RAS AL KHAIMAH -- President-elect Donald Trump is already facing challenges for 2020! It emerged that comedian Chris Rock has joined rapper Kanye West by announcing they will run in 2020. In a hilarious Twitter posting, Chris announced his slogan will be “the only thing white is the house.” Now that Trump, the celebrity billionaire, has revealed that fame pays off; we might see Chris as the next Commander-in-Chief!

 Trump won the race against all odds and against the myopia of mainstream media. The Globalists, the wealthy donors, and the warmongers did not really measure the impact of their Rambo-like foreign policies on their own people. And now they wonder how “blue-collar” workers, who once voted for Presidents Bill Clinton and then Barack Obama, have decided this time to vote for Trump. Well, it is an understatement to say that this celebrity billionaire has crystallized the disenchantment of millions of Americans, and knew how to connect with the “deplorables.”

 Despite the polarization the election brought to the U.S., Trump triumphed over Hillary Clinton, who was hoping to be the first woman president. At the ballot box, American voters recalled her insulting remarks about her husband’s rape victims; how as a Senator she voted for the invasion of Iraq in 2002; and how during her tenure as Secretary of State she had a heavy hand in Libya, Syria, and the Sahel. Eventually, her use of a private server almost led to her indictment as she was portrayed by the FBI director as “extremely careless” and “negligent.” And no decent voter would like to see these flaws in a candidate.

 So far, leaders across the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) have voiced wide ranging feelings towards the victory of a man who, on the campaign trail, called for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” A posture that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal denounced when he tweeted “'you’re a disgrace not only to the GOP but to all America . . . withdraw from the U.S presidential race as you will never win.”

 It is true that Trump has bolstered an openly and violently racist and Islamophobic subculture in the U.S. He has proposed policies like registering Muslims to track them. And when we know that Islam is the third largest religion in the United States after Christianity and Judaism, and that the Muslim population in the U.S. accounts for 3.3 million Muslims of all ages, we can understand the anxiety that Trump’s election has created and the effects it will have on minorities. But no matter what, there is a relative rule of law in the USA. The country enshrines the freedoms of all Americans, no matter their religion, ethnicity, gender, culture, physical ability, country of origin, age, or socioeconomic status.

 But what changes can be expected in the MENA region with Trump in the White House? The implications are yet to be seen. But needless to say that they will exacerbate the countless tribulations that the region has known since he medieval Crusades; the colonial invasions; the intrigues of Balfour, Laurence of Arabia, and Gertrude Bell;  but also the wars triggered by George Bush - the father and his son.

 One thing for sure, Trump has never been confronted with the colossal complexities of the Middle East and the Maghreb (North Africa) and how they intermingle with each other. But will Trump’s victory further roil this part of the globe which is already devoured by ISIS/DAECH terror, four civil wars, socioeconomic mayhem, and a rise of authoritarianism in almost every country? Or will he be the electroshock to the lethargy of the Arabic-speaking World?

 For most Maghrebis, especially for those of us who are concerned with daunting issues in Africa and the Middle East, what really matters is not how eccentric President-elect Donald Trump is, but what would be the attitude of the U.S. vis-à-vis these regions. Many have denounced the successive and excessive U.S. interventions in the region; and equate the U.S.’s promotion of human rights and democratic values with the disintegration of Iraq and violent regime change in Libya and Syria.

 Compared with Hillary Clinton or Obama, Trump is likely to have an isolationist attitude. He will have a much constricted focus on U.S. interests overseas as his focal point will be job creation at home, security, and “making America great again.” He is not interested in making the U.S. a global policeman or a leader of the free world. Besides, there will be no democracy promotion, and human rights abusers will not be bothered.

 Some local potentates in the MENA region are thrilled to see the prospect of a more isolationist U.S. This will necessarily translate into a status quo that would have a detrimental effect on the multifarious development of the region. A case in point is the mindboggling situation in Algeria. In 1999, the military top brass (s)elected Abdelaziz Bouteflika to be president when Bill Clinton was already in The White House. For the entire two-term presidencies of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Bouteflika was still President. And now that President-elect Donald Trump is about to settle into The Oval Office, Bouteflika is thinking of a 5th term in office!

I n the Gulf, it is uncertain to see Trump involved in the wider regional crises from Syria to Yemen. Gulf countries would like to see the new administration defend tooth and nail their vested interests. So it is anticipated to witness the persistence of that resentment that Gulf political elites have had vis-à-vis the Obama administration.

 Regarding ISIS, Trump has been relentless in his criticism of Obama’s handling of the war on the so-called Islamic State and blamed its creation on the Obama administration. But one wonders how Trump will change the military operations which are in full swing in Iraq and Syria, especially when U.S. Special Forces are assisting Kurdish local forces who are advancing on key ISIS/DAECH strongholds.

 In Syria where 470,000 deaths and more than 4.5 million people have fled the country since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011, Trump has cast doubt on the U.S. partnership with “al-Qaeda-affiliate-moderate-rebels.” In a realpolitik move, he advocates more collaboration with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's constant ally, Russia. Unlike Clinton and Obama, Trump has realized that Syria's war is as much a proxy war as a civil war, and he wants a radical change.

H e wants to opt for a less hostile attitude towards al-Assad and a significant rapprochement with Vladimir Putin. Obviously, the United States' traditional allies in the region would be restrained from supporting the armed opposition in Syria. Such a strategy would help keep the Assad regime in place and would undeniably give Russia a bridgehead in the Middle East. An outcome that has never crossed the minds of American voters; let alone Chris Rock and Kanye West! 

Dr Abdelkader Cheref is a professor at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE