American analyst Farid Zakaria says: Many readers ask me why the United States should invest in the Middle East (spending time, energy and resources, especially military). Citing an interview, Kishore Mehboobani, some readers have asked if the US focus on the Middle East prevents it from paying attention to (the rest of) Asia. You can read my answer below:
I think the United States should be involved in the Middle East for three reasons. One: Due to the existence of “oil”, without any doubt, two: Due to the presence of Israel, three: Because of (American) history and heritage.
Based on the tendency among US politicians, they believe that this (getting involved in Middle East issues) is part of the task that we have to do. We are the guardians of the Strait of Hormuz. We are trying to make sure that there is stability in the oil producing countries and throughout the region.
I strongly agree with Kishore that this kind of thinking is getting us too involved in the Middle East and we should (instead) turn our attention to East Asia. Of course, to some extent, Obama is almost willing to do the same thing and has tried to do so. America’s reluctance to continue its presence in military operations against Libya is a sign of America’s same tendency and concern about this issue (too much focus on the Middle East).
But the real test for Obama is whether America will leave Iraq on time And will Afghanistan leave? And whether or not the United States will make a huge military commitment to Yemen, or the rest of the world?
The United States should try to use its military power for strategic purposes such as the fight against terrorism, the United States should spend a large part of its resources and energy to maintain and strengthen the role of the United States in East Asia.
When people say: The United States does not pay enough attention to Asia. I remind you that America still has a huge military power in Asia. We now have 100 thousand soldiers in Asia. We have devoted a fair amount of our time and energy to Asia. We value big countries like India and China and we try to encourage them to join the jirga of influential and powerful countries in the world.
The truth is that Asia is not in a crisis situation like the Middle East and there are no similar cases in Libya. So it’s not like the United States is making a strategic decision to invest its time, energy, and resources in the Middle East.
While the flames of the crisis are spreading from the Middle East, Asia slowly And brick by brick he is building a huge building, which needs less American intervention.
