Council of Councils
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Introduction
Over the last several decades, governments have collectively pledged to slow global warming. But despite intensified diplomacy, the world is already facing the consequences of climate…
United States Policy in the Middle East and North Africa
Project Expert
About the Project
Despite the challenge from China, the United States has been unable to “escape” from the Middle East. Iran’s efforts to expand its influence in an area—from Iraq, the Gulf, and Yemen to Syria and Lebanon—with many U.S. friends and allies and a still-critical amount of oil exports combine with its nuclear program to make the Islamic Republic an inevitable focus of U.S. foreign policy. Add concern about the security of Israel and other allies such as Jordan and Egypt; the struggle for democracy and human rights in the Arab monarchies and especially in the Arab republics; and the roles of Russia, Turkey, and China, and the failure to “pivot to Asia” becomes easily understandable. As a former NSC official in charge of policy in the region, and more recently Special Representative for Iran in the State Department, I began writing about the Middle East immediately upon leaving the government in January 2021. In roundtables, writings, congressional testimony, and participation in conferences and panels, my goal will be to examine U.S. interests and policies in the Middle East and North Africa as a new U.S. administration grapples with the region.
Blogs
Iran's president visited Latin America and the Caribbean, but the countries he did not visit are more significant than those he did.
Doomsday predictions about the consequences of Israel's election are overwrought. Some of the proposed legal reforms would bring Israel's system closer to the U.S. model.
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Diamonstein-Spielvogel Project on the Future of Democracy
In Tunisia, President Kais Saied's consolidation of power and embrace of autocratic measures threaten the lone remaining success story of the Arab Spring. The Biden Administration should move from rhetorical support for democracy in Tunisia to the use of American financial assistance to press for reforms, and should not support Tunisia’s requested IMF loan unless they are forthcoming. -
Should the United States be promoting democracy and human rights in friendly monarchies? Yes — human rights improvements, not regime change, should be the goal, working especially in areas where progress is pragmatically possible.
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Unless the Saudi government speaks and acts quickly and honestly about the disappearance and reported killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, its own reputation will incur irreparable damage.