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Middle EastArticles

Repercussions of Trump’s Loss on Arab Countries

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Some Arab rulers are alarmed by the loss of US President Donald Trump in the US election in favor of Democratic candidate Joe Biden, which is considered an expected response to the absence of their American supporter that has protected them for the past four years against any international accountability for their tyranny and oppression of their peoples.

On the other hand, Biden’s victory has been met with great satisfaction by the Arab peoples, not because the new American president will bring them the freedom they have been longing for, but because it finally put an end to the rule of Trump that has managed to create a network of Arab rulers that are ready to waiver the rights of their countries and fight against their religion and constants only to remain in power. In fact, Trump exploited their weakness and lack of internal support to implement the agenda of the extremist American right with the aim of striking Islam from within, at an unprecedented rapid pace.

There is no major difference between Democrats and Republicans in dealing with the issues of the Arab world, but Trump was a breakthrough out of context in this regard, as he transcended all international norms and agreements, even against the US policy itself. Trump took advantage of the American power in attempt to wipe out what is left of Palestine. He had also sparked war on Islam even before France’s Emmanuel Macron adopted his anti-Islam policy.

Fall of ‘deal of the century’

One of the most important gains resulting from Trump’s absence from the scene is the end of the project to eliminate what remains of Palestine, which was supervised by his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, known as the “Deal of the Century” that started with recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of “Israel”. The Kushner project provides for handing over the main areas of the West Bank to the Israeli occupation, annexing the remainder of it to Jordan, and expelling part of the Palestinians of Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula.

In fact, Trump’s proposal is not logical and has nothing to do with international agreements and United Nations charters; where world countries, including Europe, have not agreed to Trump’s extremist way in dealing with the Palestinian issue. However, Trump was only relying on imposing a fait accompli through the use of the American power amid submission of rulers of major Arab countries and their shameful consent to waiver of Palestine, where some of them even hastened to announce full normalization with the “Israeli” occupation.

Even before the presidential election, Trump had practiced pressure on the Arab countries for announcing full normalization with “Israel”, in attempt to remove the remaining boycott of Tel Aviv and hand over these Arab countries to “Israel”. In this regard, Trump has partially succeeded in his endeavor with some countries, but his exit from the White House is likely to stop these pressures that would have succeeded disastrously due to the state of Arab collapse.

Trump’s departure means the fall of the ‘deal of the century’ and its aftermath, and a return to the pre-Trump era; and this important change embarrasses and confuses the Arab rulers who were involved, especially since some of them did much more than normalization, such as the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia, which is considered an Israeli settlement carved out of the land of the kingdom with an international board of directors; and the Sinai Peninsula, where most of its eastern part has been evacuated for the benefit of “Israel”.

Halting support to the US right-wing

One of the most positive results of Trump’s disappearance from the White House is the cessation of official support for the secret network that he had created in the Arab world to adopt ideas of the extreme American right targeting destruction of Islam by employment of persons from within to do the job, by distorting historical and contemporary religious and political symbols, and demonizing everything related to Islamic manifestations under the pretext of renewal and development of religious discourse.

This extremist agenda was put forward by RAND Corporation, an American nonprofit policy think tank that offers research and analysis to the US Armed Forces, during the era of former US President George Bush, through two reports: “Civil Democratic Islam” in 2003, and  “Building Moderate Muslim Networks” in 2007. However, election of President Barack Obama in 2009 halted implementation of these ideas. Fair and extremist, until Trump came in 20017, adopted and imposed it with the power of the American state, and with public consent and support of the rulers of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt.

RAND’s plan proposed dealing with Islam as an ideology, not as a religion; and to work to destroy it from within, as the United States did with communism during the Cold War, by forming secret networks of politicians, thinkers, activists, academics and media professionals, which ultimately led to collapse of the Soviet Union.

The plan included detailed information about these networks operating in the Arab world, how they operate according to the decreed planning, and the official support methods provided by various American agencies, as well as provision of appropriate responses to all criticisms of the plan and convince critics of the plan in American institutions.

The bottom line of the plan is that all Muslims are considered enemies, with no differentiation between moderates and extremists, or between violent groups and political parties that seek change through democratic means. The report considered that those involved in these networks should only be secularists that reject Islamic interpretations and believe in the so-called Western and global values.

As soon as Trump came to power, the implementation of the RAND plan began, where it made a major leap through the most important network that has been created and formed by the US President, including Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the crown prince of b Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, and Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, which gave a strong impetus to the networks from the contestants of Islam that had been formed before and made them enjoy official patronage. Also, the official media outlets were used to serve the agenda of challenging religion for the first time in Arab history since the advent of Islam.

The main effort of these intertwined secret networks is to demonize popular Islamic entities and beat the “eternal” drums of the war against them to turn them into enemies that should be killed and their money seized (the Muslim Brotherhood as an example), in addition to the endeavor to demolish official religious institutions that defend religion such as Al-Azhar, which has been exposed to repeated political and media attacks to eliminate its due role through infamous draft laws.

The agents of the secret networks that adopt the ideas of the American right have succeeded in controlling some religious institutions, shifting their role from concern in religious affairs to a permanent attack on Islamic symbols and entities, and repeating ready-made Western accusations, to show that there is a crisis within Islam and that Muslims are the main problem, in repetition of allegations of incriminating the so-called political Islam, and alliance with the nation adversaries in all issues. This was clearly demonstrated during the crisis of offending Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) in France (where the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars and the Egyptian Dar al-Iftaa issued politicized statements against the Muslim Brotherhood instead of defending the Prophet).

The future of the Trump Network

The network of Arab leaders that Trump has created no longer has much room to move about as it once did, after the absence of the main international supporter. Therefore, the situation is particularly troubling for Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi: the former committed many sins in order to clear the way to ultimately reach the throne; where he arrested his cousins, seized their money, and ended the rule of the House of Saud to begin the rule of the Salman family. But the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his country’s consulate in Istanbul remains a curse that impedes his project, as it has destroyed his reputation that he was not able to launder even after the mock trial that acquitted the real convicts.

Trump was the one who covered MBS up and protected him from American and international sanctions; and in return, he blackmailed Saudi Arabia and seized the kingdom’s wealth, where poverty spread among Saudis and even expatriates working there; private and government companies have been unable to provide their wages, and large numbers of workers were laid off without receiving their wages and other claims.

As for Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the losses of Trump’s ‘favorite dictator’ are much greater. Sisi has relied in his existence in power on being a dictator protected by Trump and other international powers; he rejected any internal reform; and adopted the agenda of the extremist American right and added to it, with the hostility of Muslims and alliance with Egypt’s historical opponents and enemies; and wasted the Nile River water in favor of Ethiopia, as well as the national security constants, counting on Trump’s support. But after the sudden fall of Trump, Sisi finds himself face to face with the consequences of his anti-nation and anti-Egyptian people policies.

According to Joe Biden’s declared program, it is clear that the new administration will not retain Trump’s legacy, but rather will not be friendly with his aides of Arab dictators that had supported the fallen president with money and media until the election day. This change will have a positive impact in Arab countries, especially with the unstable conditions and mounting popular anger as a result of the Authoritarian and failed policies that have destroyed the economy and put the country in hopelessly dark tunnels.

Hailing the fall of Trump does not mean that Biden will bring freedom to the Arab world and remove dictators; however, in today’s intertwined world, interests of countries are affected by international changes. Anyway, the peoples remain stronger than any external interference, provided that the living forces come together and agree to retain their right to change and choose their own rulers.

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