Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

An Agenda that would Reshape the Regional Landscape | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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US President Donald Trump and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on March 14, 2017 (Getty)


Riyadh – On his first official visit since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump will arrive in Riyadh on Saturday to take part in three successive summits, in the presence of leaders of Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, and the Arab and Islamic world.

Sources involved with the preparations told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that the outcome of the three summits would pave the way for reshaping the landscape in the Middle East, on the basis of extensive partnership between the US and its regional allies.

Sources expected an agreement to be reached over the formation of an Arab-Islamic-US partnership to counter terrorism and extremism, on the security, political and intellectual levels. They added that Washington would assume a greater role in restricting Iran’s policies of destabilization.

As for the unprecedented Arab-Islamic-US Summit, the sources stressed that it would provide “an overarching umbrella to resume the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians”.

The period that will follow the three summits will mark the end of an era that began with the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime, the US withdrawal from Iraq and the eclipse of an Arab role in regional tensions, according to the sources.

They also noted that the United States, in partnership with its allies, would regain its central role in several regional cases, mainly the war against terrorism that would encompass the security, political, financial and intellectual dimensions. This war would be launched in parallel with cultural and economic initiatives targeting the youth in the Arab and Islamic world.

Consolidating partnerships between the US and the Gulf would restore power balance in the Middle East and put an end to Iran’s expansionism projects, the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

They added that the Arab-Islamic-US Summit would correct the former US Administration’s policies of stalling and shy initiatives, which have opened the way for Russia to have a greater influence in the region.