US withdrawal stirs the Middle East

Long-term adversaries are re-evaluating their allegiances in the wake of the US policy shift in the region

Shifting alliances and strategies, growing perceptions of US disengagement as well as tentative, exploratory rapprochement between rivals—look set to leave their mark on the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) in 2020.  President Donald Trump’s America First policy and his aversion to projecting power are recasting long-standing relationships, including those with Saudi Arabia and even Israel. The trend may become even more apparent in the run-up to the American presidential election in November 2020.  Trump’s controversial decision in October 2019 to withdraw US forces from northern Syria and effectively give the green light to a Turkish offensive against Kurdi