Experts debate US role in the world
dubai — The United States’ best ally in the Arab world is the UAE, and it will be the country that president-elect Donald Trump will trust. These were the remarks made by Sterling Jensen of the National Defence College.
He was speaking at the one-day 2016 Arab Strategy Forum which saw analysts exchange views on the political and economic state of the Arab region and the rest of the world in 2017. Key strategic issues and challenges and opportunities that the world will face economically and politically in 2017 also came into focus.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Future, said one of the biggest questions to be tackled at the forum is whether the US is going to play the same role in the future after Donald Trump becomes president, and how it will affect the Arab world.
And this question was tackled by Sterling Jensen of the National Defence College in his concluding talk, ‘The State of Middle East in Trump’s Era’.
Gergawi also announced the launch of the ‘Good Judgement Open’ initiative that is open to all participants to give their expectations and outlooks about what will affect the Arab world in 2017.
Though many are predicting an isolationist US foreign policy, Jensen said the fact that the UAE has proven itself an active partner when it comes to moves towards coalition, means Trump will want the UAE as a friend.
“The UAE has persuasive and cohesive abilities to act against ter- rorism threats. And that persuasive ability in representing Islam (in its true light) is what the US needs.”
Jensen said the UAE will become the “benchmark for allies.”
“It’s clear that Trump trusts people with business experience, he is influenced by them. And the relationships that the UAE has with the Gulf could influence talks in White House,” he said.
Referencing the 1974 deal between Saudi Arabia and the then US president Richard Nixon wherein Saudi Arabia agreed to prop up American debt and spending in exchange for military aid and equipment, Jensen said this type of thinking needs to happen again.
“That deal stabilised the US dollar and got Saudi Arabia what it wanted. We need that thinking again in 2017. Countries will be able to influence Washington if that kind of thinking is used,” he added.