Author: Daniel Brumberg
Affiliation: Georgetown University and Arab Center Washington DC
Organization/Publisher: Arab Center Washington DC
Date/Place: January 27, 2022/Washington DC, USA
Type of Literature: Article
Word Count: 2432
Link: https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/bidens-non-doctrine-in-the-middle-east-one-year-on/
Keywords: US, Middle East, Doctrine, Biden, China, Cold War, and Foreign Policy
Brief:
The author explains what “doctrine” means and how it is used by presidents to explain their actions, giving the example of “Obama doctrine” during the Arab Spring. The author discusses that the Biden administration isn’t working in a doctrine way on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, on Gulf security, nor Iran, not even in a strategic way; and, that the administration was just muddling through without real situations. The author argues the “non-doctrine” of Biden in the ME, and then cites Arab analysts who have offered explanations after one year of the Biden presidency. For example, they see that Biden’s administration has an intentional strategy in Asia (especially on China), which is a pivot away from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, and Israel that benefits Syria and Iran but punishes Washington’s friends in the ME. Others see that with the possibility of a cold war with China, the ME can benefit more by less American attention/intervention. The writer discusses the possibility of a plan from the US to begin a cold war with China by mentioning Tarek Osman’s writings about this issue in Al-Ahram. The Arab analysts have concerns around the America-China issue that can affect the ME and the world in one way or another. The author argues through Abdelhalim Andel’s words that the Biden administration can’t use its old strategy from the past Cold War with the “maybe” new cold war with the China-Russia alliance. And through Marwan Bishara, the author discusses that the US foreign strategies in politics doesn’t just exist in the ME but in the whole world, and that as America resumes using its selfish ways to deal with the world, that those ways will lead the country to a huge loss all over the world. According to Dania Khatib’s writings, the American obsession with China has led America to forget about its allies in the region, and that instead of taking a step back the US must take certain action towards what is happening. By ignoring its allies and pivoting away from chaos that it created (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya etc.), the US has put itself in a place where no one will listen to its voice anymore. But on the other hand, the US still holds the economic and military means to form world politics. The author concludes that Biden and his administration’s way of leading the world is better than what has happened in the past, but that just getting over the issues is not a good strategy for a powerful country like the US and can’t replace having an actual “doctrine” to formulate strategic policy.
Critical Commentary:
The author’s observation that the United States has been harming the world through its interventions but should yet take action in the Middle East is contradictory. He needs to talk more about the Biden administration and its positions on the Middle East and suggest more reasonable solutions as opposed to simply stating that Biden’s position is confused, and be more specific in how Biden’s “non-doctrine” in the middle east is impacting anything.
By: Sohaila Osama Oraby, CIGA Research Intern
