James Dorsey: MIDDLE EAST - REALISM VS. PRICIPLES IN US FOREIGN POLICY

At the core of a US policy debate over the Middle East lies the
 question of how to best ensure regional stability and
protect US  interests. Lost in the debate is whether the
cost of maintaining  stability by supporting autocratic rule
is lower in the long term than  the upfront expense of
adhering to human rights principles, pluralism,  and
transparent and accountable governance that would initially
alienate  Middle Eastern partners.


For a long time, the United States have been supporting autocracy
at  the expense of making greater transparency and
accountability  cornerstones of cooperation with Washington.


The short-term benefits are obvious but so are the wounds that
fester  because they are not properly treated, causing
greater turmoil and  costs further down the road. Moreover,
the approach that juxtaposes US  actions against US rhetoric
makes US pledges of adherence to values ring  hollow at a
time when credibility may be a major determining factor in
 the rivalry with Russia and China.


While neither China nor Russia is willing or able to replace the
 United States as the region’s security guarantor, regional
alliances,  particularly with Israel, may compensate to a
degree for uncertainty  about US reliability but are fraught
with pitfalls. Gulf states are a  long way away from being
able to shoulder full responsibility for their  defense,
which in the case of the smaller states may never be
 achievable, even if there is a greater emphasis on building
domestic  arms industries.


James M. Dorsey is an adjunct senior fellow at
the  S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at
Singapore’s Nanyang  Technological University, a syndicated
columnist, and the author of the  blog and podcast, The
Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer. As  a journalist and
scholar Dorsey focuses on the geopolitics of Eurasia,
 political and social change in the Middle East and North
Africa and its  impact on Southeast, South and Central Asia,
as well as the nexus of  sports, politics and society.


Gudrun Harrer, Senior Editor at Der Standard,
Lecturer on Modern History and Politics of the Middle East,
University of Vienna and Diplomatic Academy of Vienna