The United States can’t pivot away from the Middle East
What has people concerned and despairing is not American decline but America’s declining interest — the sense that the Obama administration, and the American people, have about washed their hands of the Middle East. …
And it’s hard to deny: Many in the United States, not just inside the Obama administration, seem to think American policy needs to be “rebalanced.” The strategic importance of the Middle East is declining, they argue, as the United States grows independent of the region’s oil supply. Obama does little to push back against a growing public perception that there is nothing but trouble for the United States brewing in the Middle East. …
The irony, of course, is that every time the Obama administration tries to turn toward Asia, the Middle East drags it back — literally, in the case of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It’s an illusion to think we will not continue to be drawn into Middle East affairs. …
The present world order is seamless, and so is the global strategy necessary to sustain it. As one prominent statesman expressed the general puzzlement here, “Can’t the United States walk and chew gum at the same time?” For decades the United States has been able to provide security and remain engaged in three major theaters at once: Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Today those theaters are more interconnected, economically and strategically, than ever.
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Grossly unfair and inherently racist article fails to highlight the achievements of the US regime.
The US has done more to depose friendly regimes in the middle East and replace them with with islamic militant nutbars than at any time in her history.
Kagan – you betta recognize, trick.
CorporatePiggy on November 21, 2012 at 12:04 PM
I disagree, the Middle East outside of oil, and the development nuclear weapons, is of little strategic interest to the U.S. In the case of oil it is becoming less so of strategic importance, because we importing less. The only thing we are accomplishing by protecting Middle East oil states is making sure the oil makes it to places like China and Europe, who needs oil from that region much more than the U.S.
The middle east is in constant conflict due mostly to the religion (Islam) the people there follow. It is simply too expensive, and cost too many lives for us to consistently be drawn into one conflict after an other so we keep the dwindling amount of oil that we get there flowing. I don’t mind arming certain groups if it serves our national interest, but that method is cheap and does not cost us much blood.
It is time to move much of our limited military assets to Asia which is much more important to U.S. national security today. We don’t need large military forces in the Middle East to check inept Muslim armies who are as much a danger to themselves as they are to us. Don’t get me wrong, Islam is a danger to the west, but that has more to do with us letting Muslims into the west without a rigorous background check via immigration. The people who flew the planes into buildings on 9/11 got into this country legally. Fighting them in the Middle East does little to change that problem.
In one way neoconservatives are like progressives…they think soldiers, money, and weapons grow on trees and therefore can be used at will in trifling places, like Syria for instance, with no consequences in other parts of the world or at home. It is time we focus on winning the big conflicts, which right now is the growing threat of China.
William Eaton on November 21, 2012 at 12:10 PM
I know they will enjoy their new Chinese overlords. Kowtow.
Little Boomer on November 21, 2012 at 12:14 PM
LOL….Time for Reeducation Camp…
I am sure the Muslims and Chinese will get along just fine…:)
I wonder how the Muslims will react to the one child policy or when China issues their official “Quran” with lots of stuff removed that is considered dangerous to Chinese “harmony”. That should keep both sides occupied for a long, long time.
William Eaton on November 21, 2012 at 12:27 PM