Putting Trump on paper: What the new US strategy documents say about the Middle East

Trying to capture US President Donald Trump’s proudly unpredictable approach to foreign policy in fixed policy documents is inherently difficult. Surprise, leverage and improvisation are not bugs in Mr Trump’s world view; they are features. Yet the administration has now attempted this exercise twice: with the release of the National Security Strategy last December and the National Defence Strategy this January.

Mr Trump is unlikely to feel bound by every line in either document. He considers unpredictability a strategic asset – both against adversaries and, at times, against his own allies. Still, taken together, these texts matter. They provide the clearest available statement of the administration’s underlying world view, strategic priorities and regional intentions. They also reveal how Mr Trump’s personal instincts intersect with longer-standing currents within the American right: scepticism towards multilateralism, emphasis on sovereignty and power, and preference for transactional alliances.

Three top-line lessons emerge from reading the two documents together.

Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit, educational organization. It does not engage in advocacy and its scholars’ opinions are their own. MEI welcomes financial donations, but retains sole editorial control over its work and its publications reflect only the authors’ views. For a listing of MEI donors, please click here.