Leiden University Student Repository

Rust, Lisanne (2021)

Donald Trump’s foreign policy towards the Middle Eastern region: A study on the believer of its own truth

Master thesis | Middle Eastern Studies (MA)

After an examination of primary and secondary American, Israeli, and international sources such as White House speeches, Aljazeera interviews, American and Israeli newspapers, and documentaries, this thesis shows that former president of the United States Donald Trump was the opposite of a mediator for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead of being the broker of peace, Trump’s foreign policy created more agitation in the Middle Eastern region, and on the international level. Trump played a strategic game, in which realist and constructivist elements were visible in particular. Thus, this study argues that Trump certainly did not improve the tense situation in the Middle East, although he truly saw himself as the true peace maker. In addition to that, this thesis makes a contribution to the field of International Relations in two ways. Firstly, this thesis created clarity by connecting several aspects of Trump’s decision-making on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to specific IR...Show moreAfter an examination of primary and secondary American, Israeli, and international sources such as White House speeches, Aljazeera interviews, American and Israeli newspapers, and documentaries, this thesis shows that former president of the United States Donald Trump was the opposite of a mediator for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead of being the broker of peace, Trump’s foreign policy created more agitation in the Middle Eastern region, and on the international level. Trump played a strategic game, in which realist and constructivist elements were visible in particular. Thus, this study argues that Trump certainly did not improve the tense situation in the Middle East, although he truly saw himself as the true peace maker. In addition to that, this thesis makes a contribution to the field of International Relations in two ways. Firstly, this thesis created clarity by connecting several aspects of Trump’s decision-making on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to specific IR theories. Secondly, it is an addition to the yet incomplete amount of academic literature on the Trump Administration’s approach for this particular conflict.Show less

Trump

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Foreign policy

International Relations

Author

Rust, Lisanne

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Aharon, B.A.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en