ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book presents that the Trump presidency places much greater emphasis on the utility of "hard" than "soft" power. The number of US-initiated air and drone strikes in the Middle East has increased significantly during the Trump administration compared to the Obama administration, with less civilian oversight of missions and more civilian casualties. Although Bush and Obama maintained security cooperation with authoritarian regimes, their support of human rights and political liberalization did cause important frictions with some of these states, especially Saudi Arabia. The Trump administration, though, has dropped these sources of tension. Praise of Egyptian, Turkish, Saudi, and Bahraini leaders has been effusive, even as human rights abuses and illiberal policies have continued and, in some cases, intensified. Finally, the Trump administration has declared permanent enmity toward two Islamist regimes, the Islamic State and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
