U.S. Faces Challenges in Arab World, but Obama Is on Right Track

Brian Katulis

MEPC boardmember Brian Katulis, writing for U.S. News & World Report, gives a mostly-positive scorecard to the Obama administration for its Middle East diplomacy. Click here to read the full piece.

Overall, the Obama administration has developed effective responses to the political transitions that began in 2011 in the Middle East. But the United States faces many challenges navigating the threats and opportunities presented by continued changes in the years ahead.

Measured against his predecessor, President Barack Obama has done a much more effective job overall advancing U.S. national security interests in the Middle East. President George W. Bush’s global war on terror and rhetorical attempts to advance freedom and democracy resulted in trillions of U.S. taxpayer dollars and thousands of lives lost in Iraq. But overall the Bush administration did more damage than good to U.S. interests in the Middle East. Al Qaeda continued to grow as a threat across the region under the Bush administration. Besides Iraq, where Saddam Hussein was ousted, no countries saw significant positive changes toward greater democracy. In Lebanon and parts of the Palestinian territories, Islamist terrorist groups took control. Iran moved forward with its nuclear program for many years without an effective diplomatic or economic response. By 2008, the Bush administration had done more damage than good to overall U.S. national security interests in the region.

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