The 2017–2020 Trump Administration’s Middle East Policy

Abstract

Following the 2016 US presidential election, many were surprised to see Donald Trump, a real estate mogul and reality show star, become the 45th president of the United States. Trump’s statements made during the election campaign suggested that this is going to be “something new” in terms of US foreign policy. At that time, many believed that a strong and independent American institutional system would ensure the continuity of US foreign policy through the respect of the unchanging American interests and values. However, the 2017–2020 Trump presidency is not to be seen as uneventful in foreign policy terms, especially with regard to the Middle East. The Trump administration has made several foreign policy decisions in these few years that could never have been raised before. Particularly in regard of the relations between the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian–Israeli peace process, US involvement in Syria and the fight against the Islamic State, and the containment of Iran’s nuclear program. Focusing on these topics, our paper seeks to discuss the major events of these recent years and to summarise Trump’s Middle East policy.