What Biden’s Victory Means for Turkey

If Joe Biden remains loyal to his pre-election rhetoric, he might punish Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey with a slew of sanctions for buying critical weapons systems from Russia and helping to weaken US sanctions on Iran. But Biden’s history with Erdoğan gives mixed indicators of how he might deal with Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian leader. Biden will not be able to opt for a pragmatic approach to Ankara completely free of concerns over civil liberties and human rights—Turkey’s ever-widening democracy deficit makes that impossible. But Erdoğan’s team can “buy” a new modus operandi with Washington under Biden.

Israel Between Two Presidents

As President-elect Joe Biden starts to form his administration, Israel has to prepare itself for both the transition period leading up to the transfer of power on January 20, 2021 and the four subsequent years.

Biden’s Voice, Obama’s Actions?

Barack Obama believes he has not yet said his last word in American politics. He may thus view Biden's victory as an opportunity to revitalize his progressive agenda, on both the domestic and foreign policy fronts. This could have major implications for the Middle East region.

Biden’s Proposed Middle East Policy Would End Any Prospect for Saudi-Israeli Normalization

It is Washington’s strong support for Saudi Arabia’s security needs, clear stance against Iran’s pursuit of regional hegemony, support for Saudi actions in Yemen, and willingness to set aside its criticism of Riyadh’s domestic policies that have allowed for even the possibility of a formal shift in the kingdom’s stance on Israel. But Joe Biden has made clear that if elected, he intends to reverse all those policies. Such changes, along with his preemptive rejection of Israel’s extension of sovereignty to any new territory, would undermine any prospect that exists for normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.