his confrontation with Iran. If he follows Obama's program in Europe, things might be different.