Arab Rulers Are Happy to See Obama Go, but Uncertain About Trump

Arab Rulers Are Happy to See Obama Go, but Uncertain About Trump
President Barack Obama with leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council at the Diriyah Palace, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 21, 2016 (AP photo by Carolyn Kaster).

When Barack Obama was running for president in 2008, he vowed that immediately after taking office he would travel to a Muslim-majority country and deliver a major address to Muslims and Arabs as part of a determined effort to improve relations. After all, anti-American sentiment had risen sharply in much of the Middle East during the administration of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

In contrast, President-elect Donald Trump campaigned this year on a promise to get tough on Muslims. His announcement that he would impose “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” until we “figure out what’s going on” was one of his many shocking statements in a campaign filled with promises that would violate America’s social norms, not to mention its anti-discrimination laws.

Obama kept his word and gave his conciliatory speech in Cairo in June 2009. Trump has softened his proposal since winning the election, but his hard-line anti-terrorism rhetoric has not disappeared.

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 WPR’s fully searchable library of 16,000+ articles
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
  • Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
  • Daily links to must-read news and analysis from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
  • The Weekly Wrap-Up email, with highlights 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