Strategic Interests In The Middle East

As a cultural centre for Islamic interests across the world and as a focus point for increasing levels of economic and security interdependence, the Middle East remains a stage on which international politics will be played for the foreseeable future. This comprehensive study looks at the important international and regional actors and their interaction with, and reaction to, US foreign policy toward the region. The volume elucidates the trends in great power interest and interaction in the Middle East and studies the impact of the United States as the region's foremost military power. It highlights the changing nature of actors' relationships with the US and each other as their interests and policies evolve in response to changes in the region. Scholars, graduate and undergraduate students and the interested public will find this volume a useful guide and an ideal companion work for courses on the Middle East, US foreign policy and international security issues.

Saudi Arabia’s strategic relations with the West involve clear and direct common strategic interests in the Gulf and in the Near East. While they compete in terms of trade and oil prices, they share a common commitment to private enterprise and to maintaining a stable balance of world trade. Saudi Arabia often differs with given Western states in terms of specific strategic interests and tactics, but these differences are rarely significant enough to prevent close cooperation. Even the differences over the Arab-Israeli peace issue are largely ones of timing and tactics. Saudi Arabia must preserve friendly relations with Syria, and is vulnerable to attacks by Arab radicals and Iran. It has also differed with the US over the specific approach that should be taken to achieving an Arab-Israeli peace settlement, but it has consistently pushed for a peace settlement within the Arab world. This book, first published in 1987, analyses the interrelations between Western and Saudi strategic concerns and argues forcibly that pressure from the Israeli lobby within US domestic politics must not be allowed to interfere within the proper provisioning of the Saudi armed forces, especially the air force.

"Regional instability and conflict have often frustrated U.S. leaders' aspirations to pivot away from the burdens of military operations in the Middle East in order to shift resources to other parts of the world. As the U.S. Army looks across the Middle East and North Africa in 2018, it can anticipate and should be prepared for its current involvement there to extend into the future. There is little prospect that American military actions can resolve fundamental problems in the Middle East beyond the destruction of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL's) would-be caliphate. However, regional conflicts, plotting by ISIL and al-Qa'ida from safe havens, or U.S. partners embroiling themselves in military operations that turn out to imperil their own security could cause the U.S. president to consider options for intervention. Therefore, it will be crucial for Army leaders to be able to play a leadership role in future deliberations about the role of U.S. military power in the region, and the Army will need to prepare and posture its forces so as to be able to deal with such contingencies when necessary. This perspective examines threats to U.S. interests in the Middle East and factors associated with success and failure in U.S. military interventions, and offers recommendations for the Army as it prepares for future involvement in the region"--RAND website.

The research papers contained within this book, which were presented at the ECSSR’s 20th Annual Conference, serve to shed light on the crucial events that have transpired throughout the Middle East and to provide a foundation for critical discussion and conscious interaction. Furthermore, these papers present initiatives that aim to contain the region’s crises and to formulate corresponding solutions. The book aims to follow the profound transformations and violent tremors that threaten to reorder the region’s political map. The paradoxical nature of the conflicts in the region, with complexities that are deemed to be strategically focused within the international realm, is considered as a source of constant political tension on the regional level. Within this context, the chapters of the book examine the standing of the international anti-terrorism coalition and the challenges it faces, alongside the concept of the nation-state in the Arab World and the confrontation with non-state actors. The book also diagnoses the sectarian and religious polarization that rips the region apart and the dimensions of international competition over the region. Moreover, the chapters of the book explore the horizons of possible reliance on China’s role in stabilizing regional and international balances. The functions of Arab collective action and their developments are also examined, as well as joint-Arab relations and their future outlook. Through its depiction of the current political and strategic landscape within the region, The Middle East: Shifting Roles, Interests and Alliances attempts to convey the needs of the region by shedding light on the nature of its divisions and paradoxes—while also placing the context of current shifts within the tactical and strategic plans of regional and international players. As such, the subsequent potential repercussions that may impact security are analyzed, alongside the developmental requirements for the region and the world at large.

The breakup of the Soviet Union and the growing links between the new Muslim republics and the Middle East have resulted in new strategic dynamics which have far-reaching implications for the US and other major powers. Featuring extensive maps, this book examines the importance of the new geography and how it affects traditional regional conflicts and the search for their peaceful settlement.

"U.S. policy toward the Middle East has relied heavily on military instruments of power and has focused on regional threats--particularly the Iranian threat--with the goal of keeping partners on "our side." These long-standing policies have largely fallen short of meeting core U.S. interests and adapting to new regional realities and strategic imperatives. RAND researchers offer an alternative framework, suggesting that the U.S. strategic priority must center on reducing regional conflict and the drivers of conflict. This revised strategic approach puts a greater focus on addressing conflict and socioeconomic challenges that are creating unsustainable pressures on the region's states and immense suffering among its people. Researchers analyze how the tools of U.S. policy--political, security, economic, diplomatic, and informational instruments--would need to adjust to more effectively address such challenges in ways that are mindful of limited resources at home. Researchers also examine how the United States deals with both partners and adversaries in and outside the region and consider how to better leverage policies to the benefit of U.S. interests and the region. The researchers recommend specific actions organized into the following three pillars: (1) shifting resources from the current heavy reliance on military tools to a more balanced approach that prioritizes economic investments, governance, diplomacy, and programs focused on people; (2) favoring a long-term time horizon to reduce regional conflict and support growth and development, even at the cost of short-term risks; and (3) working multilaterally with global and regional partners to address key challenges." -- from the publisher.

The next U.S. president will need to pursue a new strategic framework for advancing American interests in the Middle East. The mounting challenges include sectarian conflict in Iraq, Iran's pursuit of nuclear capabilities, failing Palestinian and Lebanese governments, a dormant peace process, and the ongoing war against terror. Compounding these challenges is a growing hostility toward U.S. involvement in the Middle East. The old policy paradigms, whether President George W. Bush's model of regime change and democratization or President Bill Clinton's model of peacemaking and containment, will no longer suit the likely circumstances confronting the next administration in the Middle East. In R estoring the Balance, experts from the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution and from the Council on Foreign Relations propose a new, nonpartisan strategy drawing on the lessons of past failures to address both the short-term and long-term challenges to U.S. interests. Following an overview chapter by Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Martin Indyk, director of the Saban Center, individual chapters address the Arab-Israeli conflict, counterterrorism, Iran, Iraq, political and economic development, and nuclear proliferation. Specific policy recommendations stem from in-depth research and extensive dialogue with individuals in government, media, academia, and the private sector throughout the region. The experts include Stephen Biddle, Isobel Coleman, Steven A. Cook, Steven Simon, and Ray Takeyh from the Council on Foreign Relations and Daniel L. Byman, Suzanne Maloney, Kenneth M. Pollack, Bruce Riedel, ShibleyTelhami, and Tamara Cofman Wittes from Brookings' Saban Center.

This study examines China’s interests in the Middle East and assesses China’s economic, political, and security activities there to determine whether China has a strategy toward the region and what such a strategy means for the United States. The study focuses on China’s relations with two of its key partners in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia and Iran.