New Trump national security strategy downplays importance of Mideast

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump's just-released national security strategy downplays the importance of the Middle East, asserting that core US interests have shifted.

The two-page section devoted to the region says the priority that past administrations have placed on the Middle East is no longer warranted because energy supplies have greatly diversified and "superpower competition has given way" to what it calls "great power jockeying in which the United States retains the most enviable position."

"The days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy in both long-term planning and day-to-day execution are thankfully over – not because the Middle East no longer matters, but because it is no longer the constant irritant, and potential source of imminent catastrophe, that it once was," says the document, which was released on Friday.

"Conflict remains the Middle East’s most troublesome dynamic, but there is today less to this problem than headlines might lead one to believe," it adds, pointing to what it says is Iran's "greatly weakened" capacity following the 12-day conflict with Iran this June, and US strikes on Tehran's nuclear program.

Moreover, it said, US regional allies "are demonstrating their commitment to combatting radicalism, a trendline American policy should continue to encourage," but maintained that in order to accomplish the goal, "America’s misguided experiment with hectoring these nations – especially the Gulf monarchies" must be abandoned.

The strategy lists enduring US interests in the region as ensuring energy supplies "do not fall into the hands of an outright enemy," that the Strait of Hormuz remain open, that the Red Sea be safely navigable, and "that the region not be an incubator or exporter of terror against American interests or the American homeland, and that Israel remain secure."

It acknowledged the enduring challenges posed by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying it "remains thorny," but alleged that "progress toward a more permanent peace has been made" after Trump brokered a ceasefire to halt Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Syria, it said, "remains a potential problem, but with American, Arab, Israeli, and Turkish support may stabilize and reassume its rightful place as an integral, positive player in the region."

"As this administration rescinds or eases restrictive energy policies and American energy production ramps up, America’s historic reason for focusing on the Middle East will recede," it said.

"Instead, the region will increasingly become a source and destination of international investment, and in industries well beyond oil and gas – including nuclear energy, AI, and defense technologies. We can also work with Middle East partners to advance other economic interests, from securing supply chains to bolstering opportunities to develop friendly and open markets in other parts of the world such as Africa," it added.