A Critical Review on “Trump and the Middle East, ‘barking dogs seldom bite”

President Donald Trump’s Middle East policy was a clear departure from Obama’s policy of limiting U.S. involvement, to protecting its interests in the region. The failure of Trump’s policy over the past four years is due to four key reasons. For a start, the choice of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner to spearhead the peace plan, is a debateable choice at best. Jared lacked both political and diplomatic experience and had a limited understanding of ground realities.

The second reason was the fact that, the American public was tired of long-standing conflicts, in far off places, waged for goals that were difficult to attain. The frequent policy flip-flop and an inability to back up words with strong and meaningful action, was the third reason for failure. While Trump used strong language against ISIS and Syria, he could not get Russia to reign in Syria. Instead, he used symbolic military strikes, with little to no tangible results on the ground. The Kurdish rebels were long-standing allies in the fight against ISIS, but were left to fend for themselves against Turkish incursions. Trump’s inability to back his rhetoric with concrete action earned him the sobriquet of ‘barking dogs seldom bite’, among the Arab establishments in the region.

The fourth and final reason was Trump’s inability to build consensus within an Arab world deeply divided by long-standing religious and sectarian divisions. This, coupled with a clear pro-Israeli tilt, put paid to Trump’s Middle East plan.  At a recent meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Saudi Arabia, all 57 member countries voted to reject the U.S. peace plan.

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