The Past, Present and Future of America’s Commitment to the Middle East

America’s foreign policy in the Middle East is deep-rooted, dating back many years. As Washington’s gaze moves to China as a rising peer competitor, there are increasing calls from academics and policymakers for a reduction of American’s military involvement in the region.

As global politics reaches a crucial juncture, conventional thought is evolving and the idea that America has invested disproportionally in a region deemed to be of declining strategic importance to US interests is now more widely accepted.

In spite of this and a groundswell of public opinion also favouring an end to “endless wars” of the post-9/11 era], the US footprint in the region has remained vast over the past two decades.

Andrew’s 34-month long Charles Koch Foundation-funded project aims to explore the US’s long-term military involvement in the Middle East over time and better understand why it struggles to “do less” in the region.

It will do so by drawing on insights relating to public opinion, foreign policy decision-making and civil-military relations.