The Imperative of Rebuilding Alliances in the Middle East: A U.S. Perspective, 4 OCT

 The Imperative of Rebuilding Alliances in the Middle East: A U.S. Perspective, 4 OCT

Reassessing the U.S. Role in the Middle East

The United States has historically been absent from any form of alliance commitments in the Middle East. Unlike its multilateral alliances such as NATO and the ANZUS treaty, or bilateral security pacts with Japan and South Korea, the U.S. has steered clear of similar agreements with Middle Eastern nations. This is a fortunate circumstance considering the region’s volatile nature, marred by rivalries, conflicts, and wars.

U.S. lethal involvement in the Middle East, albeit without any alliance commitments, has been a cause for concern. The closest the U.S. came to such a commitment was with the formation of the Baghdad Pact in 1955, which later became known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO). However, due to a coup in Iraq, a Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and a revolution in Iran, CENTO dissolved by the end of the 1970s.

Despite the absence of U.S. alliance commitments, discourse about U.S. policy in the Middle East often refers to ‘allies’ and ‘partners’. These terms are not just used as vague descriptions, but as strategic prescriptions with the assumption that the U.S. should give special consideration to allies in the region.

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The Reality of ‘Allies’ and ‘Partners’

Admittedly, there is some basis for speaking of an ally in the absence of a mutual security treaty. However, a legitimate use of the term ‘ally’ should reflect several conditions. There should be a mutuality of interest, reciprocity, and the partner’s recognition of its special relationship with the U.S. should be distinct from its activities in the absence of that relationship.

However, many references to ‘allies’ or ‘partners’ in American discourse about the Middle East do not reflect these conditions. They are often a legacy of past circumstances that once caused a country to be considered an ally, regardless of how much circumstances have changed in the interim. Saudi Arabia is a prime example of this legacy effect.

Despite the fact that circumstances have greatly changed in the intervening 76 years, the habit of talking about Saudi Arabia as an ally or partner endures. This was taken to an extreme during Donald Trump’s presidency, who showed special deference to certain non-allies in the Middle East.

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Changing Approach Towards Saudi Arabia

It was clear that President Joe Biden would take a different approach towards Saudi Arabia. The public release of an intelligence assessment linking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the murder of U.S. resident journalist Jamal Khashoggi has stimulated new discussion about the Saudi-U.S. relationship.

However, the Biden administration’s policy towards the Riyadh regime, though markedly different from Trump’s, still exhibits old habits. The administration is not penalizing the crown prince directly because, according to the New York Times, ‘the cost of a breach in Saudi cooperation on counterterrorism and in confronting Iran was simply too high.’

Rebuilding Alliances in the Middle East

Israel’s status as a supposed ally is sustained not only by habit but by well-known domestic politics in the United States. The notion of such an alliance is most often just assumed and invoked without justification.

At the recent Jeddah Security and Development Summit, President Biden reiterated the importance the United States places on its strategic partnerships in the Middle East region. He affirmed the United States’ enduring commitment to the security and territorial defense of U.S. partners and recognized the region’s increasingly important role as a trade and technology crossroads between hemispheres.

He also strongly affirmed the centrality of the Middle East region to the long-term security and prosperity of the United States and the American people. This address by President Biden frames U.S. engagement going forward in a manner that harnesses unique American capabilities in concert with long-standing U.S. partners.