The Us Middle East Policy In Post 9 11 Era

Middle East the mother of civilisations is one of the very few regions of global politics which have remained the hot spots and orbits around which the global power game revolved uninterruptedly. In beginning it was due to its geopolitical location as it is at the crossroads and a trade link between big Asian, African and European countries turned the region into a trade hub. Then the life changing discoveries of natural resources, particularly of oil and gas in the region as well as the industrial revolution in other parts of the world increased strategic importance of the region at the global level. The adoption of policy of securing control over the resources by global powers gave new shape to the political structure and configuration, like disintegration of Ottoman Empire and creation of new political entities in the region. In addition to that the break out of the First and Second World Wars, creation of Israel as well as the emergence of the Cold War are such events that transformed the region into a battle ground for the global super powers which ended at the collapse of the USSR in 1992 and emergence of the US as the dominant global power. No doubt after the emergence of uni-polar global order, the region saw a phase of peace and end of the war gaming on the part of the big powers but the US continued to dominate the regional political structure. During the same period the region also experienced one of the toughest periods of inter-state wars, first the decade long Iraq-Iran war and then the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait which added more fuel to the already increasing division and hatred among the regional countries.

The attacks of September 11 were transformative events, both in how Americans view their own sense of security and in how America engages with the world. Although the initial battle in the U.S.-led war against terror has been fought in central and south Asia, the principles behind that campaign have special resonance in the Middle East. This region is home to organizations which share both ideology and methodology with the perpetrators of the September 11 terrorist attacks. In addition, many aspects of the threat to U.S. interests are particular to the region: the frightening spread of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery; the ongoing challenge to the international system posed by Iraq; and, perhaps most of all, the reluctance that many U.S. allies in the region exhibit to confront their own religious militants. In this volume, key U.S. and Middle East decision makers, academics, and journalists discuss important themes such as the common interests of regional states in cooperating against terrorism, the different strategies adopted by regimes in confronting their Islamist challenges, the impact of September 11 events on the Israeli-Palestinian arena, the problems and prospects of maintaining the antiterror coalition, and the role of democracy as an antidote to the regions ills.

For most Americans, September 11, 2001, symbolized the moment when their security was altered. For Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans, 9/11 also ushered in a backlash in the form of hate crimes, discrimination, and a string of devastating government initiatives. This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the impact of the post-9/11 events on Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans as well as their organized response. Through fieldwork and interviews with community leaders, Anny Bakalian and Mehdi Bozorgmehr show how ethnic organizations mobilized to demonstrate their commitment to the United States while defending their rights and distancing themselves from the terrorists.

Abstract:

Robert Satloff takes aim at the conventional wisdom concerning the post-9/11 " battle of ideas" and offers a bold, hopeful, and unapologetic vision for U.S. public diplomacy in the Middle East.

The contributors to this work examine the evolution of U.S. foreign policy toward the Third World, and the new policy challenges facing developing nations in the post-Cold War era. The book incorporates the key assessment standards of U.S. foreign policies directed toward critical regions, including Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. Through this region-by-region analysis, readers will get the information and insight needed to fully understand U.S. policy objectives - especially with regard to economic and security issues in the wake of 9/11 - vis a vis the developing world. The book outlines both successes and failures of Washington, as it seeks to deal with the Third World in a new era of terrorism, trade, and democratic enlargement. It also considers whether anti-Western sentiment in Third World regions is a direct result of U.S. foreign policies since the end of the Cold War.

"Defining Documents in American History: U.S. Involvement in the Middle East offers in-depth analysis of 64 primary source documents at the foundation of the study of United States involvement in conflicts in the Middle East. The Middle East and the United States have had a complex relationship since the early 1800s, especially as it relates to the conflicts and wars that the region has experienced in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The United States has engaged in military and covert operations throughout the Middle East in an effort to protect its own strategic interests, maintain access to oil resources, settle rivalries, and prevent the spread of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The documents in this volume of the Defining Documents series provide an overview of the turbulent history and current state of U.S. relations with the Middle East. The primary source documents include book excerpts, speeches, political debates, testimony, court rulings, legal texts, legislative acts, essays, newspaper articles, and interviews. These selections trace the role and complex history of U.S. involvement in the conflicts in the Middle East in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The material is organized into five sections, and each section begins with a brief introduction that examines the politics and policies of the United States and the Middle East through a variety of historical documents. Colonialism and the Transition to U.S. Influence includes documents from the years 1896-1957 that track the history of conflicts in the Middle East as a time when most of the area had been under direct or indirect foreign rule, nationalist forces arose, including Theodor Herzl's call for a Jewish state; Truman's Statement on Immigration into Palestine; and Gamal Abder Nasser on the Nationalization of the Suez Canal. Arab Voices in Oppression includes documents that trace the evolution of Islam in the region (1744-1977) such as The Saud Family and Wahhabi Islam, Sayyid Qutb on Jihad, and the Palestinian National Charter. Late Twentieth-Century Wars and Peace Accords begins with UN Security Council Resolution 242 on the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and includes Camp David Accords, a report and analysis of the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, and Muhammad Qutb on the Origins of Islam. 9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq is the most extensive section, covering a period of time from 1996-2013 and includes such pivotal documents in the relationship between the U.S. and the Middle East such as Osama bin-Laden's' Declaration of Jihad against the Americans, Colin Powel on Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction, "Mission to Niger" and the Valerie Plame Affair, The Zelikow Memo, and President Obama's Remarks on the Killing of Osama bin Laden. Arab Spring, ISIS, and After, which takes us from 2011 to the present, with documents such as Flashing Red: A Special Report on the Terrorist Attack at Benghazi; Donald Trump's "Muslim Ban" Speech; and "U.S. Gov't Misled Public About Afghan War." Each Historical Document is supported by a critical essay, written by historians and teachers, that includes a Summary Overview, Defining Moment, About the Author, Document Analysis, and Essential Themes. An important feature of each essay is a close reading of the primary source that develops broader themes, such as the author's rhetorical purpose, social or class position, point of view, and other relevant issues. Each essay also includes a Bibliography Further Reading section for additional readings and research. Appendixes in this book include: Chronological List which arranges all documents by year ; Web Resources, an annotated list of websites that offer valuable supplemental resources ; Bibliography lists of helpful articles and books for further study." --

Momentous events since September 11, 2001-Operation Enduring Freedom, the global war on terrorism, and the war in Iraq-have dramatically altered the political environment of the Muslim world. Many of the forces influencing this environment, however, are the products of trends that have been at work for many decades. This book examines the major dynamics that drive changes in the religio-political landscape of the Muslim world-a vast and diverse region that stretches from Western Africa through the Middle East to the Southern Philippines and includes Muslim communities and diasporas throughout the world-and draws the implications of these trends for global security and U.S. and Western interests. It presents a typology of ideological tendencies in the different regions of the Muslim world and identifies the factors that produce religious extremism and violence. It assesses key cleavages along sectarian, ethnic, regional, and national lines and examines how those cleavages generate challenges and opportunities for the United States. Finally, the authors identify possible strategies and political and military options for the United States to pursue in response to changing conditions in this critical and volatile part of the world.