The realignment of the 21st century Middle East can more easily be understood by separating the countries that have chosen to embrace nationalism versus those that have doubled down on the doctrine of Islamic supremacism — otherwise known as Islamism. U.S. Arab allies in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, and others have collectively moved in near lockstep with President Trump’s foreign policy doctrine, as expressed in his landmark Riyadh speech, in which the commander-in-chief called upon our regional partners to “drive out” the radicals in the Middle East and from within their own governments. Other paper allies, like Qatar and Turkey, have chosen to embrace those radicals, fund their revolutionary movements, and stir broader regional chaos.
The nationalist movement in the Middle East has convinced many of our Arab allies to largely abandon past policies that involved aiding and abetting troublesome regional groups and Islamist movements. Saudi Arabia, once a noted regional troublemaker, has largely returned to a “moderate Islam” that disavows the fundamentalist radical movements both inside and outside Riyadh. Additionally, our regional allies have invested heavily in internal development and advancement, which has tremendously bolstered individual rights and other human freedoms (including the advancement of women’s rights) inside of their respective nations. These policies have encouraged cooperation and healthy competition between fellow partner nations. The embrace of the concept of sovereignty has become a regional gamechanger for the promise of long-term peace and security, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any holdouts.
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