Comprehending America's strategy with regard to the characteristics of the era of power transition in the regional arena and with regard to its dynamics requires attention to its operational strategies at the political, economic and military-security level. The change in the approach of the United States in the field of foreign policy has started since the era of Barack Obama, and its concrete manifestation can be seen in the 2012 national defense doctrine of this country. This official document shows the will of the Obama administration to reduce military spending and the number of troops abroad due to financial and economic constraints. Considering the characteristics of the transition period in international relations, it should be said that the United States has been forced to change its Grand strategy from liberal hegemony to Offshore Balancing due to its foreign policy requirements.
America's Grand strategy in the region, with an emphasis on Offshore Balancing, has been pursued at the operational level and plans have been presented. In other words, passing the level of Grand strategy and entering the field of operational understanding requires the definition of US plans in West Asia. Comprehending how to lay the groundwork for the implementation of the Offshore Balancing strategy by the United States of America following the dynamics of the Middle East region is the main goal of this article. It has affected the Grand strategy of America and has caused the movement towards the Offshore Balancing strategy since the Obama era.
The article addresses the question of how the dynamics of the Middle East region have affected the grand strategy of the United States between 2008-2024?
In order to answer this question, the article has tested the hypothesis that the dynamics of the Middle East region have affected the Grand strategy of the U.S through the change in the perception of the American foreign policy community and have caused the movement towards the offshore Balancing strategy since the Obama era.
Examining the theory of realism in international relations led us to the conclusion that Mearnheimer’s theory of Offensive Realism, along with Walt's theory of Coalition- Building, is a reliable theoretical framework to explain the main question of this article Both culminate in offshore balancing theoretical framework.
The Middle East region, in the framework of the offshore balancing strategy, as proposed by Walt and Mersheimer (2016), along with East Asia and Europe, are three strategic regions in which the United States needs to contribute to its allied regional powers in order to contain threats in these regions. The tactics of transferring suffering to another, Buck passing, smart diplomacy, proxy wars and proxy activists, using the capacity of the international system and liberal institutionalization and human rights, as well as the continuous use of diplomacy to solve crises in the Middle East region over the years 2008 to 2024 are the manifestations of this strategy. By adopting multilateralism, the Obama administration first went to the issues that have affected its interests and allies, such as the crisis in the Middle East. With the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and the promise of change in foreign policy, he abandoned the unilateralism approach and suggested that if we have the hammer, we should not always and everywhere consider it a suitable tool. Obama meant the hammer of America's military power, which should not be used to solve every crisis. It was from here that unilateralism and the military approach in the strategy of the United States of America were abandoned as a costly tactic and against the interests of the hegemon, and the main effort was to be able to use smart and accurate tools and appeal to liberal doctrines and human rights to benefit the interests of the United States. and at the same time eliminate the threats with the participation of united actors in the Middle East.
But Trump's coming to power in 2016 significantly put aggressive tactics, withdrawing from treaties, and prioritizing America's internal interests over the preservation and adherence of this country to its commitments. In the face of the crises in the Middle East, Trump, while strengthening his relations with the countries of Saudi Arabia and Israel, demanded that these countries come closer to unite against Iran. The obvious manifestation of these tactics by the Trump administration was the Abraham (Abraham) Pact, encouraging Israel and the Arab countries to normalize relations and the UAE and Bahrain taking the lead in this field to deal with regional threats. In the field of foreign policy, following the slogan "America First", Trump put the domestic interests of the United States first and pretended that the Western bloc as one of the main foundations after the Second World War and the Cold War has lost its strategic meaning.
But the strategy of offshore balancing during the Biden period entered the diplomatic field rather than taking place in the field, and even some of Trump's tactics were criticized, including ignoring America's commitments in the JCPOA. By taking advantage of the experiences of the Obama administration, Biden tried to use a new coalition to restrain regional powers such as Iran and to prevent China's extensive influence in the region. Based on this approach, the desire to establish the I2U2 group and IMC is one of the initiatives of the Biden government to highlight economic benefits and political and security goals, and to pursue support for Israel and Arab countries in the form of new coalitions. By adopting a military policy of supporting his personnel, partners and allies in the Middle East region, Biden tried to take steps to increase the security and stable interests of America in the region by empowering his allies. Therefore, unlike Trump, he canceled Trump's aggressive approach and maximum policy towards Iran and turned to preventing the hostile actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and, in other words, managing the region. While using the capacity of "proxy killing" of Saudi Arabia and Israel and pursuing the normalization of relations between Arab countries and expanding it to other Islamic societies, Biden tried to advance America's vital interests in the form of new alliances. As he also tried in the field of strategic competition with China, to advance the field for the presence of America in the region not through military and interventionist methods, but with economic and security plans such as 12U2, and IMAC. A plan that clearly shows the confrontation between China and the US in the Persian Gulf and thwarting China's plan to infiltrate the Persian Gulf through the peripheral "New Silk Road" or "One Belt, One Road" and preventing penetration and presence Most powerful is America's main competitor in the African continent. In this way, another major obstacle to the realization of the offshore Balancing strategy is even related to the role of regional powers and US allies such as Saudi Arabia. Because during the Biden period, Saudi Arabia tried to take advantage of the competition between China and the United States for the benefit of increasing its power by distancing itself from dependence, such as was seen during the periods of American presence in the region.
Regional dynamics have influenced the US Grand strategy through the change in the perception of the American foreign policy community and led to the move towards an offshore balancing strategy between 2008 and 2024. But the major obstacles in the Middle East, including the independence of America's allies, the emergence of government and non-government groups against America, the war between Hamas and Israel, the reluctance of the United States to be present again in the Middle East, and the effective and influential role of China in the Persian Gulf, have made America's offshore balancing strategy challenging. to face serious problems.