Donald Trump and the Middle East
| Date | 01 March 2018 |
| Author | Ian Black |
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905818764703 |
| Published date | 01 March 2018 |
22 POLITICAL INSIGHT • APRIL 2018
In the year since Donald Trump entered
the White House, one part of the world
that was especially interested in his
stunning election victory has been in a
state of turmoil. Of course, not every crisis
in the Middle East and North Africa – "a big,
fat quagmire,” in the President’s words – can
be blamed directly on the controversial
billionaire and reality TV star: most of them
long pre-dated his arrival. Still, alongside
wars, tensions, bloodshed, misery, repression
and unrest, there is an alarming sense of
volatility in the air – some of it at least
directly attributable to US policies. And that
is denitely not ‘fake news’.
Trump’s inimitable style has attracted
Donald Trump pledged to deliver lasting peace in the Middle East.
But in office he has shown a strong preference for regional autocrats,
Saudi Arabia and Israel. The prospect of an accommodation with the
Palestinians looks ever more distant, writes Ian Black.
Donald Trump and
the Middle East
more attention than the substance of his
decisions at home and abroad. Twitter
storms and bouts of bombast and bragging
come and go but they tend to obscure
underlying truths: one of those is that
consistency, continuity and clarity are
extremely hard to see, not least when it
comes to the Middle East.
Withdrawal of a calming hand
The big picture of the current American
posture across the region includes four
main elements: a declared determination to
confront Iran; open bias towards Israel over
Political Insight April 2018.indd 22 19/02/2018 11:19
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