DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST
BRENNAN DEVERAUX APRIL 25, 2024
While the United States has recently shifted its efforts to the Indo-Pacific region and increased its military presence in Europe, the Middle East continues to demand attention.
The Middle East problem is not going away. The region has become a proverbial Hotel California; the United States can check out anytime it likes, but it can never leave.
With a rising China and a major land war in Europe, many analysts have called for the United States to move on from the Middle East, penning articles like “The Middle East Isn’t Worth It Anymore,” “The Middle East Just Doesn’t Matter as Much Any Longer,” and “The End of America’s Middle East.” While the United States has recently shifted its efforts to the Indo-Pacific region and increased its military presence in Europe, the Middle East continues to demand attention. From the ongoing clash between Israel and Hamas to an uptick of terrorist attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria, actions in the Middle East are drawing the United States back to the region because instability or degraded U.S. influence comes with strategic consequences. Although the Middle East may no longer be the nation’s top priority, the U.S. military cannot afford to lose focus on a region that is historically ingrained into foreign policy, remains vital to national interests, and has become a competitive space for the great powers.
Enduring Policy: A Willingness to Use Military Force
The United States commitment to the Middle East extends well beyond the Global War on Terror operations that have consumed the attention of the U.S. military for roughly two decades. Presidents have publicly declared support for the strategically important region for generations and included a willingness to commit military force in their policies. While many of these Cold War policies were linked to an existential Soviet threat, they were still fundamentally about protecting U.S. interests abroad.
https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/articles/middle-east/
