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 alliances, old and new confronting that part of the world. Middle east allies call for more formal alliances with u. Our cooperation can isolate america, supreme leader ayatollah ali.
Alliance for middle east peace building cooperation. Americas diplomatic vacuum in the middle east sends its. 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. The following is an edited transcript of the seventyfifth in a series of capitol hill conferences convened by the middle east policy council. At that time, the united states had little interest in middle east oil or in any political designs on the region. The alliance for middle east peace allmep applauds congress for its continued bipartisan support of u. One of the pillars of us policy in the middle east has been its alliance with four of the five regional powers. Saudi arabia and uae attempt to paper over yemen cracks world. As alliances blur in mideast, us and iran are potential. United states foreign policy in the middle east has its roots as early as the barbary wars in the.
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. 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. 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. Cracks or overhaul of the global rule of law regime. Us defense chief quits as trump pulls from syria, afghanistan.
Longer term, the looming worstcase scenario is a nuclear arms race in the middle east. 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. Now, with alliances blurred in the mideast, the two countries are talking about how to stop an offensive in iraq by alqaidainspired. Who are israels military allies in the middle east. The rise of isis reveals the middle easts shifting alliances.
The middle east and the western alliance foreign affairs. The next president will have to rebalance and rebuild americas strained alliances across the middle east after eight years of upheaval. They also rely on us military power and training to deter. This us administration is establishing new norms of behaviour. Both meetings clearly overlap, and the united states and its arab partners may discuss mesa on the sidelines of the warsaw meeting. Support for nato lowest in turkey, declines in france and us. Zaim also improved relations with two american allies in the region. United states foreign policy in the middle east wikipedia. Cracks in saudi arabias alliance with the uae are bad. The united states, its middle east allies and iran. Five arab nations severed all diplomatic ties with qatar on monday, exposing deep rifts between the middle eastern nations.
The meeting was held on january 28, 2014, at the rayburn house office building in washington, dc, with ford m. The middle east strategic alliance has a long way to go. Old, new and unusual alliances in the middle east the. New military alliance to be formed in middle east the. 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. What if the united states had a middle east strategy. The thing that both nations gain is the support from the united states for cracking down on drug trafficking. 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. 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.
Iran nuclear deal shows us is now prepared to act independently of allies. Turkey and nato nato is characterized by profound divisions. 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. Yemens antihouthi alliance cracking from within august 20. 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. Regardless of the administration, the united states has long reiterated a consistent set of interests in the middle east that have guided u. 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. 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. We asked professor denis sullivan, codirector of the middle east center, to explain the geopolitical impact of this move and how the u.
It goes back decades, fashioned by antipathy towards iran and support. The partnership of saudi arabia and the uae is the closest anywhere in the mideast. It goes back decades, fashioned by antipathy towards iran. Congress restores funding for palestinian and crossborder organizations. American policy during the cold war tried to prevent soviet union influence by supporting anticommunist regimes and backing israel against sovietsponsored arab countries. 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. The pace of events in the middle east has quickened once again.
On april 12, the charles koch institutes vice president of research and policy william ruger hosted former u. Saudi arabia and uae attempt to paper over yemen cracks. Washingtons lack of a plan to confront the spread of radical islam looms as an epochdefining failure. A profound shift in geopolitical alliances is occurring which tends to undermine us hegemony in the broader middle east central asian region as well as in south asia.
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. 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. Policy rested on five crucial players but these are pulling in different directions. Heres a guide to whos on whose side in the escalating chaos. Russias ephemeral middle east alliances by shlomo ben.
Pelosi and bipartisan group distance themselves from trump. As the united states looks to address these threats, it will attempt to find. 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. The meeting was attended by bahrain, jordan, kuwait, oman, qatar, saudi arabia, the uae, and hosted by the united. Joint statement by middle east strategic alliance mesa. Tensions over iran show cracks in a timetested alliance.
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. 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. Cracks in military alliance have seen public support in some member states. Turkish incursion along border of syria in full force after u. Egypts military government has made cracking down on extremist. Iran even downed a us drone in june, evidently undeterred by the. After trump abandoned a key ally in the middle east, nancy pelosi and a bipartisan group of lawmakers visited other allies in jordan and afghanistan. Moreover, tehran came to its rescue in the immediate wake of the saudi blockade. For years, iran has been an archenemy of the united states.
Several of americas staunchest allies have changed sides. A new report says the middle easts poorest country is uniquely vulnerable, as it records its first case of the coronavirus. Iran negotiations force middle east to rethink alliances. Im a managing editor here at stratfor, and with me today is middle east analyst jacob shapiro to talk about the current situation in the middle east in the wake of an historic agreement between iran and the united states. The united states holds similar meetings its allies and partners in. The region is rife with unholy alliances, shifting loyalties, and internecine disputes. Who is and who is not the united states ally in the. Americas middle east alliances are cracking financial times. While the largest us military base in the middle east is located in qatar, the qatari government has close links to iran. Iran and russia have made no secret of their mutual desire to sideline the united states in the middle east. On paper there are a couple, but in reality the populations all hate your guts. Us has military bases there and relies on them to contain iranian influence from the other side of the persian gulf. Rather, it has left traditional partners feeling abandoned.
Rethinking americas middle east alliances after obama. What arab nations isolation of qatar means for us, middle. 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. The united states guarantees their security to differing degrees and. Middle east alliances, old and new confronting that part.
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 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. Turkey, and americas future, through which he argues for a reevaluation of us strategic alliances in the middle east. All opinions in this column reflect the views of the. Cracks in saudi arabias alliance with the uae are bad news for. Cracks in russiairan alliance open options for trump. Americas diplomatic vacuum in the middle east sends its allies to russia. Both nato and the gulf cooperation council gcc are in crisis. 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. The activism of saudi arabia, the united arab emirates, and qatar along with fierce competition between a saudiemirati alliance and qatar have been. 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.
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