WASHINGTON—This week, newly appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi arrives for his first visit to Washington and a highly anticipated meeting with US President Donald Trump. Buoyed by early, strong US support for his premiership, al-Zaidi is expected to emphasize his readiness to disarm Iran-backed militias in Iraq and to sign a flurry of deals with US energy companies. Both elements are core to a Trump administration agenda in Iraq, which is not motivated by historical obligation and is more narrowly scoped to near-term US security and economic goals.
In the wake of the Iran war and its disastrous impact on Iraq, al-Zaidi leads a country facing perilous security and economic challenges at home and a fraught foreign policy landscape abroad. As a businessman with no prior political experience, he is branding himself as a political outsider and a tycoon—“the Trump of the Middle East,” as Iraqi insiders have described him to me. Yet, as he attempts to address US demands and keep Iraq on the right course, he is likely to confront blowback both from Iran and from the very Iraqi political system that elevated him to office.
The United States can either remain a supportive partner to Iraq’s stability or a source of unremitting pressure on the Iraqi state. Al-Zaidi must not only convince Trump that he is willing and able to meet several important US demands, but also that Iraq remains critical to US national interests and is worthy of continued partnership with Washington.
