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U.S. Diplomatic Magical Thinking

(Wall Street Journal) Walter Russell Mead - President Biden's emissaries continue to urge all parties to calm down and dial back the violence. No one is listening. Biden tried and failed to get Iran back into a nuclear agreement with the U.S. He tried and failed to get a new Israeli-Palestinian dialogue on track. He tried to settle the war in Yemen through diplomacy, and when that failed and the Houthis began attacking shipping in the Red Sea, he sought a diplomatic solution to that problem too and failed again. For nearly a year, Team Biden has given its all to the diplomatic effort to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Repeatedly, administration officials have hailed progress toward an agreement. But senior officials are conceding privately that the chances of a ceasefire deal during Biden's remaining months in office are slim. U.S. diplomacy is aimed at preserving a regional order that depends on the kind of American power projection the president desperately wants to avoid. The metastasizing conflicts across the Middle East are the natural and inevitable consequence of Biden's own policies. As America withdraws, or attempts to withdraw, from the region, its influence diminishes. The less reliable America looks, the less value anyone attaches to promises of American support. The more obviously America looks toward the exits, the less anyone fears American power. The writer, a fellow at the Hudson Institute, is Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College.
2024-09-24 00:00:00
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