Boyle pointed out that Trump’s comments, made after the administration of outgoing president Barack Obama refused to veto a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement-building in eth West Bank, were part of a more widespread series of revolutionary initiatives he was proposing around the globe.
"Trump is proposing revolutionary changes in longstanding major US policies on the Middle East, China and nuclear weapons before he has even taken office as president, including the disruption of the ‘one China’ policy," Boyle said.
Trump’s comments on the United Nations, China and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem appeared to have made without awareness of the crises it may unleash by carrying out such actions, Boyle cautioned.
"These actions demonstrate [Trump’s] lack of knowledge of the dynamics of the Sino-American relationship and of the balance of US relationships and assurances across the Middle East. We will have to see what the reactions and responses are going to be," he said.
The United States has never recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and Trump comment could set off outrage against both Israel and the United States across the Arab world, Boyle explained.
However, California State University Professor Emeritus of Political Science Beau Grosscup suggested that Trump was unlikely to follow through on his threat to slash US funding for the United Nations.
"Because the United Nations is too important to US interests, a President Trump is unlikely to cut US funding to the world body. If he does, it will be a token cut as a symbolic act of support for Israel," he explained.
Grosscup pointed out that any cut in US funding, even a token one, would produce an outcry but have no longer-term serious consequences.
"Knowing the UN is unlikely to enforce the resolution, Israel will not abide by it regardless of the US position, adding one more to the list of 66 UN resolutions it currently ignores," Grosscup said.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry defended the administration’s refusal to veto the UN resolution condemning settlement-building as a last-ditch attempt to revive the credibility of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
