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Arab-Islamic Summit: US-Muslim get-together without Iran?
Global Village Space |
Dr. Muhammad Ali Ehsan |
Arab–Islamic Summit is scheduled to take place next week in Riyadh. In a clear sign of the reversal of US policy – disengagement from the Middle East – the US President Donald Trump has chosen Saudi Arabia as the first destination of his international tour abroad. There, he will have three engagements: bilateral between Saudi Arabia and the United States, a GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), and US Summit and the Arab-Islamic US Summit that will bring together 56 Islamic States with the US on one platform.
Being not able to resolve the old wars how would it prevent the new ones from shaping up?
Besides demonstrating that ‘the US and Arab-Muslim countries can form a deep and enduring partnership’, what else can this unique and first of its kind summit achieve? Will the US be willing to carry out political and military investments in the Middle East? Having right sized its footprint thereby extricating from Iraq and not participating in Syria (boots on the ground), would it again want to reset power politics in the region that is dominated more by proxies and interventions? According to a report published by Jeff Desjardins in the United States Business Insider, the US contributes over 200,000 troops to 177 countries with major deployments in Japan, Germany, South Korea, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, which includes Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan, and the UAE.
Read more: Trump’s upcoming pilgrimage capture’s the world’s attention!
With an increase of $54billion in the 2018 defense budget and a decrease of its contribution to the UN (slashed by $10.1billion; a cut of 28%), it is difficult to understand how can the United States, in the coming days and years, contribute towards peacekeeping in the world? Being not able to resolve the old wars how would it prevent the new ones from shaping up? With its contribution to the UN peacekeeping gutted (it has 38% contribution towards UN Refugees Agency and 35% towards UN food program), would the risk of famine and war in various parts of the world not maximize? On one hand Trump Administration lives up to its electioneering slogan of ‘America first’ by pulling back from the world and on the other hand demonstrates reaching out to it (increase in the defense budget, approval of troops surge in Afghanistan and participation in Arab-Islamic Summit in Saudi Arabia).
Over 7000 Yemeni’s have died in two years of war. Out of a population of 27 million, 7 million are going hungry and 3 million have fled their homes to neighboring Djibouti.
On the face of it, the best thing that this summit is doing is giving hope to a scared world – Muslims by most standards. It provides an opportunity to the leadership of the Muslim world together with the USA to repair, rebuild, reinforce, and reconstruct the battered and bruised image of the Muslims and their religion Islam. The gathered leadership would not have to look far and away – Yemen will provide them a classic example of what is going wrong in the Middle East and how religious polarization, state collapse, and dearth of able leadership is not willing to see beyond its narrow selfish interests in creating an environment where violence and jihadism grows and the common people suffer.
Read full article:
Arab-Islamic Summit: US-Muslim get-together without Iran?
Global Village Space |
Dr. Muhammad Ali Ehsan |
Arab–Islamic Summit is scheduled to take place next week in Riyadh. In a clear sign of the reversal of US policy – disengagement from the Middle East – the US President Donald Trump has chosen Saudi Arabia as the first destination of his international tour abroad. There, he will have three engagements: bilateral between Saudi Arabia and the United States, a GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), and US Summit and the Arab-Islamic US Summit that will bring together 56 Islamic States with the US on one platform.
Being not able to resolve the old wars how would it prevent the new ones from shaping up?
Besides demonstrating that ‘the US and Arab-Muslim countries can form a deep and enduring partnership’, what else can this unique and first of its kind summit achieve? Will the US be willing to carry out political and military investments in the Middle East? Having right sized its footprint thereby extricating from Iraq and not participating in Syria (boots on the ground), would it again want to reset power politics in the region that is dominated more by proxies and interventions? According to a report published by Jeff Desjardins in the United States Business Insider, the US contributes over 200,000 troops to 177 countries with major deployments in Japan, Germany, South Korea, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, which includes Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan, and the UAE.
Read more: Trump’s upcoming pilgrimage capture’s the world’s attention!
With an increase of $54billion in the 2018 defense budget and a decrease of its contribution to the UN (slashed by $10.1billion; a cut of 28%), it is difficult to understand how can the United States, in the coming days and years, contribute towards peacekeeping in the world? Being not able to resolve the old wars how would it prevent the new ones from shaping up? With its contribution to the UN peacekeeping gutted (it has 38% contribution towards UN Refugees Agency and 35% towards UN food program), would the risk of famine and war in various parts of the world not maximize? On one hand Trump Administration lives up to its electioneering slogan of ‘America first’ by pulling back from the world and on the other hand demonstrates reaching out to it (increase in the defense budget, approval of troops surge in Afghanistan and participation in Arab-Islamic Summit in Saudi Arabia).
Over 7000 Yemeni’s have died in two years of war. Out of a population of 27 million, 7 million are going hungry and 3 million have fled their homes to neighboring Djibouti.
On the face of it, the best thing that this summit is doing is giving hope to a scared world – Muslims by most standards. It provides an opportunity to the leadership of the Muslim world together with the USA to repair, rebuild, reinforce, and reconstruct the battered and bruised image of the Muslims and their religion Islam. The gathered leadership would not have to look far and away – Yemen will provide them a classic example of what is going wrong in the Middle East and how religious polarization, state collapse, and dearth of able leadership is not willing to see beyond its narrow selfish interests in creating an environment where violence and jihadism grows and the common people suffer.
Read full article:
Arab-Islamic Summit: US-Muslim get-together without Iran?
