Shake-Up in the Middle East: US Interest and Influence in Retreat?

Since the 2021 withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the significant drawdown in Iraq, there have been notable changes in Middle East geopolitics. Leaked Pentagon documents detailed Egypt’s plan to supply rockets to Russia. OPEC+’s 2023 cut to oil production undermined Western sanctions on Russia. China brokered the surprise Iran-Saudi Pact — a step towards resolution of their proxy war in Yemen. Syria has been reinstated to the Arab League. And Israel is pursuing an increasingly nationalist agenda despite US and UN protestations.

As US foreign policy contends with balancing competition with China, the Indo-Pacific shift and the Russo-Ukrainian War, where does the Middle East fit in? On the heels of 20 years of ‘forever wars,’ what role will the US play in the region going forward? After over half a century as the dominant external actor, is the US – or the Middle East – moving on?

World Affairs was thrilled to host Mara Rudman, Executive Vice President for Policy at the Center for American Progress, to explore how we got here and what might come next in the Middle East online on Wednesday, July 19 at 6:00 PM PT.

Mara served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations as deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs; deputy envoy and chief of staff for the Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace at the US Department of State; and assistant administrator for the Middle East at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). She also has been appointed to the 2022 National Defense Strategy Commission.

Past Programs:
Catch up on context, perspectives and stories related to this topic with key World Affairs past programs that go beyond the headlines:

• “Saudi Arabia Turns Off the Tap: Will Gas Prices Spike?”
• “What ISIS Can Teach Us About Drone Warfare in Ukraine”
• “Bound By Oil: Rethinking Biden’s Middle East Strategy”
• The Art of Middle East Peace Negotiations
• Chuck Hagel and Barbara Slavin on US Strategy on Iran
• Hope Amid Uncertainty: The Future of Afghanistan, with Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
• From the New Middle East Fault Lines to Atmospheric Jihadism

Speaker:
Mara Rudman, Executive Vice President of Policy, The Center for American Progress

Moderator: 
Ray Suarez, Host, “On Shifting Ground”