Politics1 min read

Shifting role of US in Middle East is like ‘raising a teenager’, ambassador says

By · Via Middle East Eye · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The US is transitioning from being the guarantor of the Middle East to a new approach, according to a senior US official, Tom Barrack. This shift is driven by the consequences of the US-Israeli war on Iran, aiming to readjust its approach to the region rather than abandon it. The official supports regional efforts to replace the old US security framework, such as the Mecca Pact.

Key points

  • The US is transitioning from being the guarantor of the Middle East to a new approach.: The US is transitioning from being the guarantor of the Middle East to a new approach.
  • This shift is driven by the consequences of the US-Israeli war on Iran.: This shift is driven by the consequences of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
  • The official supports regional efforts to replace the old US security framework.: The official supports regional efforts to replace the old US security framework.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

The US no longer wants its “grand bargain” with the Arabian Gulf, providing security in exchange for oil, and is “transitioning” to a new approach, in a major shift that is “like raising a teenager”, a senior US official and confidant of President Donald Trump said.

“America as the guarantor to the world, for the last 80 years, it is no longer there,” Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and Trump’s special envoy for Syria and Iraq, said on Tuesday at the Global Security Forum in Doha, Qatar.

Barrack, known for waxing lyrical about the Ottoman Empire and for having condemned the post-World War I partitioning of the Middle East by European colonial powers, said the US “no longer wants to own” the region.

“Conflict and controversy was actually to the western favour. The more off-base the region was, the more [the West] could manipulate fossil fuels for its own benefit. That’s not in existence anymore,” he said.

Read more: Shifting role of US in Middle East is like ‘raising a teenager’, ambassador says

Original source: www.middleeasteye.net

Politics

More in Politics