The Middle East is again at an inflection point that is at once dangerous, fluid, and ripe with possibility. On the heels of US President Donald Trump’s talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the moment has arrived for the United States to impose clarity on a region too often defined by drifting policy and reactive crisis management.
That clarity will not emerge organically. It must be shaped, articulated, and championed by a leader who understands the power of narrative, symbolism, and brand. President Donald Trump has that rare combination of strategic instinct and marketing fluency. He should use it to publicly announce a coherent grand strategy for the Middle East, one with a compelling name, a memorable identity, and a vision ambitious enough to match the stakes.
In geopolitics, as in business, a strong brand can create momentum where bureaucratic inertia and cultural resistance would otherwise dominate. The Abraham Accords did not successfully take hold by accident. They succeeded, in part, because they sounded like something meant to endure, something anchored in shared heritage and shared destiny.
Trump's instinct
President Trump instinctively understood that framing. Today, as the United States is working to extend the normalization agreements to Saudi Arabia and others, it should deploy that same instinct to set the terms of the regional conversation.
As examples, two strong naming constructs are the “Oasis Initiative” and the “Middle East Treaty Organization (METO)". Each signals a different vector of American strategy, but both serve the essential purpose of rallying disparate actors around a shared vision.
The Oasis Initiative is the more poetic and imaginative of the two. It conjures up the creation of life-giving water in a barren landscape. It implies renewal, hope, and escape from the drought of conflict. For Arab audiences, the metaphor resonates immediately
Pursuit of stability
For Israelis, it evokes the region’s longstanding pursuit of stability and prosperity. For American audiences, it casts President Trump not merely as a dealmaker but as a builder of order, someone who can carve an oasis out of the geopolitical desert.
METO, by contrast, is strategic, muscular, and direct. It would signal the creation of a regional collective-security architecture modeled after NATO. The idea itself is not new, but the political environment has never been better aligned to make it real. Arab states quietly cooperate with Israel against common enemies. The Red Sea and Gulf waterways face similar threats from the Houthis, from smuggling networks, and from Iranian naval expansion.
A treaty-based organization would transform ad hoc cooperation into durable alignment. For President Trump, METO would be a legacy-defining achievement: the creation of the first major US-led security institution in the Middle East since the United States Central Command (CENTCOM).
Optimism or rigor
Whether he chooses the optimism of the Oasis Initiative or the strategic rigor of METO, the act of publicly announcing a branded grand strategy is what truly matters.
A name, repeated often, binds people to a common frame. It gives foreign leaders something to align with and domestic stakeholders something to debate. Most importantly, it forces the US bureaucracy to orient its actions around a presidentially defined mission, instead of drifting agency-by-agency.
The president’s unique advantage is that he is not just a decision-maker; he is also a showman. He understands how to turn ideas into movements.
When he elevates an initiative with a name, a rallying cry, and a clear story, it enters the bloodstream of global politics. Nations begin to calculate around it. The media begins to frame events through it. Allies begin to treat it as a measurement of American engagement.
The essence of strategy
That is the essence of grand strategy. It is not merely about having a plan; it is also about creating the political and psychological conditions that make the plan’s achievement feel inevitable.
After meeting with the crown prince, there is no better moment for a public declaration. The region is searching for direction. Saudi Arabia seeks a pathway to normalization that preserves its national dignity. Israel seeks guarantees that anchor it in the Sunni orbit. The US seeks a coalition to contain Iran and stabilize the Red Sea corridor. These goals currently converge, requiring a unifying brand to carry them forward.
President Trump can be the one to provide it. He should step up to the podium, name the vision, and unleash the full force of his marketing skills on the cause of regional transformation. With a strong brand and a clear strategy, Trump can turn the possibility of a new Middle East into a reality.
The writer is director of military and strategic programs at Middle East Forum.