America has lost significant sway in the Middle East, and American influence will continue to erode with Russia and China taking their turns at center stage.
In the wake of two Gulf wars, several failed puppet regimes (including the 1979 Iranian Revolution), add the Arab Spring into the mix, and you get an America finding itself without a chair when Bashar Moussa stops singing.
The SOFREP editors and I follow the mainstream media as closely as they’re following us these days. I’ve personally come to follow Al Jazeera, as it has the unique advantage of understanding the Middle East and Muslim culture in a way western media cannot. I’ve been tracking their stuff for some time now, the following article and video are very insightful, and I wanted to share it with you guys.
Enjoy and let us know what you think. Interesting times…
From Al Jazeera
For generations the Middle East has served as a setting for the grand narratives of American imperial power. US presidents have had a long-standing and complex relationship with Arab leaders, often playing puppet-master to the proxies and despots they put in power to look out for US interests.
The Arab Spring ushered in the debut performance of a new player: The Arab people themselves. And they are loud, clear, and unabashed about their desire to take the front seat in the policies and procedures of their region.
As the Arab people begin to proactively tell their leaders and the world what they want, the question now becomes how the US, so accustomed to directing the region as it pleases, will deal with its diminishing power.From attacked embassies to unwinnable wars, the Arab world is quickly and deftly slipping out of US control and the power the US has enjoyed in the Middle East may finally be reaching an end.
Rhetorically, Barack Obama embraced the Arab Spring, but is he just the latest US president to dream of a new Middle East?
Empire asks: Will the US continue to try to dictate its own agenda with hard power? Or will it ‘lead from behind’, accepting a more multilateral role working with the Arab people and their leaders?
Read more and watch the video here.
Featured Image: Eric Matson: Bethlehem from the South, c.1934-9
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