Whereas normal people think a merit-based approach is color blind

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The optimal way to deal with Iran is to help bring down the Islamist regime. Iran is rotting from the inside, like the old Soviet Union, but much worse and much faster. Regimes do not simply fall of their own weight, however. They must be humiliated in a way that persuades some insiders that the smart money is on a fast exit. In Iran's case, the mullahs taxed the creaking domestic economy to fund massive foreign commitments in Syria, as I documented a year ago in Asia Times. The beating that Israel has given the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps and its motley mercenary army in Syria humiliates the regime, and contributes to the overall goal of regime change. No American boots on the ground, and probably no American planes in the air, will be required. That's what the Israeli alliance contributes.

The old canard that American backing for Israel alienated prospective allies in the Arab world has disappeared, now that the Sunni Arab states find themselves in a de facto alliance with Israel against Shi'ite Iran. The argument always was silly -- the Arabs respect strength and loyalty to allies, not flattery -- but now it simply has been superseded by events.

To be sure, Israel's economy is sufficiently large that the elimination of U.S. military aid would not make a great deal of difference. But the United States gets enormous benefits by locking Israel into American weapons systems. First of all, Israel's military R&D makes a huge contribution to our security. Its anti-rocket system, Iron Dome, was a minor miracle that the Pentagon did not believe possible at the time. More importantly, it aligns Israel with American interests, and encourages Israel to continue to take risks on our behalf.

Also there is this: The graduations of 1968 included Bill Clinton (Georgetown), George W. Bush (Yale) and Donald J. Trump (Penn).

Applebaum had to be deliberate in her omission of the "far-left" aspect of Greek populism.