Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy

Making the Middle East Worse, Trump Style

| June 09, 2017

American presidents have generally been pretty good at botching things in the Middle East, but this one is winning at it.

Behind the bluster, bombast, tweetstorms, and general atmosphere of comic opera, is the Trump administration reverting to the successful Middle East grand strategy that both Democratic and Republican presidents followed during the Cold War? Leon Hadar thinks it is, and he believes this approach makes a lot more sense than George W. Bush's efforts at militarized "regional transformation" and nation-building or Barack Obama's Wilsonian embrace of the Arab Spring.

Writing in the American Spectator, Hadar suggests Trump has decided to "deal with the Middle East as it is," and is aligning the United States firmly with dictators and autocrats, much as it did at the height of the Cold War....

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For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Walt, Stephen M.“Making the Middle East Worse, Trump Style.” Foreign Policy, June 9, 2017.

The Author

Stephen Walt

Stephen M. Walt

  • Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program
  • Member of the Board, Belfer Center
  • Faculty Affiliate, Future of Diplomacy Project
  • Faculty Affiliate, Middle East Initiative
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