A US Pivot Away from the Middle East: Fact or Fiction?

A US Pivot Away from the Middle East: Fact or Fiction? is a collection of essays tackling different aspects of a potential American pivot away from the Middle East and toward addressing, among other aspects, the challenge that China presents for US foreign policy.

Over the last decade, there have been ongoing debates about US disengagement from the Middle East. At the same time, Russia and China have stepped up their roles and investments in the Arab world and have sought greater influence in the region. In response to this, ACW organized a half-day conference on May 18, 2023, to discuss the notion of US disengagement and a pivot away from the Middle East, the realities and dimensions of this perceived retreat, and the question of whether a new multipolar international political order is emerging in light of these shifts.

The general conclusion from the conference speakers (and this subsequent volume’s contributing authors) is that the United States is not fully disengaging from the Middle East but rather recalibrating its priorities and positions in the region while simultaneously devoting resources, time, and effort to maintaining as much influence in the Indo-Pacific region as possible to preserve its interests there.

Editors
Imad K. Harb, David Kanbergs

Contributors
Sahar Aziz, Charles W. Dunne, Mark Finley, Imad K. Harb, Waleed Hazbun, Khalil E. Jahshan, Patricia Karam, Tamara Kharroub, Lina Khatib, Rami G. Khouri, Nabeel Khoury, Yousef Munayyer, Mahsa Rouhi, Yun Sun, Sarah Leah Whitson, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

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Sahar Aziz

Distinguished Professor of Law, Middle East Legal Studies Scholar, and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers University Law School

Charles W. Dunne

Non-resident Fellow

@CharlesWDunne

Mark Finley

Fellow in Energy and Global Oil at Rice University’s Baker Institute

Imad K. Harb

Director of Research and Analysis

@harb3imad

Waleed Hazbun

Richard L. Chambers Professor of Middle Eastern Studies in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alabama

Khalil E. Jahshan

Executive Director

@KhalilEJahshan

Patricia Karam

Non-resident Fellow

@PatriciaJKaram

Tamara Kharroub

Deputy Executive Director & Senior Fellow

@tamarakharroub1

Lina Khatib

Director of the SOAS Middle East Institute and MBI Al Jaber Chair in Middle East Studies, as well as Professor of Practice at the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS University of London