The US in the Middle East

 


Middle East experts Robert Malley and Peter Harling have published an article entitled " Beyond Moderates and Militants" in the Foreign Affairs, September/ October 2010 issue. The subtitle of the essay is " How Obama  can chart a new course in the Middle East". 

For those of us interested in the region and in foreign policy matters, some of the most thought provoking statements in the article are quoted here.

" Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union: US policy makers stuck to a cold war era approach to foreign policy: dividing the world between faithful friends and well-defined foes, anchoring diplomacy in a relatively stable bilateral relationships, and relying on allies to promote clear-cut interests and contain enemies". 

" Ironically, the United States has proved far more successful over the past decade in reinforcing the cohesiveness of its foes than it has in maintaining the unity of its allies". 

" The West's tendency to adopt the Middle East policies that have already outlived their local political shelf lives is occurring once again today: despite its laudable attempt to rectify the Bush administration's missteps, the Obama administration is hamstrung by flawed assumptions about the regional balance of power. Washington still sees the Middle East as cleanly divided between two camps: a moderate, pro-American camp that ought to be bolstered and a militant, pro-Iranian one that needs to be contained. That conception is wholly divorced from reality".

" In the absence of a more forceful US leadership, the Middle East is fast becoming a region of spoilers, nations whose greatest imperative - and sole possible accomplishment-   is to prevent others from doing what they themselves cannot do. Egypt is trying to thwart Turkey's efforts to reconcile the rival Palestinian groups and get Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza. Syria hinders peace efforts that come at the expense of its allies. Saudi Arabia is intent on blocking Iranian advances  in Iraq. Practically no country has a positive agenda or is in a position to successfully advance one. Of course, despite the rise of its rivals, the United States still enjoys veto power over virtually all significant regional initiatives. But that is small consolation. To be spoiler in chief is a sad ambition for Washington and would be a depressing legacy for Obama".  

Finally, on an issue that I am touching frequently in Vienna in the IAEA, this quote on Iran's influence in the region: 
 
"The George W. Bush administration's approach to the middle east and it's response to the 9/11 attacks fundamentally altered the region's security architecture. By ridding Afghanistan of the Taliban and Iraq of Saddam Hussein, Washington unwittingly eliminated Tehran's two overriding strategic challenges, thus removing key impediments to Tehran's ability to project power and influence across the region".