Evolution of U.S. Approaches to the Syrian Conflict under the Barack Obama and Donald Trump Administrations

In the end of the 20th and the whole 21st century the United States’ policy in the Middle East has become a widely discussed issue. Despite the fact that the unipolar moment, when the USA were the only hegemon in the world, is over, and the “war on terror” is no longer the only preoccupation of the American government in the sphere of security, the United States of America are still involved in numerous conflicts in this unstable region. Still, it is obvious that different political leaders use different approaches to implement the American policy there. The aim of this research work is to define the peculiarities of the USA policy in the Middle East under Barack Obama and Donald Trump administrations and compare them. For this purpose, such methods as comparison and case-study will be used. The results of the research demonstrate that in spite of the dominance of “hard power” in President Trump’s policy, the US interest in the region declined over time. The findings might be of particular interest to political scientists and those consulting governments or political leaders.