The Middle Eastern information space is trying to understand the political, economic and other motives of the current relation between Western Europe and the head of the US White House.
Against the background of Trump’s declarations, writes an Algerian publication, the European political and media space is in disarray. Europeans are trying to ‘wake’ the US President, lead him away from making dangerous decisions and warn him of ‘Putin’s devilish and alarming plans’.
One after another, leaders of the Old World are coming to Washington, each with his own outdated programme, repeating one and the same story that was concocted three years ago…
The Middle Eastern information space is trying to understand the political, economic and other motives for the current relations between Western Europe and the head of the US White House.
They are explained by the differing visions of Trump and the European vision vis-à-vis the sources of threats to the security of the Western alliance. The head of the White House does not consider the Ukrainian issue through the prism of US strategic interests, the Al Jazeera political analyst believes.
His vision is more in line with adherents of this line in the American establishment, who consider it a mistake for the United States to enter what they have called the “Ukrainian quagmire”.
They are encouraging Washington to focus on confronting its main adversary, China, instead of chasing the ephemeral benefits of NATO’s expansion into Moscow’s vital geopolitical sphere of influence.
According to a number of local authors, Trump stirred the still waters that the Biden administration could not or did not want to touch or solve, as it had created them itself. As for the Ukrainian issue, it became clear that the US wants out of this quagmire.
A number of statements and demarches made by the administration regarding the Russian approach and cooperation with Russia are perceived by a number of Arab experts as a step away from the idea of ‘pushing Russia aside’, the vector proclaimed during the Clinton era and which reached its culmination under Biden.
There is an idea in the media that such a vector is largely based on the awareness of the changes that have taken place in the political and economic structures of the United States, as a result of which they lost the advantages they gained after World War II and during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
Foreign wars unleashed by successive administrations have contributed to the growth of public debt, which has reached more than $36 trillion – and it continues to increase.
And Europe, once the prima ballerina of the world, which colonised the Asian, American and Africa continents and dominated the planet in many areas, is no longer the same; it is looking for solutions to its political, economic and defence problems. A number of Arab political scientists have voiced this view. They also seek to understand the impact of time constraints in relations between Western Europe and the Trump administration in the Middle East.
The Gulf states understand that a decline in US interest in Ukraine may mean less attention to the Middle East. This pushes them to strengthen their strategic independence, either by expanding partnerships with China and Russia, or by strengthening the role of mediators in international conflicts, an Emirati publication believes.
Egypt, for its part, is monitoring changes in Washington’s position; it understands that any radical change in its policy can affect the amount of military and economic aid it receives.
The meeting (or rather skirmish) between Trump and Zelensky on February 28 was not just a political meeting, but a turning point that paved the way to the formation of a new world order, the Emirati observer states. Washington is no longer ready to play the role of the absolute defender of its allies and the world is adapting to this new reality.
Now the main question is: will the allies, whether in Europe or the Middle East, be able to adapt to these changes? Or will this shift create a geopolitical vacuum that other powers, such as Russia and China, will take advantage of? The near future will tell, the Emirati newspaper concludes.
Yuri Zinin—Senior Researcher at the Centre for Middle Eastern and African Studies, IMI MGIMO
