US foreign policy challenges in 2018

In the year 2018, US will be faced with important challenges in its foreign policy. The incumbent US President, Donald Trump, concurrent with growing internal discontent toward his performance in the year 2017, tried to shift the focus from domestic discontent to foreign policy affairs. In the year 2017, the US was not successful in its foreign policy and only stirred controversy in this domain.

One of the root causes of this controversy has been the awareness of realistic and liberalist US elites over the significant fall of US influence in the global arena. The US influence drops on a daily basis in comparison to the influence that Russia and China wield. In fact, the US has to gradually come to terms with the presence of these two global powers.

Moreover, the US Middle East Policy stirred controversy in the year 2017. The European Union and terms of interaction with EU is another challenge that the US foreign policy faces in the current year.

Today, we study the most important challenges that the US will encounter in the year 2018.

Maybe, the main and most significant challenge that the US faces in the current year is Russia. Russia, upon entry to the Syrian crisis, and West Asia, and combat against Daesh terrorist outfit in West Asia region, challenged the order considered by the US in the region. Moreover, tensions have lingered in US-Russia relations in East Europe, especially in regard to Ukraine. Based on speculations, in the year 2018, Ukraine will turn into a battlefield of the US and Russia's proxy war. On December 23, 2017, the US issued a plan for delivery of deadly weapons to Ukraine, thereby fanning the flames of a possible war between Russia and Ukraine. In the year 2017, the US breached many of the Minsk agreements.

In the year 2018, China has been mentioned 33 times in US national security document, which goes to show the especial importance of this country in the US strategic documents. However, North Korea can be considered as the most important challenge of the US in the year 2018. North Korea has been mentioned seventeen times in the US national security strategic document. Meanwhile, the North Korean president is also not reluctant as such in confronting the US.

In the year 2017, the US president traded barbs with the North Korean officials, while speaking of fire and fury. However, the White House generals and the US Secretary of State, Rex Tillersen, made Trump realize that any war with North Korea will cause wide-scale human casualties and fatalities. Meanwhile, North Korea, in a number of occasions announced that any US measure against North Korea will put Guam Islands, in the vicinity of US soil, within the targeting range of Pyongyang. North Korea is also supported by China.

In the meanwhile, based on National Interest speculations, North Korea may carry out a nuclear test in the Pacific Ocean in the year 2018, which will be ignored by Trump.

Iran has been mentioned seventeen times in the US national security document. Previously, the US strategy document against Iran was published independently. In these documents, the US tries to baselessly introduce Iran as a threat against global peace and security.

Throughout the US presidential race, Donald Trump had on a number of occasions alleged that he didn't accept the nuclear agreement of six world powers with Iran, and he also refused to present a report on this agreement in the waning months of the year 2017, handing over this task to the Congress. Iran is partly supported by Russia and China. But, the main hurdle against any anti-Iran action is the US public opinion which has not accepted the US officials' allegations about a possible threat posed by Iran against US national interests.

The year 2017 was a fateful year for Syria. In this year, the Syrian ruling system reached appropriate victories in the military, security, and political fields, even though these victories did not go down well with the US officials. In the year 2017, the US continued to support the opponents of the Syrian administration. The negotiations which were carried out by the UN Especial Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, remained inconclusive due to the acts of sabotage conducted by the US and Saudi regimes. He chaired eight rounds of Syria-Syria talks in Geneva. Ultimately, in a report to UN Security Council, it was mentioned that a golden opportunity had been lost for Syrian peace talks.

Recognition of Bayt al-Moqaddas as the capital of the Zionist regime of Israel by Donald Trump practically eliminated the concept of US mediatory role in disputes among Palestinians and Zionist regime of Israel. In other words, as of now until the end of Trump's presidential term, any US claim and plan for compromise between Arabs and Zionist regime of Israel will be met with further distrust. It seems as though within Trump's presidential term, this mediatory role is handed over to European Union and Russia.

Trump administration has announced its strategy on Afghanistan. However, the US failed policy in Afghanistan is highly unlikely to change in the year 2018. The only possible change will be the growing presence of Daesh in Afghanistan, in the wake of failures it has suffered in West Asia. Probably, in the year 2018, scores of Afghan civilians will lose their lives in US drone attacks.

Given that US military advisers have been permitted to cooperate with Afghan forces, the rate of US fatalities will surge in comparison to the year 2017, and Trump will practically face fierce criticisms at home.

Overall, it seems that in the year 2018, the world will not experience peace in the presence of Trump as the incumbent US president.

MR/ME