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Ahmed Quraishi Profile picture
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4 Nov 20, 9 tweets, 16 min read
7 reasons that make #Trump good for the Middle East

#America will choose its president. But from a strictly objective look at the Middle East, @realDonaldTrump emerges as someone who has done the unthinkable in the region, ideally making him the choice for #Muslim-Americans. Image
#Trump did not launch new wars in the Middle East. A sign of deft diplomacy, from avoiding new conflicts in #Syria while holding #Assad accountable for possible war crimes, to avoiding a war with #Iran.

#ElectionDay2020
#USAElections2020
#ElectionNight
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#Trump ended regime change wars induced through Islamist proxies. This allowed important players like #Egypt & the #Gulf to avoid collapse & chaos. Even #Iran received a signal from Trump that it is about behavior change, not regime change.
#ElectionNight
link.medium.com/OaxqiyXB8ab Image
#Trump revived old alliances in the Middle East. From #Pakistan to #Turkey to #Egypt, & now #Sudan; reviving ties with #SaudiArabia & bolstering ties with #UAE & #Qatar. #America restored some lost diplomatic ground in this region.

#ElectionNight
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#America has been the world's biggest aid giver to #Palestinians despite strong support to #Israel. #Trump has ensured that #USA finally gets credit for this. Unusual method but it is working.

#ElectionNight
#Elections2020
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#Trump held #Iran accountable for malign activity in the region without war. #Tehran was told this is not regime-change but an effort at change of behavior, including meddling in neighboring states, while trying for a new nuclear deal.
#Elections2020
link.medium.com/OaxqiyXB8ab ImageImage
#Trump ended 20 years of a failed policy in #Afghanistan, talk to #Taliban; engage #Pakistan. This went against conventional wisdom in DC. Peace remains elusive but there's a real chance for peace in an endless war.

#ElectionNight
#Elections2020
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'Muslim ban' is a hoax, a political stunt, not a policy. In reality, #Trump engaged 50+ #Muslim heads of state in 2017, the first #American president to do so. Not bad.
#Elections2020
#ElectionNight
link.medium.com/OaxqiyXB8ab ImageImage
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More from @_AhmedQuraishi

Ahmed Quraishi Profile picture
5 Mar
A consecutive third 'Night of the Knives' in #Pakistan's capital, #Islamabad. The city truly outdoes itself in ruthless politics as a cornered & paranoid PM Imran Khan fights for political survival, scared of his own shadow & party, #PTI, which he built but can't trust now. /1 Image
A cornered Prime Minister Imran Khan is now so paranoid & suspicious of his own party that he banned his lawmakers from leaving the city, forced them to have breakfast with him first thing today, & warned them in a letter published by opposition leader!/2

So bad is #PTI's ability to defend its prime minister on the eve of a vote of confidence in Parliament that opposition leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif embarrasses the PM by publishing an internal party letter that reeks of paranoia. Better media management could have preempted this./3 Image
Read 9 tweets
Ahmed Quraishi Profile picture
4 Mar
Embattled PM Imran Khan hints he might lose office in a disjointed live address to the nation where he digressed into a long lecture on poverty+corruption & linked a rebellion against him within the ruling #PTI to a heroic struggle for #Pakistan's future/1
Imran Khan appeared incoherent and angry, blamed opposition politicians for a rebellion targeting him personally from within his #PTI party. He offered little details on this conspiracy, vowed to resist whether he remains in power or not. /2
Imran Khan's TV address came as his govt moved a #VoteOfConfidence in Parliament from today to Saturday as chatter increased that he's unsure of the situation, has asked his aides to do the homework to avoid surprises, & likely banned party lawmakers front leaving the capital./3
Read 6 tweets
Ahmed Quraishi Profile picture
3 Mar
Meanwhile, in #Pakistan, the capital #Islamabad undergoes a Night of the Knives, with conspiracie, boxes of cash exchanged, daggers out, as Prime Minister Imran Khan fights for political survival in today's #SenateElections2021. A SC judge on record: "We're living in a gutter!"/1
Basically, the run-up to #SenateElections2021 exposed PM Khan govt's weaknesses. He spent the last 48 hours scurrying around to secure his base of lawmakers with intelligence reports suggesting some sort of a mini-rebellion. So he moved fast. /2
A war of leaked videos ensued (vote-buying deal making). The viral clips embarrassed opponents but also deterred shady #PTI lawmakers. Khan's party even struck secret deals with political enemies to adjust seats, where possible. /3

#SenateElections2021
Read 8 tweets
Ahmed Quraishi Profile picture
2 Mar
Today, #Israel🇮🇱 has more #Arab allies than #Turkey🇹🇷 or #Iran🇮🇷. Premature to write off moderate Arabs. That could be what #Obama administration wanted by supporting extremist takeover in Middle East. The opposite has happened. Now there is a push back. Israel & Arabs favor it.
Erdogan's charisma, Islamist allies, & Turkey's soft power make him a key player. Iran's expansionism is based on weaponizing non-Iranian Shia communities. Both examples represent forms of religious extremism. Israel & Gulf offer a new model for the future of the Middle East.
#Turkey is a #NATO ally, a leading #Muslim success story as long as it steers clear of extremism. Half of #Iran cabinet are #US graduates, but it's model is not attractive in the Middle East, promoted by shady money and guns. A third model is presented by #AbrahamAccords.
Read 5 tweets
Ahmed Quraishi Profile picture
21 Feb
Destabilization by #Israel+#SaudiArabia+#UAE in the Middle East is equal to the destabilization by #Iran. Is it?

I listened to @PeterBeinart on @FareedZakaria's show. He used this contrast to justify rejecting the idea of a #JCPOA rethink to include Iran's malign activities. /1
Are #Israel #KSA #UAE destabilizing the Middle East equally to or more than #Iran? This juxtaposition is used by Iran govt and sympathizers who suggest Tehran's wide network of proxies & operations in the region is not unique. Rather, it's normal. /2
Keeping #JCPOA intact is a legitimate goal but not on the basis of a fallacy. Moral and political equivalency that @PeterBeinart suggested [b/w #KSA/#Israel/#UAE and #Iran] is worth discussing. In short bursts, just key points, for the sake of informing. /3
Read 10 tweets
Ahmed Quraishi Profile picture
16 Feb
A foreign policy expert from #Iraq proposes a regional axis made up of #KSA #Egypt #Pakistan #Turkey to balance #Biden policies that apparently mark a return to Obama-era antagonism toward America's traditional allies.

#Israel might be added to this axis. /1
This sparks a long overdue debate on why #America in the last part of #Bush admin and throughout #Obama years pushed its allies under the bus (#Egypt #Pakistan #KSA #Gulf #Turkey) & allowed hostile IRGC-QF militias to circle #Israel. /2
There is no logical answer. And if this theory initially seemed farfetched and conspiratorial, some #Biden admin signals showed it wants to put #America back on the same track of collision with its traditional Mideast allies, including Israel. /3
Read 9 tweets

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