The Changing Geopolitics of the Middle East

2019 ◽  
pp. 51-74
Author(s):  
Marina ◽  
David Ottaway
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
Power Centers ◽  
Political Turmoil

The 2011 uprisings had a profound impact on the geopolitics of the Middle East due to the vacuum created by the political turmoil consuming its three traditional power centers—Egypt, Syria and Iraq. Two old imperial rivals, Turkey and Iran, competed to fill the vacuum while an emerging new regional power, Saudi Arabia, made a bid for the leadership of the Arab world. At the same time, the United States, despite its efforts to disengage from Middle East conflicts, became more engaged than ever, first with Iran and then in civil wars underway in Syria and Iraq and against Islamic extremist groups. Meanwhile, Russia after two decades of absence, returned to quickly re-establish its influence there.

In the name of the national interests: Foreign policy of Saudi Arabia after the Arab Spring

2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 131-161
Author(s):  
G. G. Kosach
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The United States ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The One ◽  
The Arab Spring

The paper examines the evolution of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy in the context of wider changes in the Middle East and in the Arab world triggered by the Arab Spring. The author argues that during this decade the Kingdom’s foreign policy has witnessed a fundamental transformation: the very essence of the Saudi foreign policy course has changed signifi cantly as the political es-tablishment has substantially revised its approaches to the country’s role in the region and in the world. Before 2011, Saudi Arabia — the land of the ‘Two Holy Mosques’ — positioned itself as a representative of the international Muslim community and in pursuing its foreign policy relied primarily on the religious authority and fi nancial capabilities. However, according to Saudi Arabia’s leaders, the Arab Spring has plunged the region into chaos and has bolstered the infl uence of various extremist groups and movements, which required a signifi cant adjustment of traditional political approaches. Saudi Arabia, more explicit than ever before, has declared itself as a nation state, as a regional leader possessing its own interests beyond the abstract ‘Muslim Ummah’. However, the author stresses that these new political ambitions do not imply a complete break with the previous practice. For example, the containment of Iran not only remains the cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy, but has become even more severe. The paper shows that it is this opposition to Iran, which is now justifi ed on the basis of protecting the national interests, that predetermines the nature and the specifi c content of contemporary Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy including interaction with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), approaches towards the solution of the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict, combating terrorism, and relations with the United States. In that regard, the transformation of Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy has, on the one hand, opened up new opportunities for strengthening the Kingdom’s interaction with Israel, but, at the same time, has increased tensions within the framework of strategic partnership with the United States. The author concludes that currently Saudi Arabia is facing a challenge of diversifying its foreign policy in order to increase its international profi le and political subjectivity.

Sentyment antyamerykański w stosunkach międzynarodowych

1970 ◽  
Vol 21 (282) ◽  
pp. 110-122
Author(s):  
Karolina Adamska-Płocic
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Philosophical Foundations ◽  
East Region ◽  
The Us ◽  
Theoretical Considerations ◽  
Middle East Region

The objective of the article is to analyze the anti-American sentiment in international relations. A chronological systematization of particular stages of the development of anti-Americanism aims to illustrate its evolution and the constantly changing perception of the United States by representatives of different cultural circles. It is worth emphasizing that while European anti-Americanism is based mainly on the philosophical foundations, the Islamic anti-Americanism has its roots mainly in the negative assessment of US foreign policy towards the Middle East region. The first strong wave of anti-Americanism flooded the Middle East in 1967 when the US supported Jews during the six-day war. Each subsequent conflict in the Arab world with US involvement only deepens the antagonisms that have persisted since then. Followers of Islam also have objections towards the culture of the United States, which is to be shallow and expansive. It is worth emphasizing, however, that the anti-American sentiment grew and evolved simultaneously with the state that was being formed, which is why it is not possible to recall only one specific reason that causes the country to have as many opponents. While nineteenth century polemics consisted of almost purely theoretical considerations about the superiority of the Old World over the New World, the reality of twenty-first century terror based on hatred for the US, requires serious actions from American diplomacy.

Can the United States Promote Democracy in the Middle East?

2003 ◽  
Vol 102 (660) ◽  
pp. 21-26
Author(s):  
Amy Hawthorne
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The United States ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Democratic Change

In the aftermath of September 11, the United States has no alternative other than to begin to shift its role in the Arab world from an enabler of authoritarian rule to a supporter of gradual, but genuine, democratic change.

Monarchs and Mamluks, or How Do You Say “Thank You” for $20 Billion

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-24
Author(s):  
Richard W. Bulliet
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Arab Spring ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Cooperation ◽  
The Muslim Brotherhood ◽  
The Arab Spring

The causes and processes of the Arab Spring movements are less important for current political developments than the responses to those movements by states that were not directly involved. After discussing the Turkish, Israeli, Iranian, and American responses, the focus turns to the recently announced military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Did the Saudi government conspire with the Egyptian high command to plot the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Cairo? If so, as seems likely, was the United States aware of the conspiracy? More importantly, what does the linkage between the Egyptian army and Saudi and Gulf financial support for President al-Sisi's regime suggest for the future of stability and legitimate rule in the Arab world?

