No. of Recommendations: 7
The ME states have grown up in a sense and discarded a lot. They now view Iran as their major enemy.
That, and the Arab Spring turned to Winter.
The ME states oriented against the West and towards the Soviets after WWII for a variety of reasons, many of which have faded over time. But one that persisted was the West's insistence on things like democracy and human rights. None of these countries are free democracies. They're all monarchies, autocracies, or some other hybrid flavor of non-democratic rule. They all have restrictions on religious freedom, press and political activity that are anathema to liberal (small-l) Western democracies. And the West was constantly trying to change that. To bring democracy and freedom to the Middle East.
Right-wing populism has changed that a lot, and Trump especially has changed that. The message is loud and clear to these rulers: we don't care anymore. We don't care that you're not elected, we don't care that you deny basic democracy to your people, we don't care if you deny them political freedoms or the right to choose their own leaders or the right to free press or assembly or anything else. That's your business. Israel's moved away from the West, as the West has shunned them; the institutions in the West that were trying to create freedom and democracy in the Middle East have faded in potency; and the U.S. has absolutely given up on the "bringing democracy and freedom to oppressed people" business.
That's created a lot of space for these guys to move closer to Israel and the U.S. We're now treating them not as bloodstained oppressors who rule without the consent of their people, but as Guys We Can Do Business With.
