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Jason Burke

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Jason Burke,

Jason Burke

Analysis

Will these men make world safer? Not likely

Trump's top security picks favour George W Bush-style war on terror

November 24, 2016 12:01
Strategic overhaul: Donald Trump's choice for CIA chief, Mike Pompeo
5 min read

If foreign policy during the terms of President George W Bush and Barack Obama was marked by the "9/11 Wars", then that of Donald Trump will be judged to a significant extent by how well, or how badly, he handles the ongoing conflicts that are their legacy.

These are wide-ranging. The enemy is not just Daesh. Al Qaeda has showed remarkable tenacity and is well positioned, particularly in Syria, Yemen, east Africa, south Asia and the Sahel to exploit the impending demise of its more high-profile rivals.

Nor can the battle against radical Islamist groups be isolated from the effort to counter either the wider ideology of Islamic extremism - with its social conservatism, antisemitism, homophobia and anti-Western prejudices - or the broader geo-political problems which sustain and succor its ideologues and propagandists.

We do not yet know who will be secretaries of state or defence but we do know who will fill other key positions critical to the projection of US power in the world. Mr Trump's choice for National Security Adviser is Lt Gen Michael Flynn and, as director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, Republican representative for Kansas.