The US outlook was clear yesterday mor-ning, and I think it is plain and simple. The truth is finally out. The Obama doctrine of non-interference in the Middle East after creating the conditions that allow extremists to proliferate and allowing two pieces of legislation – JCPOA and JASTA – to cement the American body politic into attacking sides illustrated his lack of legacy and impotency in foreign policy.
Killing, rather than capturing, Osama bin Laden does not make for a legacy, something few in the mainstream media took time to question.
This lack of either a reasonable or cohesive foreign policy means the new President should urgently prioritise a US doctrine that exemplifies true American values, absent from US foreign policy hitherto.
Especially considering the doctrine of the disastrous eight-year presidency of Barack Obama – from supporting extremist rebels and promoting political Islam (the FSA, Al Nusra and the Muslim Brotherhood to name but a few) – and now we can finally recognise that this approach was a great mistake and an abject failure for the US and the world especially in MENA and in the EU.
US bureaucrats had a lack of strategic vision for the next four years even with the pivotal year of 2020 – a marker used by futurists and policymakers and stakeholders found in other international capitals – approaching rapidly. Transformation plans are now all the rage, but strangely, Obama’s America seemed to be sitting in the back seat. Now that game is over.
Trump will bring his adversaries to the table as any good businessman would
The US was stuck in a quagmire of its own making, and piecing together a coherent Middle East foreign policy may take time, especially with multiple ongoing air and urban operations in the MENA region (including the Levant, Yemen, Iraq and Libya).
The Trump administration needs to lay out a comprehensive strategic plan for the next four years, with a timeline and clearly defined key goals based on morality, fairness and justice, particularly for the Palestinian people and in cooperation with Russia.
Russia used its ability to alter perceptions in the US not solely based on an information cyberwar but also by the Kremlin’s focused desire to be seen as a moral model compared to the US, where excess is part of everyday life and hate-crimes were on the rise.
Despite all the attempts of the Western media, Russia, rather than the US, has been winning the propaganda war, especially in the Middle East. A President Trump will hopefully heal all these wounds and divisions in a way a President Clinton could never do.
Consequently, we should all be very glad we woke up yesterday to find a pragmatic Trump rather than a neurotic, power-hungry Clinton as the next US president.
The US administration will have its hands full in the MENA region. Specific MENA states are being tugged in multiple directions by multiple actors. Despite the huge media attention on the current fight against Isis, the terror group – a creature of still undetermined ownership, although many experts point to the Muslim Brotherhood as being the godfather of Isis – will be addressed head on by a Trump administration.
Preparing for the breakup of states formed a hundred years ago after the fall of the Ottoman Empire would not only challenge the US but also major regional and international players. A Trump administration will negotiate rather than make war, and mankind should be greatly relieved today at this tremendous historic change.
The US needs a strategic vision for 2020 in the MENA region, otherwise it will have been behind the curve – when confronting the outcome of any change in boundaries or transregional influence shifting inevitably in favour of the Shiite, specifically Iran.
A Trump administration will embrace Iran’s status and importance in the region.
The widespread belief among Americans that they won the Cold War against the Soviets was actually due to trillions of dollars being pumped into military spending.
Somehow, this gave birth to a new breed of loony-leaning American politicians, who justified their hegemony over all nations on the planet with not only the ability but also the right to take down any country or ideology it found repugnant. This approach was bigotry at its finest.
Trump will bring his adversaries to the table as any good businessman would.
Meanwhile, Russia has reformulated itself as a new, predominantly Christian nation with one of the most comprehensive anti-terrorist strategies outside its own territories of any other country. It’s time for the US and Russia to cooperate against international terrorism, and thankfully a President Trump will do that.
MAD (mutually assured des-truction) and Armageddon are not options for a Trump administration – but very dangerously were the options for a future Clinton White House.
The world is a safer place today because of Trump’s success.
(Research assistant: Sarah Matthews)
Richard Galustian is a security analyst.