Steven A. Cook is a columnist at Foreign Policy and the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. His latest book is The End of Ambition: America’s Past, Present, and Future in the Middle East.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, during a ceremony marking the 96th anniversary of Victory Day, commemorating a decisive battle in the Turkish War of Independence, in Ankara, on August 30, 2018.
US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrive for the family photo during the Jeddah Security and Development Summit (GCC+3) at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi talk to delegates during the Arab League's Summit for Jerusalem in Cairo, on Feb. 12, 2023.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves as he sits inside a car with his wife Emine Erdogan as a European flag is reflected on the car window after disembarking at Berlin's Tegel airport for his three-day official visit to Germany, on September 27, 2018.
