The US Foreign Policy in the Middle East - Coursework Example

United States Foreign Policy in the Middle East Introduction The United States (US) foreign policy provides a guideline on the way other nations interact with America. The framework is composed of a set of standards for how individual citizens, corporations and organizations interact directly with the US government. The foreign policy in the US is made by the legislature which incorporates the senate and the house and is later enforced by the executive. The president is the commander of such policies in any region globally. The Department of State’s Foreign Policy Agenda has several goals stated for US’s foreign policy. The objective of the policy is focused on the creation of a world that is prosperous, democratic and secure, which will in turn benefit the American citizens, as well as the world at large. More so, the policy provides for the exportation of controls inclusive of issues related to nuclear hardware and nuclear technology (Güney & Gökcan 24). Furthermore, the foreign policy provides for the control of international education, international commodity agreements and measures of fostering US business across borders. Thus, the US has exceptionally high influence in the global platform with regard to the economy and military. The policy has been strong in manipulating the political and socio-economic landscape of the Middle East. The efforts towards realizing a fair world has had success and shortcomings at the same time. For instance, many people have perceived the policy as being beneficial to the US entirely as opposed to the initial aim of benefiting the entire world. Other people have viewed the policy’s provision of external control on diverse issues as being dictatorial, thereby violating democracy. However, others have perceived the policy as a key to fostering cooperation and development in the global platform. These controversies have left many questions unanswered, given that both the shortcomings and achievements of the policy are visible to the global society. This paper explores the US foreign policy in the Middle East from Gulf War, with a closer look at the relation of the policy and democracy and political Islam. Foreign Policy of the US in the Middle East since the Gulf War Every country within the Middle East has felt the influence of the US despite the long distance separating the two regions. During the 20th century, US interventions including the friendly diplomatic overtures and the war on its peak were provoked by strategic interests and competitions. The war that prevailed in the Persian Gulf saw the unleashing of contradictory, yet powerful forces within the Middle East. At that time, the US had a policy of outwitting Hussein Saddam, with a notion of enhancing stability in the region, strengthening moderates and discrediting radicalism. From another perspective, the seeds of oncoming turbulence and resentments were bound to the war. At that time, there was urgency for the existence of democratic governments. Similarly, Islamic forces in nearly all countries in the Middle East had an impetus. The first Gulf War was characterized by an eight year struggle that prevailed between Iran and Iraq. During this struggle, necessity drove Iraq into a consensus with the Arab moderates who were then, friends of the US. Eventually, this step assured the isolation of Syria from the US debacle in Lebanon, despite seeing the re-entry of Egypt back into the Arab fold. When the Gulf War ceased in 1988, the state affairs of the region were flown apart considerably. Given that the war ended a long time ago, can the trends of this times of astronomical fluidity be shaped by the US? Democracy is slowly surfacing in the Middle East as the influence of the US foreign policy is slowly fading off (Bar 43). Analysis From the onset of 20th century, global reach and interests have been an agenda of the US. For instance, it has established itself as the major player through the use of its military, economic and diplomatic powers in supporting its individual interests. It is clear that a positive reputation within the Middle East has been enjoyed by the US for a long time, since the ceasing of World War I. The US’s move of sending a commission to Middle East, for the purposes of interrogating the Arab fold on their opinions on the political arrangements that they would prefer, was a clear indication of opportunism. From this time, the US ventured into regional politics and eventually became an active player in the 1940s. The US policy was meant to be beneficial to the entire region, but this was not the outcome of its meddling into such politics. Instead, it supported only the issues that were purely of its interest. As an example, during the Cold War, the US focused on fighting the communists (Chomsky 24). In the recent past, the US has been focusing on approaching terrorism. The recent killing of the Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and his senior colleague Anwar Al Awlaki has been a success of the US’s foreign policy, as a part of the global fight against terrorism and drugs. This has been a positive outcome of the US foreign policy given that many nations have gained support from the US in terms of security issues. Such nations have been referred to as US’s stable allies. Among them are Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The US has succeeded in realizing a prosperous economic development in the recent past. More so, the foreign policy has extended to strengthen trade blocks and alliances within the Middle East. For instance, the tensions that existed between NATO and Russia were eased by US’s move of pledging for the limitation of NATO’s Eastward boundaries of the missile defense region. Similarly, the recent approving of the execution of Libya as a no-fly zone was a positive step in protecting the anti-Qaddafi rebels. This move was effected in response to the massive killings prevailed with Qaddafi’s clinging on to power. More so, Egypt’s democratic transition was supported by the US, in a bid to ensure the rights of protestors were protected. However, from a critical eye the US foreign policy acted in a counterproductive manner when it failed in the accomplishment of its objectives after the Second World War. In this case, diplomacy was substituted by force and negotiations were trampled on by military interventions. At the same time, insurgents were produced by counter-insurgency. After the post Cold War, like policies still existed in the US agenda. For instance, lack of statesmanship was a characteristic of the US foreign policy at the time. The presidents of the US have over time, justified military interventions through democracy. In this case, then US has been engrossed in overthrowing governments that have been elected democratically including Guatemala and Iran (Freeman 98). This has marked a denial of democracy in the international platform. More critically, many critics have cited the US policy as being oriented in the Middle East’s rich oil wells, which shows typical capitalism. More critically, the Rwandese genocide is a clear indication of US’s interests in global issues that are beneficial to it. The US was able to intervene on the killings, but that was not one of its interests. All these facts when summed up, brings a complexity in the US foreign policy’s framework. Conclusion The roots of the US foreign policy in the Middle East date back on the onset of the 20th century. From this time, then US started its campaigns for assisting the Middle East in its political arrangements. The policy has worked majorly for the benefits of the US compared to the initial benefits of the international community. The successes of the policy are evident and have contributed much in realizing a world with a better environment. However, many shortcomings have equally come along with it, including loss of democracy in the international platform. Capitalism has also been part and parcel of the policy, given that most issues that the policy has focused on have been of interest to the US. Thus, the US foreign policy is composed of a framework of some strategic outcomes of a world order. The strategies are shared widely and are characterized by disagreements that are tactical by nature. Given that the US is among the Super Powers, the question on the nature of the US policy should be given a lesser attention in the Middle East. The matter in concern is the informed speculation, since full democracy cannot be acquired at this time given that it was not given from the old days. Therefore, the issues surrounding the US policy in the region should be understood as well as its implications to the present time since the influence is slowly fading in the region. Works Cited Bar, Shmuel. America's Fading Middle East Influence. Policy Review, 2011. Issue 166: 41-52. Chomsky, Noam. After the Cold War: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East. The Economies of War, 1991. No. 19: 14-31. Freeman, Chas. The Mess in the Middle East. Middle East Policy, 2011. Vol. 18 (4): 96-105. Doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4967.2011.00513.x. Guney, Aylın and Gökcan, Fulya. The 'Greater Middle East' as a 'Modern' Geopolitical Imagination in American Foreign Policy. Geopolitics, 2010. Vol. 15 (1): 22-38. Doi: 10.1080/14650040903420370. Read More