Imperialism and Class in the Arab World

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Max Ajl
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
The United States ◽  
Monthly Review ◽  
Shooting Gallery

Ali Kadri, Arab Development Denied (London: Anthem, 2014), 250 pages, $40, paperback.Perhaps nowhere does violence collapse the horizon as it does in the Arab world. Imperial wars have demolished the Libyan state and turned Syria into a charnel house. Yemen, the region's poorest country, was a U.S. drone shooting gallery before Saudi Arabia…attacked it, sending it spiraling into famine. Iraq shudders under ISIS's car bombs after decades of wars and sanctions. And Palestine continues to bleed and resist under the weight of Israeli settler-colonialism.… Why so much violence? The academic mercenaries of counterinsurgency studies fixate on terrorism as a response to material grievance, and Western war as the response. Others ascribe the region's underdevelopment to a mix of institutional inadequacy and democratic deficits, remediable by the application of U.S. power.… Against this tableau, Ali Kadri in Arab Development Denied offers a coruscatingly intelligent account of how the United States has denied Arab development. Through wars, colonialism, and sanctions, it has sought for decades to prevent working-class sovereignty in the region.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

The Battle for Syria

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Phillips
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
External Factors ◽  
International Dimension ◽  
Regional Order ◽  
Regional Factors

This book provides an analysis of the crucial but underexplored roles the United States and other nations have played in shaping Syria's ongoing civil war. Most accounts of Syria's brutal, long-lasting civil war focus on a domestic contest that began in 2011 and only later drew foreign nations into the escalating violence. The book argues instead that the international dimension was never secondary but that Syria's war was, from the very start, profoundly influenced by regional factors, particularly the vacuum created by a perceived decline of U.S. power in the Middle East. This precipitated a new regional order in which six external protagonists — the United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar — have violently competed for influence, with Syria a key battleground. Drawing on a plethora of original interviews, the book constructs a new narrative of Syria's war. Without absolving the brutal Bashar al-Assad regime, the book untangles the key external factors which explain the acceleration and endurance of the conflict, including the West's strategy against ISIS. It concludes with some insights on Syria and the region's future.

Modern Egypt

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce K. Rutherford ◽  
Jeannie Sowers
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
The United States ◽  
Rapid Population Growth ◽  
State Collapse ◽  
Other World ◽  
Modern Egypt ◽  
Egyptian History

With almost every news broadcast, we are reminded of the continuing instability of the Middle East, where state collapse, civil wars, and terrorism have combined to produce a region in turmoil. If the Middle East is to achieve a more stable and prosperous future, Egyptwhich possesses the regions largest population, a formidable military, and considerable soft powermust play a central role. Modern Egypt: What Everyone Needs to Know® by Bruce Rutherford and Jeannie Sowers introduces readers to this influential country. The book begins with the 2011-2012 uprising that captured the worlds attention before turning to an overview of modern Egyptian history. The book then focuses on present-day Egyptian politics, society, demography, culture, and religion. It analyzes Egypts core problems, including deepening authoritarianism, high unemployment, widespread poverty, rapid population growth, and pollution. The book then concentrates on Egypts relations with the United States, Israel, Arab states, and other world powers. Modern Egypt concludes by assessing the countrys ongoing challenges and suggesting strategies for addressing them. Concise yet sweeping in coverage, the book provides the essential background for understanding this fascinating country and its potential to shape the future of the Middle East.

scholarly journals Assassination in Khartoum

1996 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-122
Author(s):  
Arthur L. Lowrie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The United States ◽  
Popular Front ◽  
Extensive Experience ◽  
Foreign Service ◽  
History Of ◽  
Yasser Arafat

This is a fascinating insider's account of one of the most tragic events in the history of the American Foreign Service. Cleo Noel and Curt Moore were among the Foreign Service's finest professionals- dedicated, hard­working men of impeccable integrity. Although from very different back­grounds, hard work had brought them close to the pinnacle of the service.  Circumstances brought them together on 1 March 1973 at the residence of the Saudi Arabian an1bassador in Khartoum. The ambassador was hosting a diplomatic farewell p????rty for Moore, and newly-appointed Ambassador Noel was anending as a courtesy. As the party was ending around 7:00 p.m., eight heavily anned Palestinians of the Black September extremist organization burst in and seized all diplomats who failed to flee. Most were unhrumed, but Curt Moore. whom they had been told (incorrectly) was the chief CIA agent for the Middle East, Cleo Noel, and (inexplicably) the Belgian charge d'affaires, were singled out, beaten, and tied up. Ironically, as fair-minded and objective professionals, Noel and Moore were dedicat­ed to establishing the best possible relations between the United States and the Arab world and were sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.What happened during the next thirty hours leading up to the brutal assassination is told in chilling detail by Korn, who was then a Foreign Service officer serving in Washington on the task force dealing with the hostage crisis. Mr. Korn also has had extensive experience in Aral>-hraeli affairs and is able to put the subsequent events, personalities involved, and government actions in the context of the early 1970s. For example. he leaves little doubt that Yasser Arafat and Fatah were involved, if not actu­ally directing. the Khartoum operation as part of their effort to refurbish their radical credentials in competition with George Habash 's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which had carried out most of the airplane hijackings of the early 1970s. In addition, he is able to explain. but with no attempt to justify, the less-than-courageous roles played by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudanese president Jafaar Nimeiry, and others ...

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