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 at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. and is a specialist in Middle East security issues. In the administration of President George W. Bush, Doran served in the White House as a Senior Director in the National Security Council as well as a Senior Advisor in the State Department and a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon. He was previously a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and held teaching positions at NYU, Princeton, and the University of Central Florida. He is the author of several books—most recently, Ike’s Gamble— and has published extensively in Foreign Affairs, the American Interest, Commentary, Mosaic, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times.