Essay about American Politics and the Middle East

The role of the Middle East has been very crucial to the United States, especially after WWII. The U.S. had three strategic goals in the Middle East and consistently followed them throughout various events that unfolded in the region. First, with the emergence of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the U.S., policymakers began to recognize the importance of the Middle East as a strategic area in containing Soviet influence. This also coincides with the U.S. becoming increasingly wary of Arab nationalism and the threat it posed to U.S. influence. Secondly, the emergence of the new Israeli state in 1948 further deepened U.S. policy and involvement in the region while also creating friction between the U.S. and Arab states which were

While the aftermath of World War II is often referred to as one of the primary creators of deep rooted turmoil in the Middle East region, the effects of the Cold War and the United States often over-zealous battle against communism is just as much a contributor if not more. The Arab world and the Middle East region were clearly going through quite an extraordinary period throughout World War II and its conclusion, primarily with the creation of most of the states we recognize today and struggling with the continuation of colonialism. These factors set the stage for the emergence of strong nationalist sentiments and Pan-Arab movements across the Middle East. Unfortunately, and much to the detriment of the region, the leaders of these young

After World War 2, the United States took over Britain’s job of overseeing the Middle East. The United States tried to avoid conflict while preventing the spread of communism. They successfully stopped the spread of communism, but couldn’t have done much worse trying to prevent conflict and stabilize the Middle East. The United States policy destabilized the Middle East, Iraq in particular, by overthrowing the Hussein regime at a poor time and deepening the anti-Western attitude in the Middle East.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks transformed America’s outlook on foreign policy. The attacks redirected the policy from containment of the Soviets during the Cold War about a decade prior, to one against terrorism, a so-called “war on terrorism.” The U.S. government attacked and overthrew the Talib government in return, destroying Al Qaeda’s Afghan bases. They turned their attention to Iraq and invaded it to remove any threat of weapons of mass destruction in spite of opposition from France, Germany, and Russia. The supporters and opposers of the war created new strains within the members of the NATO alliance.

The relationship between the United States and the Middle East has not been the best. This has been as a result of past battles between the U.S and the Middle East. For example the United States led a 34 nation to fight

The Great Power involvement in the Middle East politics often creates and contributes to more conflicts and wars. The Middle East, a region described by Victor Israelyan as ‘one of sharp confrontation between the two superpowers unavoidably fell victim to such pressures.

Back in 1948 when Israel was founded, World War II was over, and the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was just beginning. This paved the way for the United States to make a strategic move that has shaped the course of American policy to this day. In order to attempt to keep communism from spreading to the volatile region that is the Middle East, the United States created an unwritten alliance with the only country in the Middle East that was willing to do so: Israel. Fast forward to present day and the Cold War is no longer relevant to the purpose of “special relationship” between the US and Israel, but many new benefits have arisen that make the alliance worth maintaining. Critics of the alliance cite the idea that Israel receives more in aid than the United States get in return in benefits and that having Israel as an ally is more of a burden than it is worth. The three main categories in which the United States receives benefits from its alliance with Israel are political, economic, and military. Although critics of the United States’ alliance with Israel believe it is much too burdensome, the political, economic, and military benefits outweigh the negatives and make maintaining the alliance valuable in the future.

Why is US foreign policy pulled to extreme of either doing too much or nothing at all?

In recent years in the Middle East, 4,486 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq and 2,345 U.S. soldiers died in Afghanistan, and 1 million U.S. soldiers wounded. In the past years, a lot has happened in the Middle East. The US gained enemies and allies. The US should leave the Middle East and let all those countries deal with their problems on their own. Decisions that the US has made has caused many other bad things to happen. The US has to step back and give the people of the Middle East a chance to deal with things that they are facing on their own. Lastly, if something bad happened in the Middle East, the Middle Eastern countries wouldn't know what to do because the US would not be there. The US should not stay in the Middle East because involvement has had a more negative effect than a positive one.

The Middle East region has been seeing and absorbing the effects of war and poverty for decades. The United States (U.S.) has provided support in the past to assist the Middle East, and that has been quite successful. For this reason, the U.S., a world superpower, should be directly involved in ending conflict in the Middle East because they possess a capable military, the global economy is directly affected by the Middle East, and the U.S. is capable of peaceful mediation between conflicted areas in the Middle East. The Middle East is a region that has constantly been involved in warfare, and the U.S. has taken appropriate measures to ensure that peace was possible, even in this war-stricken area. The U.S. has also provided aid in regard to the oil reserves in the Middle East, which are significant to global development. This protection allows the industry to continue, and it benefits nations around the world. Lastly, the U.S. has successfully mediated discussion between conflicted nations, like Egypt and Israel, to achieve a common goal that set them on a path for peace. While there are many reasons the U.S. should be involved, one of the most direct reasons is military capability.

Conflict over energy resources—and the wealth and power they create—has become an increasingly prominent feature for geopolitics particularly in the Middle East . The discovery of oil in the late nineteenth century added a dimension to the region as major outside states powers employed military force to protect their newly acquired interests in the Middle East. The U.S.’s efforts to secure the flow of oil have led to ever increasing involvement in the Middle East region’s political affairs and ongoing power struggles. By the end of the twentieth century, safeguarding the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf had become one of the most important functions of the U.S. military establishment. The close relationship between the United States and the Saudi royal family was formed in the final months of World War II, when U.S. leaders sought to ensure preferential access to Saudi petroleum. The U.S. link with Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region has demonstrated to be greatly beneficial to both parties, yet it has also led to ever deepening U.S. involvement in regional politics.

There is an increasingly growing global controversy about whether the United States should intervene in the Syrian conflict, and whether this intervention should be military or strategic. The U.S. has recently avoided interfering militarily in Syria or providing the rebels with direct support, but admitted the presence of the Syrian opposition.

The United States has had some international issues with Middle Eastern countries in the past. It goes without saying; the most recent is the current gulf war led by George W. Bush and of course the previous gulf war led by his father George H.W. Bush. With neighboring Iran, there have been quarrels such as the Iran-Contra affair. This involved a political scandal in which Ronald Reagan's administration sold military arms to Iran. At this time they were in the midst of the Iran-Iraq War, while the United States had hostages held in Lebanon by Hezbollah. The United States hoped that Iran would influence Hezbollah to release the American hostages, but didn't. Finally, with Saudi Arabia also part of the Middle East, the United States

Nor-and this is the most significant point-are most of us truly aware of the role the U.S. has played, for generations, overtly and covertly, in the world that was once the Ottoman Empire. As Professor Abou El Fadl has noted, the destruction of that culture at the hands of an advancing Western imperialism eventually laid much of the Islamic world bare for the attractions of a dogmatic, warlike, fundamentalist variant of Islam. At times we have connived at this development, most obviously in the now bitterly ironic fact that we supported Osama bin Laden and his allies in Afghanistan in the 1980s in their effort to expel Soviet forces. Indeed, our interest in the Arab world (apart from our desire for inexpensive natural resources and markets for our products) often seemed limited to any assistance we might wring from it in the war against communism. No wonder, as reported

were chosen by God to set up a state of Israel where they could not be