How Donald Trump’s Middle East Strategy May Have Paved the Way for Chaos:

Remember when Donald Trump was in office, promising to solve the world's most tangled conflicts with his unique brand of deal-making? One of the biggest promises was to finally bring peace to the Middle East with what he called the "deal of the century." It involved big handshakes, historic agreements, and a complete shake-up of traditional diplomacy.

But according to a revealing new book, this entire approach wasn't just flawed—it may have backfired spectacularly, contributing to the very instability we're seeing today.

In her book, "The Big Stick," author and foreign policy expert Susan DiManno takes a hard look at Trump’s international strategy. Her argument is that his "Board of Peace" was less about actual peace and more about deals that ignored the most important people in the conflict: the Palestinians.

Skipping the Main Issue Entirely

The book points to a series of key decisions that looked like wins on the surface but were creating deeper problems underneath.

First, there was the controversial decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. For Trump and his supporters, it was a bold promise kept. But for Palestinians, it was a massive blow, a signal that the U.S. was no longer an impartial mediator and had chosen a side.

Then came the Abraham Accords—the historic agreements between Israel and several Arab nations like the UAE and Bahrain. They were celebrated as a huge step towards regional peace. However, DiManno argues that these accords were more like business transactions. They allowed Arab leaders to get access to advanced weapons and forge economic ties while completely sidelining the Palestinian issue. The core conflict over land and statehood was simply ignored, swept under the rug in favor of deals between powerful leaders.

The feeling on the ground among Palestinians was one of betrayal. Their cause had been forgotten by their Arab neighbors in the rush to normalize relations with Israel. The book suggests this created a pressure-cooker situation, where feelings of frustration and helplessness were left to simmer.

A Backfiring Strategy

Instead of bringing the region closer to a lasting peace, this "America First" strategy of deal-making ended up isolating the very people whose buy-in was essential. The author claims that by ignoring the decades-old pleas for a two-state solution and bypassing the core of the conflict, Donald Trump’s Middle East foreign policy may have inadvertently created the conditions for future explosions of violence.

Looking at the current devastating conflict in Gaza, DiManno’s critique feels eerily relevant. Her book serves as a stark reminder that international diplomacy is incredibly complex. True peace isn’t just about agreements signed by leaders; it’s about addressing the grievances and aspirations of the people living through the conflict every single day. Flashy deals might look good for a photo-op, but if they don't solve the root problems, they might just be delaying a much bigger crisis.