The obama administrations effort to encourage its arab allies to carry a bigger burden in promoting peace in the middle east has not revitalized its alliances with a new sense of common purpose and cooperation. While the largest us military base in the middle east is located in qatar, the qatari government has close links to iran. Beirut, lebanon for years, allies of the united states across the middle east have sounded the alarm about irans progress in strengthening their enemies, building up arsenals and sponsoring. Tensions over iran show cracks in a timetested alliance. The pace of events in the middle east has quickened once again. Turkey and nato nato is characterized by profound divisions. The next test for the fresh alliances, especially those involving saudi arabia and the gulf states, will be at geneva ii in january in order to counter irans efforts to save the battered assad regime. It goes back decades, fashioned by antipathy towards iran and support. Trump spared no criticism during his campaign for washingtons partners in east asia, europe, and the middle east, suggesting that some of the united states security commitments were obsolete and that foreign countries had been reaping the benefits of u. For years, iran has been an archenemy of the united states. Saudi arabia and its arab allies are pushing back against irans influence in the region, and fear that a western deal to restrict irans nuclear program in exchange for removal of economic. Cracks or overhaul of the global rule of law regime. Rather, it has left traditional partners feeling abandoned.
At that time, the united states had little interest in middle east oil or in any political designs on the region. Cracks in saudi arabias alliance with the uae are bad. We asked professor denis sullivan, codirector of the middle east center, to explain the geopolitical impact of this move and how the u. Middle east monitor journalist stasa salacanin ever since us president donald trump unilaterally pulled out from the nuclear deal with tehran and reinstated the most draconian sanctions ever imposed, many have wondered whether iran can withstand the pressure aiming to bring it.
On april 12, the charles koch institutes vice president of research and policy william ruger hosted former u. As alliances blur in mideast, us and iran are potential. The united states, its middle east allies and iran. The alliance for middle east peace allmep applauds congress for its continued bipartisan support of u. Regardless of the administration, the united states has long reiterated a consistent set of interests in the middle east that have guided u. Saudi arabia and uae attempt to paper over yemen cracks. What if the united states had a middle east strategy.
The rise of isis reveals the middle easts shifting alliances. In order to formally ally themselves with israel, a nation of the middle east would have to have diplomatic relations with or at least recognize the state of israel. Divisions between the middle east allies are threatening war between their surrogate armies. As civil war rages in syria and the islamic state movement storms across much of iraq, longtime rivalries and alliances are shifting in the middle east. Who is and who is not the united states ally in the. Both meetings clearly overlap, and the united states and its arab partners may discuss mesa on the sidelines of the warsaw meeting. The middle east and the western alliance foreign affairs. The plan, which some in the white house and middle east are calling an arab nato of sunni muslim allies can clearly be seen as one way to counter expansionism by. Us has military bases there and relies on them to contain iranian influence from the other side of the persian gulf. The middle east strategic alliance mesa partners met at the department of state on september 1718, 2019, to continue to advance mesa and build greater cooperation in the gulf region in the face of common threats. Policy rested on five crucial players but these are pulling in different directions. The nearest thing to genuine allies in the region would be israel, or egypt, but they just like foreign financial aid and semiaccess to us weapon programmes. The united states holds similar meetings its allies and partners in. Pelosi and bipartisan group distance themselves from trump.
As the united states looks to address these threats, it will attempt to find. New military alliance to be formed in middle east by friends of the fifth column february 18, 2017 middle east scf combining available information to get the whole picture, one can see the situation in the middle east changing drastically, especially as the us strategy is. Iran negotiations force middle east to rethink alliances. Longer term, the looming worstcase scenario is a nuclear arms race in the middle east. Zaim also improved relations with two american allies in the region. In addition to the february meeting in warsaw on the future of peace and security in the middle east, the united states is also convening a meeting on mesas political and security pillars the same month. Alliance for middle east peace building cooperation.
As captured in this chart of alliances and enmities between different groups in the region, the middle east may be the only place in the world where the transitive property of alliances does not hold. Five arab nations severed all diplomatic ties with qatar on monday, exposing deep rifts between the middle eastern nations. United states foreign policy in the middle east has its roots as early as the barbary wars in the. Middle east alliances, old and new confronting that part of the world. Americas diplomatic vacuum in the middle east sends its allies to russia. The following is an edited transcript of the seventyfifth in a series of capitol hill conferences convened by the middle east policy council. Americas diplomatic vacuum in the middle east sends its. Several of americas staunchest allies have changed sides. Cracks in saudi arabias alliance with the uae are bad news for. Cracks in russiairan alliance open options for trump. United states foreign policy in the middle east has its roots as early as the barbary wars in the first years of the u. At a conference held in 1980, scholars from all three regions and from the middle east itself discussed what could be done about it. What arab nations isolation of qatar means for us, middle. American, european and japanese vital interests in the middle east are roughly the same security and oil, but the policies have been divergent and often in conflict.
