Abstract

On his visit to Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump announced that, unlike previous presidents, he would not “look into the souls of foreign leaders and use US policy to dispense justice for their sins,” but rather defend America and promote the “fundamental interests of stability, prosperity, and peace.” How would this move away from the tenets of American Exceptionalism towards a MAGA “America First” foreign policy play out in the Trump 2.0 Administration’s policy towards the Middle East, where longstanding policies have been based on prospective politico-military balances, ideological and cultural affinities, and regional and global economic interests. How might the US’ Middle East policy under Trump 2.0 be also influenced by Trump’s small number of his hyper-libertarian “sovereign individual” associates?

About the Speaker

Adam Garfinkle is a consultant on American politics to RSIS for the period August 2024-January 2025. He was a Senior Fellow at RSIS for the 2019-20 academic year. Dr Garfinkle was founding editor of The American Interest magazine and served previously as both Executive Editor and Editor of The National Interest. Dr Garfinkle also served in 2003-05 as speechwriter to the Secretary of State (S/P, Policy Planning), before which he held appointment as professorial lecturer in American Foreign Policy at the School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the Johns Hopkins University. He has also taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Haverford College, and other institutions of higher learning. Dr Garfinkle also served as a member of the National Security Study Group (as chief writer) of the US Commission on National Security/21^st Century (the Hart-Rudman Commission), and as principal investigator on studies for several government agencies.