U.S. Foreign Policy -- Middle Essay

S.; b) assess correctly the readiness of America's partners to back up the sanctions; and c) engender the support of minor trading partners ("black knights") to increase their willingness to trade with Iran as the big players leave in obedience to the U.S. led sanctions (Kozhanov, 145).

The Russian writer uses some of the space in his article to review the history of U.S. sanctions against Iran, and mentions a brief thaw in the bitterness between the two countries. That came in 1998, when a team of American wrestlers visited Tehran and were welcomed with flowers. In that moment of detente, the U.S. lifted the ban on exported medical and agricultural goods to Iran, and allowed imports (dried fruits, caviar, and carpets) from Iran into the U.S. But along came the new Iranian president, hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who took up the slogan "Death to Israel and the U.S.A." And made radically provocative remarks, saying, for example, the Holocaust is a lie. He vowed to build a nuclear weapon, and notwithstanding his later denials, right now the biggest threat to America's ally Israel, and to stability in the Middle East, is Iran's nuclear program. And of course, posing a lethal threat to peace is the man many suspect would launch a nuclear strike against Israel if he had the weapons, Ahmadinejad.

Among the big challenges for Arab Spring nations that hope to emerge from the turmoil with democratic institutions in place -- and for U.S. interests -- is that while polls show "broad support" for democracy, even "sophisticated and educated Arabs" like journalists have "…an uncertain mastery of democracy" (Muravchik, 2011, p. 30). The educated in Egypt and elsewhere know "…still less about economics" which is troubling because economics is a "necessary adjunct to any democratic system" in a "relatively free market" (Muravchik, 30). The reason for the lack of understanding of economics, Muravchik explains, is that "great pools of wealth abound" in the Middle East but little of it is created "through human labor or ingenuity" -- it simply "seeps from the ground."

And wealth can keep societies like Saudi Arabia under the thumb of royalty that controls money and social behavior. For example, during the Arab Spring, Saudi leaders quickly started handing out $36 billion from reserves to fund: pay raises; housing subsidies; and other benefits for Saudi citizens (Muravchik, 30).

In conclusion, when Saudi Arabia spent $36 billion to keep the peace that was good news for the United States, because the Saudi government is America's strongest Arab ally. If Saudi Arabia becomes politically chaotic, it threatens America's military bases in that country, and further shakes up the political situation in the Middle East, which is already shaking like a massive social earthquake has struck the region. What will the political changes in the Middle East mean as far as U.S. foreign policy in that region? That is an open question, but the Obama Administration is focused like a laser on the region and within a year or so there may be answers as to whether some of the newly formed regimes (Egypt, Libya, et al.) will be friend or foe.

Works Cited

Economist. (2011). The Wretched Middle East. 401(8763), 1-3. Retrieved January 23, 2012,

From EbscoHost.com.

Kozhanov, Nikolay a. (2011). U.S. Economic Sanctions Against Iran: Undermined by External

Factors. Middle East Policy, XVIII (3), 144-158.

Muravchik, Joshua. (2011). Neoconservatives and the Arab Spring. Commentary, 132(2),….....