Yemens antihouthi alliance cracking from within august 20. On paper there are a couple, but in reality the populations all hate your guts. Washingtons lack of a plan to confront the spread of radical islam looms as an epochdefining failure. While these very different moments of transformation in the us, uk and middle east are of course complex and overdetermined, they are all characterized by deepening inequality and crisis, coupled with broad. One of the pillars of us policy in the middle east has been its alliance with four of the five regional powers.
Who are israels military allies in the middle east. The region is rife with unholy alliances, shifting loyalties, and internecine disputes. Iran and russia have made no secret of their mutual desire to sideline the united states in the middle east. With overlapping civil wars in syria and iraq, a new flareup of violence between israel and the palestinians, and tense nuclear talks with iran, middle eastern politics are more volatile than ever and longtime alliances are shifting. Turkey, and americas future, through which he argues for a reevaluation of us strategic alliances in the middle east. This us administration is establishing new norms of behaviour. The next president will have to rebalance and rebuild americas strained alliances across the middle east after eight years of upheaval. A new report says the middle easts poorest country is uniquely vulnerable, as it records its first case of the coronavirus. All opinions in this column reflect the views of the. Iran even downed a us drone in june, evidently undeterred by the. They also rely on us military power and training to deter. Congress restores funding for palestinian and crossborder organizations. Middle east alliances, old and new confronting that part. Iran nuclear deal shows us is now prepared to act independently of allies.
American policy during the cold war tried to prevent soviet union influence by supporting anticommunist regimes and backing israel against sovietsponsored arab countries. Support for nato lowest in turkey, declines in france and us. It goes back decades, fashioned by antipathy towards iran. United states foreign policy in the middle east wikipedia. The thing that both nations gain is the support from the united states for cracking down on drug trafficking. Americas middle east alliances are cracking financial times. The meeting was held on january 28, 2014, at the rayburn house office building in washington, dc, with ford m. New military alliance to be formed in middle east the. In a sixpart series, the middle east and the west, a troubled history, npr s mike shuster examines the nearly 1,000year history of western involvement in the middle east. Political and social turbulence in the middle east will continue to foster the rise of terrorist groups, some of which will have the motivation and capability to attack u. More than two years since the start of the arab spring, the facts on the ground can still change so rapidly in the region that western governments struggle to keep pace. Heres a guide to whos on whose side in the escalating chaos. Both nato and the gulf cooperation council gcc are in crisis. The first time a western power got soaked in the politics of oil in the middle east was toward the end of 1914, when british soldiers landed at basra, in southern iraq, to protect oil supplies from neighboring persia.
Russias ephemeral middle east alliances by shlomo ben. The activism of saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, and qatar along with fierce competition between a saudiemirati alliance and qatar have been. In a paradox befitting one of the worlds most complex regions, the middle east entered the new millennium closer to peacebut also closer to possible conflictthan it has been for some time. A lot of that has to do with our support for oppressive regimes all across the middle east and across much of latin america as well and these are histories that this is a narrative that becomes sort of selffulfilling in and of itself again because then you see conspiracy theories about american. Cracks in military alliance have seen public support in some member states. Egypts military government has made cracking down on extremist. The partnership of saudi arabia and the uae is the closest anywhere in the mideast. Rethinking americas middle east alliances after obama. Trump steadfastly defended his sudden push for retrenchment, vowing that the united states would no longer be the policeman of the middle east and saying the 2,000strong us force in syria was no longer needed as the islamic state group had been defeated. Russias ephemeral middle east alliances oct 5, 2016 shlomo benami by gaining a foothold in the middle east, vladimir putin hopes to revive russias longfaded image as a world power, restore its status as americas main geopolitical foil, and gain bargaining chips with which to promote his more immediate concerns in russias nearabroad. Middle east allies call for more formal alliances with u. Turkish incursion along border of syria in full force after u. The united states guarantees their security to differing degrees and. Us defense chief quits as trump pulls from syria, afghanistan.
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