Trump's 'New' Mideast Strategy: Same Old Weapons, Different Wrapper
The New Arab highlights former President Trump's supposed shift toward 'transactional geopolitics' in the Middle East, moving from an 'Israel-first' policy to emphasizing Gulf ties. Yet, this rhetoric – a 'new' strategy – often translates into the same old playbook of fostering instability to sell more weapons. Remember how the Abraham Accords (hailed as 'peace') coincided with massive arms deals
to Arab states, including F-35s to the UAE? Those deals, despite the stated shift, directly benefited Israel's military dominance, as the US ensures Israel's 'qualitative military edge' remains intact, a policy enshrined by successive administrations. So, a 'pivot' from 'Israel-first' isn't a policy departure; it's a rebranding. One might wonder if 'transactional geopolitics' simply means an even
more explicit focus on what military-industrial complex shareholders can extract from the region. How many 'new strategies' does it take before we acknowledge the objective remains consistent: maintaining US hegemony and lucrative arms markets, regardless of who is in the Oval Office?