21
November 2016
Past Event
The American Moment in the Middle East--from Eisenhower to Trump

The American Moment in the Middle East--from Eisenhower to Trump

Past Event
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters
November 21, 2016
'Fox Camp': Logistic base for US Marines in Kuwait, March 13, 2003. (Gilles BASSIGNAC/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Caption
'Fox Camp': Logistic base for US Marines in Kuwait, March 13, 2003. (Gilles BASSIGNAC/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
21
November 2016
Past Event

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004

Speakers:
Lee Smith

Former Senior Fellow

michael_doran
Michael Doran

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East

walter_russell_mead
Walter Russell Mead

Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship

Ray Takeyh

Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

With the election of a new president and significant foreign policy decisions on the line, one of the best ways to understand the stakes involved is to revisit the past. With the Middle East, there is no better place to start than with Dwight Eisenhower, the incisive leader who helped win World War II and formulated America’s Cold War policy. But according to Hudson Senior Fellow Michael Doran in his critically acclaimed new book, Ike’s Gamble, Eisenhower stumbled repeatedly in the Middle East before he got it right.

Eisenhower, in Doran’s account, initially made the same kinds of mistakes that President Barack Obama has made. Both believed America had tilted too closely to Israel and sought to readjust the balance—Obama by realigning with Iran, and Eisenhower by allying with Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. The difference, argues Doran, is that Eisenhower came to realize he was wrong to turn against America’s traditional Middle East allies and he eventually restored the status quo. Obama, however, leaves the White House with America's position in the Middle East still unsettled. Will Donald Trump be able to repair Middle Eastern relations, or will he indulge isolationist tendencies and further cede America's status in the region? Given the extent of Eisenhower's engagement in the region, what other lessons can the next administration draw from his experience?

On November 21, panelists Michael Doran, Hudson Distinguished Fellow Walter Russell Mead, and Council on Foreign Relations Fellow Ray Takeyh discussed Eisenhower's strategy and the incoming administration's policy options in the Middle East. This lunchtime panel was moderated by Hudson Senior Fellow Lee Smith.

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