The New Patterns of US-Gulf Relations and the Crises in the Middle East Under Trump’s Administration

Authors

  • Author

  • Anthony H. Cordesman

Keywords:

The Gulf, United States, Security, Donald Trump

Abstract

This study explores the origins of Qatari-US relations, the foundations on which they are based, and the rules that govern them. It begins by examining relations between the two countries from the 1970s up until the Trump era. The paper finds that Qatar's need for US security assurances did not prevent it from adopting independent policies that occasionally contradicted US strategy. Accordingly, the Qatari-US relations have been upended, and exposed to crises due to diverging interests, concerns and challenges. While Qatar has embraced a foreign policy independent of Washington, it has also tried not to alienate it and has established itself as an asset for the US, both in terms of the military facilities it provides and the unique role it plays through maintaining ties with parties that the US cannot communicate with directly. Mutual dependency has enabled Qatari-US relations to overcome all the challenges they have faced over the past three decades, including those that emerged under the Trump administration.

Author Biography

  • Anthony H. Cordesman
    Researcher, Center for Strategic Studies (CSIS), Washington DC.

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Published

2019-09-01

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Issue

Vol. 7 No. 040 (2019): Issue 040

Section

Studies

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Copyright (c) 2019 Anthony H. Cordesman (Author)

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.