A US refocus on the Middle East

IN THE aftermath of the United States’ costly military interventions in the Middle East and its decision to withdraw American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the conventional wisdom has been that Washington may commence a process of gradual disengagement from the region.

Such an approach seemed to have made sense against the backdrop of the stated commitment by US officials to pivot American policy to the Indo-Pacific region as part of a response to China’s military and economic surge.

If anything, the US-led effort to mobilise its Western allies to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine only raised more questions about the cost-effectiveness of an American interventionist strategy in the Middle East and its alliances with Saudi Arabia and Israel.