Abstract: Much has been written in the past years about the U.S.’s disengagement from the Middle East and North Africa – be it as a consequence of shifting priorities or as one of many steps on a path towards global decline. For decades, Washington had been the key power broker and unrivaled regional hegemon; a point of reference for those seeking reassurance and support as well as for those seeing U.S. influence in the region as a threat to their own security and self-determination. This article examines traditional and current U.S. security interests, challenges and strategies in the Middle East, focusing particularly on security cooperation patterns between the U.S. and its regional allies, which are predominantly driven by fears of entrapment and overbalancing as well as the ambition to seek influence and project power with limited means. Moreover, it explores short- and mid-term policy options for the U.S. to ease its prevailing alliance dilemma in the region.
About the Author:
The Chief Operating Officer and a Senior Analyst at CONIAS Risk Intelligence, Mannheim. A political scientist and conflict researcher by training, she specializes in transatlantic security and crisis management, Turkey, and the Levant. She has been a 2016/17 Mercator-IPC Fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center and is a Research Fellow at RAND Europe. Previously, she held research positions at the RAND Corporation in Arlington, VA, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin, the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies in Tel Aviv, as well as several think tanks in Ankara and the University of Heidelberg.