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I think to reduce the threat of (middle-eastern) terrorism to us all we need to start pouring a massive amount of funding into alternative, renewable fuels now. That is the single biggest issue we need to pursue. And I mean to the tune of increasing research by 100 billion dollars. The factor in getting the technology is financial, not time. The tech is there, we just need to minaturize it, combine it, or fund those who can distribute it nationwide. The faster we are able to reduce ours, and the rest of the worlds dependence on oil, the better for the civilized world.
The problem as I see it is that we need to protect our interests. So when problems arise in the middle east we have to intervene to protect our economy. When we no longer need to import oil we will not bother to get involved in disputes in that region. That removes the perception that we are conquers in the muslim lands.
I think then we would also have to sponsor economic development in the arab world after their raw goods based economy collapses. (And with the money we would save through tossing off oil as an energy source, and licensing it to the world, this should be easy enough.) This support, if done right would go a long way towards repairing our image throughout the region.
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