On 7 June 2017, the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs held round table discussion to analyze the results of Trump’s visit to the region. In the frame of his first presidential tour of the region, which included the visit of Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, as well as holding bilateral meetings with a number of leaders on the sidelines of the Riyadh summit and the subsequent Islamic-American summit followed by the announcement of the establishment of the Center for combating extremist thought in Riyadh. In addition the summit included sign a number of military and investment deals worth about 300 billion dollars.
The meeting was attended by a number of members from the Council of experts, academics and specialists in the American and Arab affairs.
It was emphasized by the audience on that by drawing on an objective view of Trump’s visit to the region, the following conclusions can be drawn:
– Trump’s desire to improve his relations with Islamic countries and to correct what he launched during his election campaign against Islam and Muslims. The main aim of the campaign is to invite the Gulf Countries to pay the United States for protecting Gulf security, regarding to thinking of Businessman. It is the mappers in the military and investment deals signed between the two sides.
– On the other hand, Trump wanted to offer diplomatic satisfaction to the Gulf States by recognizing Iran as the biggest supporter and sponsor of terrorism in the region. The visit also resulted in the emergence of Saudi Arabia as a weighty country and the implicit recognition of its role in the region.
– Regarding the Palestinian issue, it was emphasized that Trump’s position was more ambiguous. During the visit, he did not discuss the settlement of the issue or the two-state solution, unlike most previous administrations.
– The importance of formulating a flexible and balanced Egyptian strategic vision that shows how to deal with the current crises and with the concerns of the Gulf countries on the one hand and the relationship with Iran on the other hand.
