This week, US President Donald Trump makes his first major official trip overseas since returning to office in January. That the visit should be to three Arab Gulf capitals – Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi – signifies the strength of ties the US shares with this part of the world. It is telling of the region’s standing in Washington’s estimation and the priority that the US accords to the Middle East.

Friendly US-Gulf ties, though, are not a recent development. US-Gulf partnerships date back decades and have been mutually beneficial and able to weather global storms. For this administration, partnerships are already in place. Riyadh was Mr Trump’s first official port of call during his first presidential term, too. And one of the most significant achievements of his first term was to help create the Abraham Accords framework with Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, later joined by Morocco and Sudan.

Since Mr Trump’s last visit as US President, however, the region........

© The Frontier Post (Editorial)