Biden’s Middle East policy is just sugar-coated business as usual
The president’s actions speak louder than his lofty rhetoric on democracy and human rights, as autocrats cash in.
The president’s actions speak louder than his lofty rhetoric on democracy and human rights, as autocrats cash in.
As the US steps back militarily, regional states forever at each other’s throats are now quietly stepping forward diplomatically.
Gulf states are likely to discover that they are stuck with a less committed United States. That reality will push them toward greater self-reliance.
In the midst of an economic collapse and an energy crisis, Lebanon has found itself in a tug of war between the United States and Iran.
The Tunisian president will probably look to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia for support, and other Arab states such as Egypt.
Our ability to manage the Middle East and Central Asia has reached a critical turning point in Afghanistan. We should heed that.
A move to allow direct participation in government has excluded significant numbers of the Qatar citizenry.
Add Turkey to the mix and see how this is building to become the next step in a strategic security axis against Iran.
The Afghanistan withdrawal should be just the first step in a wider push to draw down the US military presence in the greater Middle East.
Afghanistan could emerge as a venue for Middle Eastern rivalries involving not only Saudi Arabia and Iran, but also Turkey and Qatar.
President Kais Saied may lean toward regional autocrats to help relieve ongoing health and economic crises, complicating relations with the United States.
If it’s true the Russians have intercepted Israeli missiles targeting Iran-backed militias, Washington may have to step in.
With the lowest turnout in its history, the Islamic Republic is moving further away from any sense of democracy.
Attempts at “adjustment programs” have been met with protest and younger generations are likely to hold their countries’ rulers to account.
Regional stability, friction between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and a mutual need for economic development all contribute to Saudi-Oman rapprochement.
The move highlights the many contradictions of US policy in the war-torn country.
The move only serves to reinforce America’s forever wars.
Recent months have not been necessarily kind to Chinese aspirations of remaining aloof to conflict beyond its borders.
Arguments against the JCPOA only become comprehensible only when one understands that nuclear nonproliferation is not their goal.
Will the departure of some 3,000 American troops from Afghanistan be a harbinger of a more fundamental realignment of U.S. Middle East security policy?
The Saudi-UAE rivalry and the ambitions of their leaders make it unlikely that the two crown princes will look at structural ways of managing differences.