America and the New Middle East

What comes to mind when you think of the Middle East?

For many, their perception of the Middle East is one understandably influenced by headlines and news reports of war and unrest. The daily tally of bombings and fatalities in far-flung parts of the globe can have a numbing, insensate effect on observers, especially those of us in the Western world. Indeed, the Arab uprisings that began in 2011 have, in some cases, created a sectarian vacuum across much of the Middle East, with violent reverberations reaching well beyond its borders. Jihadist organizations such as the Islamic State group have been happy to fill this vacuum, and use it to carve out their own fiefdom from what remains of the post-World War II Middle East.

But the Middle East of the 20th Century -- the colonial vassal, the Cold War cog -- is no more, and how the Western world chooses to engage the region in the 21st Century could have a lasting effect on its relationship with its people and powerbrokers for years to come.

The United States, in particular, has maintained a rather transactional relationship with mostly undemocratic Mideast regimes throughout the years. Once deemed a strategic imperative, America has long countenanced ties with governments with which it shares few values, but several national security and energy interests. This has fostered an at times paradoxical relationship between America and the Arab world; one in which stability often trumped opportunity, and authoritarianism was often more preferable than enfranchisement.

This, however, resulted in a society with toxic, unhealthy underpinnings, and created an opportunity for religious extremists and terrorists. "People don't fight because they've been trained; they fight because they believe in something," argued former CIA deputy director John McLaughlin in a March op-ed for the Washington Post. "At present, the biggest believers in the region are with the Islamic State."

But the Middle East is also comprised of a young and innovative population that is largely underutilized and ill-equipped to succeed in a competitive global economy. Youth unemployment in the region is rampant, and its governments are plagued by corruption, nepotism, and poor records on basic service delivery. Declining global oil prices have placed additional stress on these regimes, forcing wealthy Gulf states with generous welfare programs to cut spending and reassess their domestic and foreign policies.

It's a region in turmoil, but also one in transition. This newsletter, the Mideast Memo, is the beginning of what we hope will be an ongoing conversation with you, the reader, about this rapidly changing part of the world. We look forward to hearing your thoughts, learning from your experiences, and tapping into your expertise.

Around the Region

Blame barrel bombs, not ISIS. All of its promise and potential notwithstanding, the grim reality of today's Middle East is one of war and displacement. But while the Western world so often sets its sights on the horrors of the Islamic State group, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, urges the world to turn its attention to the Assad government's repeat use of barrel bombs on civilians:

"From the start of the war, the Assad government has pursued a murderous policy toward Syrian citizens who happen to live in areas that have been seized by opposition armed groups. The apparent aim is to kill and terrorize civilians (and destroy civilian structures) so as to drive civilians from opposition-held areas and to send a warning of the misery that attends anyone whose neighborhood is taken by opposition groups. Mr. Assad is thus pursuing the ‘total war' strategy that the Geneva Conventions and the laws of war flatly prohibit and criminalize."

This strategy, Roth goes on to argue, has catalyzed the displacement of millions, resulting in the recent waves of refugees in both the Mideast and Europe.

Rebel reboot. And while sectarian actors like ISIS and the Assad government continue to slice up and cordon off the country, The New York Times reported over the weekend that the Pentagon is reviewing ways to revamp its flailing rebel training program in war-torn Syria:

"The classified options now circulating at senior levels of the Pentagon include enlarging the size of the groups of trained rebels sent back into Syria, shifting the location of the deployments to ensure local support, and improving intelligence provided to the fighters. No decisions have been made on specific proposals, according to four senior Defense Department and Obama administration officials briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential planning."

Is Iraq too broke to fight? While Syria unravels, the neighboring government of Iraq continues to maintain a tenuous grip on authority across the country. With the Islamic State group controlling approximately a third of the country, Baghdad now finds itself constrained by commodity prices. McClatchy's Hannah Allam reports:

"Much of Iraq's spending is defense-related as the country struggles simultaneously to rebuild the U.S.-trained military that collapsed during the Islamic State onslaught and to launch offensives to retake captured territories. And they're doing this with a budget that was based on oil at $56 a barrel, though in recent weeks the fluctuating price has dipped to closer to $40 a barrel. A revenue-sharing deal between Baghdad and the mostly autonomous, oil-rich Kurdistan region has broken down, depriving the central government of another cash stream."

Solar Saudis. Riyadh can relate to Baghdad's predicament, as the global commodity crunch is forcing the Saudis to reassess state spending and issue billions of dollars worth of bonds to help meet budgetary demands.

But the country is looking to yet another alternative: sunshine. Anjli Raval has the story:

"The need to diversify could not be more urgent. Saudi Arabia consumes more than a quarter of its oil production, which stood at 10.6m barrels a day in June. A growing economy means this will only increase.

The population has trebled to about 30m since 1980, but energy usage has outpaced that of the UK, which has more than double the number of people, according to BP's annual Statistical Review of World Energy."

Qatar joins the fray. While Riyadh re-evaluates its domestic agenda, it has also adopted a much more assertive -- and militaristic -- foreign policy under recently crowned King Salman. Saudi-led forces have made gains in recent weeks in their campaign to repel Iran-backed Shiite rebels currently occupying swathes of neighboring Yemen, including the capital city of Sana'a. This effort was bolstered over the weekend by the addition of Qatari soldiers to the war. Al Jazeera broke the story on Monday:

"Around 1,000 soldiers from Qatar's Armed Forces have been deployed to Yemen, as part of the Arab coalition's fight against Houthi rebels, Al Jazeera has learned.

An Al Jazeera journalist, reporting from the Saudi-Yemen border, said the troops were backed by more than 200 armoured vehicles and 30 Apache combat helicopters."

Lebanon's lost jewel. And finally, Al-Monitor's Julian Pecquet reports on the U.S. Congress' recently revived effort to preserve the ancient Phoenician port city of Tyre in Lebanon.

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