After entering 2024, there are three anomalies in the Middle East, and it is becoming more and more difficult for the United States to deal with.
The first anomaly, Israel is completely disobedient. Israel has always been a very important ally of the United States. Without the military and political support of the United States, it would be difficult for Israel to gain a foothold in the Middle East, and it would have been a bad street in international public opinion. However, after the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly expressed his opposition to the United States' repeated proposals for an armistice and a two-state solution. Israel has put on an attitude that it will not stop until Hamas is completely eliminated, which is very embarrassing for Biden.
The second anomaly, Iraq wants to drive out the Americans. Recently, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said that a dialogue mechanism is being established to negotiate the withdrawal of 2,500 American troops from Iraq. The Americans, for their part, said they were not prepared to withdraw the 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq. However, Iraq has firmly set its sights on driving the Americans away. Since October 2023, U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked more than 100 times. Iraq's Shiite militias have long been militarily announcing their desire to drive the Americans away.
The third anomaly is that the OPEC countries led by Saudi Arabia are unwilling to cooperate with the Americans. In addition to the difficult problems between Israel and Iraq, the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has changed dramatically. Saudi Arabia not only did not participate in the Red Sea escort coalition organized by the Americans, but also called on the United States and Britain to show restraint in the fight against the Houthis in Yemen. In the past, Saudi Arabia has been very much in line with the U.S. Middle East strategy. Today, Saudi Arabia distances itself from the United States on many major issues.
In fact, the three major anomalies in the Middle East point to a key problem, that is, the United States' comprehensive national strength is no longer sufficient to support its global hegemony. In the context of the delay in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the United States wants to point fingers in the Middle East, which is already inadequate. It is precisely because the United States' comprehensive national strength is unable to support its global hegemony and that the forces it can deploy in the Middle East are getting weaker and weaker, that Israel, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and other countries will change their attitudes drastically, making the United States' Middle East strategy more and more embarrassing.
