Economics And Social Sciences Academic Journal Vol.2, No.6; June- 2020 ISSN (5282 -0053); p –ISSN (4011 – 230X) UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY UNDER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AND THE FALL OF ISLAMIC STATE IN SYRIA 1Okey Oji Ph.D. and 2Raymond Adibe PhD 1Director of Research National Boundary Commission, Nigeria. 2Department of Political Science University of Nigeria ABSTRACT: The paper investigated the United States foreign policy and the fall of Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Specifically, it investigated if the non-prioritization of regime change by the Trump administration, and the consequent emphasis on US war against IS accounted for the fall of the terrorist group in Syria. Our findings revealed that the US interest in Syria under President Trump has been narrowed down to the war against terror, particularly the IS terrorist group. The US government under President Trump has shown little or no political will to commit US resources to ending. With President Trump administration’s refusal to fund anti-Assad rebel groups fighting the government, it severely weakened such groups and provided the Syrian government a huge opportunity to concentrate in battling IS to reclaim its territories. The paper relied on documentary data. It recommends the need to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria since it was what provided the avenue for IS to thrive in the first instance. As long as the civil war in Syria persists, the country will remain vulnerable to the possibility of terrorist groups operating from its territory. Keywords: United States, Foreign Policy, Syrian Conflict, Islamic State and Regime Change INTRODUCTION Senate. The United States Secretary of State acts similarly The foreign policy of the United States (US) can be to a foreign minister and under Executive leadership, is simply explained as its interactions with foreign nations the primary conductor of state-to-state diplomacy and how it sets the standards of interaction for its (McCormick, 2009). organizations, corporations and system citizens. One of the United States government’s core foreign According to the United States Department of State, the policy objectives in the Middle East is to maintain an goal of the foreign policy of the United States is to build unimpeded commercial access to oil (Ifesinachi and and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous Adibe, 2014). The region produces one third of the world for the benefit of the American people and the world’s oil, and has 60 percent of world’s known oil international community (US Department of State, 2016). reserves (EIA, 2008). The United States is by far the Subject to the advice and consent role of the US Senate, world’s largest single consumer of oil, accounting for 24 the President of the United States negotiates treaties with percent of the world oil consumption. In 2007, about 23 foreign nations, but treaties enter into force only if percent of the US crude oil imports came from the ratified by two-thirds of the US Senate. The President is volatile Persian Gulf area (EIA, 2008). Since 2004, the also Commander in Chief of the United States Armed sky-high oil prices, made worse by instability in the Forces and has broad authority over the armed forces. Middle East, have intensified calls in the United States to The Secretary of State and ambassadors are appointed by reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil. Thus, the President, with the advice and consent of the US Ifesinachi and Adibe (2014) noted that instability in the Economics and Social Sciences Academic Journal An official Publication of Center for International Research Development Double Blind Peer and Editorial Review International Referred Journal; Globally index Available @CIRD.online/ESSAJ: E-mail: [email protected] pg. 42 Economics And Social Sciences Academic Journal Vol.2, No.6; June- 2020 ISSN (5282 -0053); p –ISSN (4011 – 230X) Middle East not only contributes to high oil prices, but suppress the rebellion and adopting economic also causes the United States to spend billions of dollars sanctions against Syria in late September and early annually for military deployment designed to protect free October 2011, but Russia and the People's Republic of flow of oil. China wielded their veto power to block the proposal. The relevance of Syria to the United States in attainment Relations were further strained by Syrian security forces' of her foreign policy objectives in the Middle East failure to protect Robert Stephen Ford, the US becomes more obvious when we examine the second ambassador to Syria, from being attacked by pro-Assad principal foreign policy objective of the United States in crowds on at least two occasions, as well as to prevent the Middle East. This objective is to advance the Arab– vandalism of the US embassy and diplomatic Israeli peace process and achieving a comprehensive, property. On 24 October 2011, the US government durable, and just peace on all fronts (Djerejian, 1993). announced that it had recalled Ambassador Ford due to This objective