New book explores Middle East challenges facing US President Joe Biden

New book explores Middle East challenges facing US President Joe Biden
'Biden and The Middle East: A Challenging Road Ahead' was launched online on Tuesday,
2 min read
Biden is expected to break with the Trump administration's Middle East strategy [Getty]


A new compilation of articles by Middle East experts on the political, social and economic challenges facing US President Joe Biden’s new administration has been published by the Arab Center Washington DC.

'Biden and The Middle East: A Challenging Road Ahead' was published online on Tuesday, a day before Biden's inauguration as president.

Edited by Zeina Azzam and Imad K. Harb, the compilation focuses on issues in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Gulf, and East and North Africa, as well as Israel, Turkey, and Iran, given their strategic significance in US foreign policy.

The work includes contributions from Gregory Aftandilian, Khalil al-Anani, Emadeddin Badi, Daniel Brumberg, Charles W. Dunne, Mustafa Gurbuz and a host of other experts who hope to shine light on the newly elected president's prospective Middle East policies.

A raft of executive orders signed by Biden on Wednesday undid many of his predecessor’s hallmark initiatives, such as halting work on a border wall with Mexico, lifting a travel ban on people from several predominantly Muslim-majority countries and reversing plans to exclude people in the country illegally from the 2020 census.

Six of Biden's 17 orders, memorandums and proclamations deal with immigration.

He also ordered efforts to preserve Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program known as DACA that has shielded hundreds of thousands of people who came to the US as children from deportation since it was introduced in 2012.

Thus far, Biden's moves represent a sharp U-turn after four years of relentless strikes against immigration and blatant Islamophobia.

'Biden and The Middle East: A Challenging Road Ahead' is available for free online and as a downloadable PDF.

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