In his "landmark speech" last month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, President
Trump called on all “responsible nations” to “work together to end the
humanitarian crisis in Syria, eradicate ISIS and restore stability to
the region.” While all three are desirable goals, the strategy for
achieving them that Mr. Trump outlined in that same speech will achieve
precisely the opposite. “Until the Iranian regime is willing to be a
partner for peace,” Mr. Trump said, “all nations of conscience must work
together to isolate Iran.” The president then called for a U.S.-backed
pan-Arab coalition aligned against Iran, which, he says, is stoking “the
fires of sectarian conflict and terror.” While that is certainly true,
the same could be said of several other states in the region, including
the one in which the president delivered his speech.
The president’s proposal is deeply flawed. What is happening in the
Middle East today is largely a regional power struggle between Iran and
Saudi Arabia. The conflict in Syria is a proxy war, not between the
United States and Russia, as some American commentators have suggested,
but between the two major powers vying for regional hegemony. By taking
sides in the struggle, the administration will only prolong the agony.
What is required instead is a kind of détente between Saudi Arabia and
Iran, one that would rob their proxies of their reasons to keep
fighting. The timing may be right for such an effort. Jean-François
Seznec, a Middle Eastern expert at the Atlantic Council, told Voice of
America late last year: “Having low oil prices is making life much more
difficult for Saudi Arabia and Iran…. If there were a major military
conflagration, it would ruin both of them, and I think they realize
that.”
The president’s proposal is deeply flawed. What is happening in the
Middle East today is largely a regional power struggle between Iran and
Saudi Arabia. The conflict in Syria is a proxy war, not between the
United States and Russia, as some American commentators have suggested,
but between the two major powers vying for regional hegemony. By taking
sides in the struggle, the administration will only prolong the agony.
What is required instead is a kind of détente between Saudi Arabia and
Iran, one that would rob their proxies of their reasons to keep
fighting. The timing may be right for such an effort. Jean-François
Seznec, a Middle Eastern expert at the Atlantic Council, told Voice of
America late last year: “Having low oil prices is making life much more
difficult for Saudi Arabia and Iran…. If there were a major military
conflagration, it would ruin both of them, and I think they realize
that.”
Note EU-Digest: According to a New York Times
report, President Donald Trump’s strange allyship with Saudi Arabia
over Qatar is cause for suspicion about whether his allegiances are
informed by business interests.
The report noted that Trump has been in business with the
Saudis for 20 years, since he sold ownership of the Plaza Hotel to a
Saudi prince and has one golf course in the United Arab Emirates with
another on the way. He hasn’t, however, been able to enter into the
market in Qatar.
Also please note : Trump, is the first US president in 40 years who’s failed to divest
from all his personal businesses upon taking office, has fallen under
criticism for doing so.
“Critics say his singular decision to hold on to his global business
empire inevitably casts a doubt on his motives, especially when his
public actions dovetail with his business interests,” the Times reported.
Another weird development is that just one week after President Donald Trump accused Qatar of funding terrorism, the United States has agreed to sell Qatar $12 billion worth of F-15s.
Hopefully EU member states will have the "guts" to totally
distance themselves from this bizarre Trump Administration foreign
policy, in any form or shape, be it in the Middle East, or any other part of the world .
EU-Digest
