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