Trump’s Real Challenge in the Middle East: Don’t Follow Russia and Iran

Trump’s Real Challenge in the Middle East: Don’t Follow Russia and Iran
A neighborhood in eastern Aleppo after it was retaken by forces backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Dec. 14, 2016 (Kyodo photo via AP).

The harrowing image last month of a Turkish police officer standing over the Russian ambassador he just shot, while blaming Moscow for the devastation in Syria, captures a key foreign policy challenge for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump: How can he attempt to stabilize the Middle East by bringing conflicts to a close, rather than letting Russia and Iran lead the region into further cycles of repression and violence under the rubric of fighting terrorism?

Trump’s current defense priority—“to crush and destroy” the so-called Islamic State—plays right into Russian and Iranian machinations, with their selective definitions of terrorism and scorched-earth tactics. The graver dangers to American security from Russia and Iran themselves don’t appear to bother Trump, despite warnings from the Pentagon.

The assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey did not derail Moscow, Tehran and Ankara from quickly agreeing to coordinate strategy in Syria, without consulting or including the United States, the European Union or the United Nations. If anything, the ambassador’s death created more common ground for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who declared that “the only response [is] stepping up the fight against terrorism.” But the Ankara shooter didn’t belong or pledge allegiance to a terrorist group. He was, in his own words, avenging the slaughter of civilians in eastern Aleppo by Russian, Iranian and Syrian forces.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review