Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Columnist

Qatar Crisis Shows Risk of Trump's Saudi Reset

The kingdom took Trump's full-throated support to quickly act against U.S. interests.

June 9, 2017 at 4:18 PM UTC

Meghan L. O’Sullivan is a professor of international affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School and the North American chair of the Trilateral Commission, she served on the National Security Council from 2004 to 2007.

Careful where you point that thing.
Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

President Donald Trump feels his recent trip to the Middle East was a great success, and the actions by Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies to isolate and punish Qatar this week were the first fruits of his new policy. In reality, the schism between Gulf Cooperation Council allies is a setback for U.S. interests, and the reset between Washington and Riyadh, heralded by the administration and many observers, if not a farce, is clearly far from complete.

Trump made a good move in choosing Saudi Arabia as the destination of his first foreign visit. The kingdom remains the most powerful country in the region, and the partnership has long been a pillar of regional U.S. policy. The bilateral relationship suffered significantly under the Barack Obama administration, which sought to position the U.S. as a neutral broker in the feud between the Arab Gulf states and Iran. The Saudis increasingly felt disrespected, questioned the U.S. commitment to the Middle East, and lost confidence in America’s ability or willingness to work with them to address regional challenges.