US and Middle East: strongmen contemplate post-Trump era | Financial Times

US and Middle East: strongmen contemplate post-Trump era | Financial Times:

It took Donald Trump less than 48 hours to lay the foundations of a radical shift in US Middle East policy and ingratiate himself with some of the region’s most powerful leaders. On visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel — his first overseas as US president in May 2017 — he set the tone for the transactional and personality-based relationship that has characterised his dealings with the region’s strongmen.

He made it clear that Iran was in his crosshairs, arms sales would be a priority and human rights concerns would be consigned to a proverbial dustbin telling a summit of Muslim leaders in Riyadh: “We are not here to lecture.” It was welcomed by the US’s traditional Middle East allies, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Israel. All were desperate to see new US policies after years of rising anger with the administration of Barack Obama — not least for signing the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. 


Mr Trump could yet win re-election: few analysts in Washington have written him off. But with the president trailing badly in the polls, the region’s leaders are being forced to contemplate the prospect of Democrat nominee Joe Biden entering the White House, upending the president’s policies and setting a new course for relations with the Gulf.

For those who invested heavily in their personal relationship with Mr Trump, notably Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and de facto UAE leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, a Biden victory in November would usher in a fresh period of uncertainty and unease. Some even ask whether a new president could cold shoulder states as a punishment because of their closeness to the Trump administration.