The Middle East is no longer asking whether it should develop domestic space capabilities; it’s deciding with whom it will develop them. If the United States wants to be the country of choice ahead of China, it must create a joint space partnership agreement framework to align American and partner nations’ industry, government and financial goals. The Trump administration has played a decisive role in regional conflicts and has shown a preference for commercial deals over military intervention, which in the past has plagued American foreign policy in the region. In these conditions, the stage is set for the U.S. to define a new era of strategic stability in the Middle East. 

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Mathew Montiel is graduate student at American University, studying foreign policy and national security with a focus on space and nonproliferation policy. He is a researcher at the American Foreign Policy Council and a research intern at the Emerging...