underscores the close ties between the credible threats against his personal safety (Josh, 2011). United States political, security and economic interest. Effective from February 6, 2012, the US Embassy Djerejian (1993) further noted that the US overriding suspended operations and closed for normal consular motivation in pursuing this process is to bring relative services. In December 2012, then President peace and stability to a strategically significant part of the Obama announced that the US would formally recognize world where conflicts have acted as a brake on her the Syrian Opposition Coalition, rather than the Assad-led economic gains. government, as the legitimate representative of the Syrian The improvement in Syria–Iranian relations over the past people (Miller and De Young, 2015). In fact, between decade according to US government constitutes a serious 2013 and 2017, the US trained and armed nearly 10,000 threat to the Arab–Israeli process. The United States’ rebel fighters at a cost of $1 billion a year. It was noted government has accused her Syrian counterpart of that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been providing political and logistical support for Hezbollah sending weapons to anti-government rebels in Syria since since the outbreak of fighting between Israeli military at least 2012. Some of these weapons reportedly fell into forces and the militant Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah hands of extremists, such as al-Nusra Front and Islamic organization (Prados, 2006). Such support was seen to State (IS) (Jaffe and Entous, 2017). further undermine political stability in the Middle East The United States commitment to the Syrian civil war in because it provides a veritable ground for the favour of the opposition forces was aimed at removing proliferation of terrorist groups with international President Bashir al-Assad from power. In fact, US connections as well as weapons of mass destruction government officials that included the two immediate past (Prados, 2006). Secretaries of State (Hilary Clinton who served from Diplomatic relations between Syria and the United 2009 to 2013 and John Kerry who served from 2013 to States are currently non-existent; they were suspended 2017) and the then US Ambassador to the United after the onset of the Syrian Civil War which began in Nations, Susan Rice, made repeated demands during 2011. As the war in Syria intensified, then US President, peace talks for the resignation or forceful removal of Barack Obama, in mid-August 2011 stated publicly that President Assad as a pre-condition for the war to end. Syria′s President Bashar al-Assad should step down Thus, at the direction of then US President, Barack (Josh, 2011). The US pushed strongly for the United Obama, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was put in Nations Security Council (UNSC) to pass a resolution charge of the operations aimed at providing military condemning the Syrian government′s measures to support to opposition forces, worth about US$1 billion Economics and Social Sciences Academic Journal An official Publication of Center for International Research Development Double Blind Peer and Editorial Review International Referred Journal; Globally index Available @CIRD.online/ESSAJ: E-mail: [email protected] pg. 43 Economics And Social Sciences Academic Journal Vol.2, No.6; June- 2020 ISSN (5282 -0053); p –ISSN (4011 – 230X) annually (Bowman and Fordham, 2014). The United While the Syrian war has remained one of the issues that States under the Obama administration sent 400 troops have created tensions in US-Russia relations, the United and hundreds of support staff to countries neighboring States foreign policy shift in Syria under Trump’s Syria to train as much as 5,000 opposition soldiers every administration has coincided with the intensification of year. Countries such as Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, US-led attacks on Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Thus, this and Turkey took part in the train-and-equip program paper examined the United States foreign policy under (Pakiri, 2019). President Donald Trump administration and the fall of The US government under President Trump has also Islamic State (IS) in Syria. significantly shifted from the core objectives set out by FROM REGIME CHANGE TO WAR AGAINST the Obama administration in Syria. On 29 March 2017, ISLAMIC STATE: UNDERSTANDING THE during the Presidency of Donald Trump, then United STRATEGIC INTEREST OF UNITED STATES IN States Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, expressed that SYRIA UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP the longer term status of President Bashir al-Assad would Under the Obama administration, the US government be decided by the Syrian people. That was a policy shift, made regime change in Syria a priority and provided since under President Barack Obama’s administration; the necessary assistance to anti-Assad rebel groups. Despite US made the departure of Assad a key policy aim (AFP the fact that the arms provided by many foreign actors report of March 30, 2017).