Trump’s risky Middle East strategy
“It’s been a head-spinning few days for U.S. policy in the Middle East,” said Robert Malley in The Washington Post. Last week, Saudi Arabia and four other Arab nations “launched a diplomatic assault on their Persian Gulf neighbor Qatar,” implementing a travel blockade against the tiny, gas-rich sheikhdom over its alleged support for terrorism. But as U.S. State Department officials rushed to quell the growing crisis, President Trump undercut their efforts by blatantly siding with the Saudis—even taking credit for the rift by tweeting that his recent Middle East trip was “already paying off.” Trump is right about one thing, said Max Boot in CommentaryMagazine .com. Qatar is a “problematic ally,” with ties to terrorist groups. But so are the Saudis and the Pakistanis, and Qatar has allowed the U.S. to station nearly 11,000 soldiers at the Al Udeid Air Base for the war on ISIS. This delicate situation requires “carefully calibrated diplomacy, not social media grandstanding.” Actually, i
