Why Trump is the best bet for Muslim States!

As oxymoronic as it may sound for the man credited with the infamous so called ‘Muslim Ban’, Donald Trump may be the best US President yet for Muslim states. His record and key motivations as an individual with an unflinching and robust business background will bear testimony to this.

It was and continues to be in his personal political interest to disengage militarily from conflict in the Middle East, Afghanistan and elsewhere. This was a large part of the narrative to ‘bring the troops back home’.

Furthermore, Trump has business interests across the Muslim world such as the UAE, Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Qatar and Azerbaijan. Peace in the middle east is money in his pocket. Trump’s sabre rattling, midnight madness tweet driven political rhetoric has an uncanny impact on loosening hard positions in terms of bringing difficult customers back to the table. A tactic he has fine tuned as a successful businessman. The Jerusalem Embassy relocation is a key antecedent to the eventual middle east peace domino effect we are witnessing now with the UAE and Bahrain joining the ‘Friends of Israel’ club alongside Egypt and Jordan in the Arab world. Trump may also be instrumental in bringing Iran to the table in his next term, assuming he is reelected.

Let us explore some key empirical evidence that supports Trump’s candidature as being better for the Muslim and Arab world:

Compared to Bush and Obama, Trump has eased hostilities in the Middle East & Afghanistan

American forces have been in Afghanistan since the 9/11 attacks planned by al-Qaida in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. The US-led invasion swiftly removed the Taliban but the intervention lingered on and created terrorism related violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama’s administration oversaw over 550 drone attack in Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria as per reports issued by Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the US.

Obama ordered more drone strikes in Pakistan than Bush did during his entire presidency. 54 drone strikes took place in Pakistan in 2009 alone.

US troops invaded Iraq in 2003 and were largely withdrawn in 2011. They returned in 2014 after the Islamic State group took charge of many parts of Iraq and the local regime could not control the influx.

Trump has already halved the troop presence in Iraq & Afghanistan including an almost complete pull out from Syria. US casualties have dropped significantly and so has accompanying sentiment against these countries in the US. He is committed to further withdrawals and military disengagement in the region.

Most significantly, Trump has made peace with the Taliban, ending the root cause of the hostilities in Afghanistan.

Trump’s Kushner Card: Arab Israeli Peace Initiation

A legacy of the aftermath of World War II and Israel’s landslide victory in the War of 1967 over Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian armed forces, the middle east conflict is a global flashpoint with humanitarian, economic and potentially nuclear repercussions!

The Jared Kushner brokered middle east peace effort with Israel, UAE and Bahrain is a watershed moment that has largely missed the mainstream media praise it truly deserves. The liberals in western media equate peace with Palestinian & Iranian appeasement. That has never worked as it is in the economic self-interest of the Palestinian politicians to prolong the conflict and the ideological interest of Iranian Ayatullahs (clergy) to do likewise. It does not serve the largely economic wellbeing driven interests of the Palestinian and Iranian people.

As a precursor to the peace initiative, ironic as it may seem, the Trump administration moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. That was key signal for all. There will be no near term Palestinian State till you have peace with Israel. A symbolic move indicating that any Palestinian State would be a reward and not a pre-condition. He then made Gulf Arab states more secure and assassinated Iran’s Qasem Soleimani, the man that had openly threatened gulf states and was supporting the Assad regime in Syria.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks earlier and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, and Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani of Bahrain came to Washington to sign the truly historic Abraham Accords!

The Abraham Accords offer huge economic prospects for gulf Arab states, Israel and indeed the US. It also finally rubbishes the myth of a potential Israeli isolation that the Obama administration had touted as a scare tactic. For the Palestinian people, a reduction in hostilities and a moratorium on further annexation in the West Bank are key wins.

Some economic results are almost instant. Dubai’s DP World is partnering with an Israeli group to bid for one of Israel’s two main ports. It will assess opening a direct shipping line between the Israel and the UAE. Bank Leumi of Israel and DP World have already signed a memorandum of understanding to explore working together on increasing trade between Israel and the entire middle east.

Any new American jobs in the Middle East as a result of this thawing of tensions in the region will also be credited to Trump.

The Abraham Accord will not end here. It is inconceivable that Bahrain is on board without Saudi Arabia’s affirmative nod. And Trump is on record saying the Saudis are coming around and perhaps with them another five or so other Muslim nations.

Trump has a huge personal business stake in the Muslim World

From Indonesia to Azerbaijan, the Trump family has very substantial stakes in real estate and other development initiatives. Many Saudi royals and other business partners in the UAE are heavily invested in the political dynamics of the region as well. Failure of the region and its economy are simply not an option of Trump. Some 30 companies in Trump’s Federal Election Commission filings invoke names of Middle Eastern locations. The so called ‘Muslim Ban’ was Trump playing to his local gallery for a brief period. In a prospective next term, he will be looking at a legacy that entails a string of successes for his political legacy in terms of middle east peace and his economic legacy in terms of spoils of the cessation of wars in the middle east for the Trump Group and American businesses alike.

What a Second Term Could Mean for Muslim States

Trump’s biggest advantage that cuts through the politically correct red tape is his expertise as an astute businessman. The ultimate and real solution to the middle east and much of the non-Arab Islamic world encompassing Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia will be driven by a resurgent economy. A new chapter in this renaissance can be ushered by strategic investments from the US in these countries to counterbalance interventions from Russia and China. The Trump administration will attempt to do this for the United States’ own self interest and competitive hegemony over regional economic rivals.

Specifically, for the middle east in collaboration with the oil rich Gulf economies, infrastructural investments in Palestinian territories will provide more economic opportunities for a destitute people who has been economically disenfranchised by conflict. Ultimately, a Palestinian state that emerges as economically viable from its inception will better serve its own security and stability needs as it will for its neighbors.

Muslims in the US and around the world ought to be voting and cheering for Trump if they dig deep and see the results and trends of policy instruments exercised by him rather than just the inflammatory headlines in mainstream media.