Since he took office, President Trump has pursued a Middle East strategy that has sometimes put him at odds with America’s foreign-policy establishment. The president’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria has provoked bipartisan backlash, angering not only his political adversaries, but also many friends in both America and Israel.
What if the consensus is mistaken? Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Michael Doran helps us understand the strategic concepts that inform the Trump Administration’s approach. By putting America’s latest decision in the framework of regional politics, the legacy of the Obama Administration, Iranian expansion, and Russia’s evolving role in the Middle East, Doran sheds light on the emerging Trump Doctrine, explains how it is shaping the U.S.-Israel relationship, and describes the challenges and opportunities it creates for Israel.
Michael Doran
Michael Doran is a senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute. He specializes in Middle East security issues and cohosts Israel Update. In the administration of President George W. Bush, Doran served in the White House as a senior director in the National Security Council, where he was responsible for helping to devise and coordinate United States strategies on a variety of Middle East issues, including Arab-Israeli relations and U.S. efforts to contain Iran and Syria. He also served in the Bush administration as a senior advisor in the State Department and a deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Pentagon. His book Ike’s Gamble was published by Free Press in 2016. He appears frequently on television, and has published extensively in Foreign Affairs, The American Interest, Commentary, Mosaic, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.