Middle East peace deals are rare. So, too, are peace deals right before a U.S. presidential election. The fact that multiple peace deals are happening before this election is a clear indication that many Arab countries prefer Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
It’s one of the tenets of faith of the Never Trumpers and most Democrats, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, that world leaders don’t respect American leadership under Trump; they have said numerous times that Trump disrespects U.S. allies and coddles dictators.
Of course, few if any of his critics have any significant foreign policy success they can call their own. Their criticism, therefore, must be viewed in light of their record and their partisanship.
As for Trump, he can now boast that he’s reshaped the Middle East.
- Trump has fostered a peace deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
- Trump has fostered a peace deal between Bahrain and Israel.
- Trump has fostered Serbia and Kosovo committing to establish embassies in Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel’s capital.
- Trump has destroyed the ISIS terrorist group.
- Trump has contained Iran.
Beyond that, it was standard negotiating procedure within the foreign policy establishment that there would be no movement in Middle East peace until the Israelis reached an agreement with the Palestinians.
So, what happened? How has Trump been able to make so many peace advancements with the possibility of more to come, including a possible Oman-Israel deal?
The answer is simple.
First, the president realized that appeasing Iran was never going to work. They are not now, nor will they ever be, an honest regime seeking real peace. To the country, Iran wants to dominate the Middle East and foment terror around the world. Recognizing that obvious dynamic, Trump wisely contained Iran.
Under Obama and his Iran deal, Iran realized its own foreign policy goals of expanding its conventional forces throughout the Middle East and was able to fund its lethal surrogates. It was able to do that because the Iran deal gave it access to the money it didn’t have or couldn’t get under international sanctions. Obama lifted those sanctions, Iran got the money and wreaked havoc.
Second, Trump let the world know he was going to stand by Israel at all costs—plain and simple. He moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem over the objections of the foreign policy know-it-alls and otherwise stood by Israel in very public ways.
Then there’s Biden. The Democratic nominee Biden has made it very clear he wants to do a deal with Iran. Any Biden–Iran deal would be the same as an Obama-Biden deal, once again giving Iran access to money it needs to disrupt the Middle East and realize its dreams of becoming the predominant power in the Middle East.
Stated plainly, few Middle Eastern countries want that to happen. Certainly the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain don’t. That’s why they’re making deals just prior to Trump’s reelection bid. They want nothing to do with a resurgent Iran.
Oman doesn’t either, and neither does Saudi Arabia.
Beyond that, Trump hasn’t started any new wars or increased U.S. entanglements.
Without question, Trump is the most successful foreign policy president since President Ronald Reagan, and that record is on the ballot in November. Many Middle East countries want us to know that, and that they don’t want a Biden–Iran deal.
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