The world is changing rapidly. The rules-based system is breaking down, insecurity is growing, and major powers are once again competing with each other directly. 

For the Arab world, this means facing difficult challenges to ensure its future. The US, which once guaranteed security in the region, has ostensibly stepped back from its global role. President Donald Trump’s “America First” approach signals a retreat from international commitments.

We’ve seen this in Ukraine, where Washington has negotiated with Russia without fully involving Kyiv or European allies, leaving them to sort out their own security concerns.

This isn’t a one-off situation. It reflects a fundamental shift in how America sees its role in the world, with serious implications for the Middle East.

For decades, Arab states have relied on American power to maintain security. That has to end.

The Trump administration has shown it will not only walk away from European allies, but also demand payment for whatever security support it does provide. Ukraine serves as a warning; if Washington is willing to compromise Ukrainian sovereignty in behind-closed-doors talks with Russia, what might this mean for Arab countries?

It is no exaggeration to say that the Middle East stands at a historic crossroads. As Arab leaders gathered in Cairo for an emergency summit to discuss the Gaza Strip while America turns inward under Trump, the region faces a crucial decision: create a security framework that can stand up to Israel’s ongoing expansion or watch helplessly as the occupation regime continues to reshape the region unchecked and “Greater Israel” becomes a reality.

If Arab states prioritized the interests of their own populations rather than merely serving as guardians of Israel’s security, they would see that Zionism and its regime threatens them far more than Russia threatens Western Europe.

Assuming that Israel would limit its ambitions to Palestine has always been a dangerous mistake. We have seen the genocide in Gaza livestreamed on social media; the ongoing occupation and ethnic cleansing in the illegally-occupied West Bank; the illegal annexation of the Golan Heights; and Israel’s moves into southern Lebanon and Syria.

Arab states can no longer ignore Israel’s push for ever more territory.

From its creation in 1948, Israel has behaved like an entity whose sense of security requires the region’s total, humiliating submission. 

With their ironclad support, Israel’s allies have empowered it further. While Western nations have condemned Russia’s illegal expansion in Ukraine and sent billions in military aid to contain it, they have in their hypocrisy not only overlooked Israel’s illegal expansion, but also protected it from any accountability. 

The very governments increasing military spending to counter Russia in Ukraine have simultaneously helped Israel to redraw borders through war, annexation and forced displacement, tearing up the rules-based international order. They are doing precisely what they accuse Moscow of doing.

For years, Arab countries have tried diplomatic approaches, such as the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, peace agreements between Egypt and Jordan, and latterly the Abraham Accords and “normalization” with the occupation regime, starting in 2020 with the UAE. 

The hope and promise has always been that such recognition would moderate Israeli aggression. Instead, establishing normal relations has coincided with more illegal settlements, increased military offensives and a stronger Israeli territorial grip. 

The current political situation offers a chance to change this pattern. As Trump’s America reduces its global security commitments, Arab nations must accept that the old system – with Washington guaranteeing stability – no longer exists.

The latest Arab League summit offered a chance to reconsider the broader challenge of Israel’s expansion. Was it discussed? It certainly should have been. However, historically, Arab responses to Israel’s territorial growth have been disconnected. 

Caution, different priorities and sometimes outright complicity have followed the Western pattern and allowed Israel to act with impunity. The belief that diplomatic engagement would moderate Israel’s ambitions hasn’t been supported by reality. Instead, normalization has protected Israel from meaningful consequences while it continues taking land and conducting military operations across the region.

As the global order changes, with the rules-based system breaking down, growing insecurity and a return to traditional zero-sum power struggles, countries in the region must face this challenge directly to survive in an increasingly unstable world. Trump’s refusal to guarantee Ukraine’s security without a “payback deal” for the support already given isn’t just a change in US foreign policy; it signals that Washington no longer sees security commitments to Europe and the Middle East as priorities.

This has forced European countries to rethink their defense strategies beyond relying on the US. Arab countries must do the same.

A security arrangement built around American military power placed unquestioningly in the service of Israel was always going to unravel eventually. Arab states need to recognize that Israel isn’t a partner for stability and good; far from it. It’s aggressive presence creates instability and that needs to be checked; a rogue regime that treats international laws and conventions with contempt responds only to strength. Containing Israel’s ambitions requires the development of a new regional security environment, one where Arab states build collective power that can match or exceed Israel’s military and political influence.

The region needs to establish a framework that puts collective security above the interests of individual states, just as Europe is doing in its stand against Russian aggression. This means working together on military matters, sharing intelligence and forming defensive alliances serving shared interests. 

The Middle East can’t continue to allow Israel to redraw borders by force. To deter the occupation regime from its pursuit of “Greater Israel”, Arab nations must build a regional order that can counter its territorial ambitions effectively.

Rather than depending on American mediation, which has failed repeatedly to deliver peace (how can the US be an honest broker for peace when it favors one side so shamelessly?), Arab states should build strategic partnerships that truly enhance their security needs. Emerging powers, including the economically strong Persian Gulf Arab states and militarily significant Turkiye, could help counter Israeli expansion. 

Arab nations need to break free from Washington’s influence and develop relationships that genuinely strengthen regional security and benefit their own people, instead of remaining trapped in arrangements that have only enabled Israel’s territorial ambitions and regional dominance.

The failure to act together in the past has allowed Israel to entrench its occupation and expand its borders.

Israel’s security doctrine fundamentally rests not on principles of coexistence, but on regional domination. Until this structural reality is confronted, the broader Middle East will continue to bear the serious geopolitical and humanitarian consequences of the fanatical ideology underpinning apartheid Israel. 

If the Zionist regime views the current global situation as a historic opportunity to cement its control unhindered by the US or international norms, Arab countries must recognize their historic responsibility to challenge this view, assert their independence and defend their collective interests.

The Middle East’s future won’t be shaped in Washington. It will be determined by whether regional leaders truly understand today’s shifting global reality: they must take charge of their own security or risk standing powerless against Israel’s territorial ambitions. The Arab world can no longer cling to the false belief that stability comes from shallow Western promises or from satisfying Israel’s endless security demands. True security can only come from ending Israel’s illegal occupation and delivering the legitimate rights and dignity that Palestinians deserve.

Source: Middle East Monitor