A Study Of U.S. Middle East Policy During The Trump Administration

The Middle East has an advantageous geographical location and abundant oil resources,making it one of the key areas of confrontation and contention among major powers.Religion and ideology,tribes and countries,traditional customs and international trends are entangled with various forces,making the Middle East a hotspot with the most complex concentration of contradictions and the most intense competition among various forces in the world.The United States has major interests and influence in the Middle East.After the Cold War,the Clinton administration,the Bush Jr.administration,and the Obama administration all regarded the Middle East strategy as an important part of the US global strategy.They have adopted the Middle East policies of “Containing Iran and Iran in the East and Promoting Talks in the West”,the “Greater Middle East Democracy Project”,and “Strategic Contraction”.After Trump entered the White House,changes in the international system and relations between major powers,the Syrian civil war in the Middle East,the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,the Kurdish issue and other traditional hot issues,the prevalence of domestic populism,and other factors have profoundly affected the trend of Trump's Middle East policy.Trump's Middle East policy continued the strategic contraction of the predecessor Obama as a whole,and adjusted the Middle East policy based on US interests.Trump strengthened relations with allies in the Middle East,payed more attention to the fight against terrorism and used the power of allies to fight terrorism,exerted “extreme pressure” on Iran,abandoned the “two-state solution” to resolve Palestinian-Israeli peace and implemented the “New Middle East Peace Plan,” and promoted the normalization of relations between Israel and some Arab countries,and implemented the “Muslim Ban”.Trump's Middle East policy has become more unilateral and pragmatic.The promulgation of the “New Middle East Peace Plan”,withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear agreement,and promulgation of the “Muslim Ban” has violated the basic norms of international law.It has further reduced the international status of the United States and the influence in the Middle East.It has also triggered more turbulence in the Middle East region,and has facilitated the intervention of Russia and other foreign powers in Middle East affairs.