WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, authored an op-ed in Foreign Affairs making the case that U.S. Gulf policy no longer aligns with our interests, and President Biden should reset U.S. relationships with the Gulf states in a way that promotes American values, keeps the United States out of foreign entanglements, and prioritizes peace and stability across the Middle East region.
“[I]t is past time to admit that there is a central design flaw in the United States’ current approach to the Gulf: the top two GCC priorities for the relationship—sustaining U.S. military assistance to fight regional proxy wars and maintaining U.S. silence on domestic political repression—will, in the long run, destroy the GCC countries themselves,” Murphy wrote.
Murphy added: “The United States’ objective must be to replace this broken foundation with a new system that supports a peaceful Gulf replete with stable, diversified national economies and responsive governments—the kind of future that leaders such as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman staunchly claim the Gulf is seeking. A U.S.-Gulf relationship built on economic, diplomatic, and governance ties, rather than just brute security partnerships, will accrue to the benefit of both U.S. and Middle Eastern interests.”
Murphy goes on to list the specific steps the United States can and should take to reset U.S. relationships with the Gulf States: (1) disengage from the GCC’s proxy wars with Iran; (2) retain our security partnerships with the Gulf nations but reduce our military footprint in the region; and (3) ensure we only sell defensive arms to our partners.
“If Washington does these things, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will inevitably complain that the United States is abandoning them and empowering Iran. The Biden administration’s task will be to convince them that there is an alternative to a never-ending military contest with Tehran,” Murphy continued.
Murphy also makes the case that the Biden administration can best test the region’s readiness for the de-escalation strategy he lays out in Yemen, and why the U.S. needs to drive a harder bargain with the Gulf states on questions of human rights.
Murphy concluded: “…U.S. foreign policy has become dangerously anachronistic, an instrument tuned to play a song that the orchestra no longer performs. But U.S. policy is, perhaps, most inconsonant in the Gulf, where the United States’ interests have changed but its policy has not. Biden has a chance to reset Washington’s partnerships with Gulf nations. It will be difficult, painful, and arouse loud protest. But the resulting order will be mutually beneficial, advancing U.S. interests while moving Gulf states closer to the future they claim to aspire to.”
Click here to read the op-ed in full.
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