Bottom Line Up Front: • On May 19 President Trump will embark on his first trip abroad since taking office.
• The administration has billed it as an attempt to unite three of the world’s great religions in the fight against terrorism and ideological extremism.
• The effort to achieve a degree of unity in purpose among America’s allies in the Middle East comes at a critical time in the lifespan of bin Ladenism.
• Nothing has done more to preemptively undermine the success of the President’s first trip abroad than the endemic culture of scandal in U.S. domestic politics.
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They conclude with) As the ability of the U.S. government to craft and execute complex, long-term policies is increasingly called into doubt over domestic political turmoil, there is a real risk that the U.S. will come to be viewed as an unstable and unreliable partner, diminishing its influence abroad.
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