Thomas Friedman famously wrote about the “Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention”, that no two McDonald’s-having countries will go to war.
Since Israel now has a kosher McDonald’s, since Saudi Arabia’s McDonald’s closes five times a day for Muslim prayer, since Egypt has 18 McDonald’s and Jordan is getting its first, the chances of a war between them are minimal. But watch out for that Syrian front. There are no Big Macs served in Damascus. India-Pakistan? I’m still worried. India, where 40 percent of the population is vegetarian, just opened the first beefless McDonald’s (vegetable nuggets!), but Pakistan is still a Mac-free zone.