Pretexts for Intervention

Since taking office the Joe Biden administration has made no clear statement about U.S. Middle East strategy， indicating there will probably be no major changes for the time being， and the evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan is unlikely to change the U.S. mindset.

Looking at history， the post-World War II objective of U.S. Middle East strategy was to counter the influence and perceived threat of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in the 1990s， U.S. Middle East strategy has turned to controlling the energy resources and maintaining dominance in the region.

The U.S. has to find an excuse for this purpose. It claims problems like dictatorship， corruption and disregard for human rights and freedom have led to social instability in the Middle East， creating a breeding ground for terrorists. This is used as a justification for the U.S. to interfere in the regions affairs and promote its values there.

The terrorist attacks of September 11， 2001 provided a pretext for the U.S. to get involved in the Middle East. During the George W. Bush administration， the U.S. invaded two countries and bombed several others in the name of “War on Terror” in the Greater Middle East， and vowed to conduct the Greater Middle East Initiative with the aim of “democracy promotion.”But facts have shown that the 20-year war has brought untold disaster to Middle East countries， and American democratic models are a poor fit in the region.

Why is U.S. Middle East strategy a failure？ Because it is a destructive approach. The policy has thoroughly disturbed the balance of power in the Middle East， making the region a hotspot for conflict. From the Palestine-Israel conflict， the near disintegration of Iraq， to the Iranian nuclear issue as well as new conflicts such as the Syrian and Libyan civil wars following the political turmoil of 2011， each of these conflicts has had a huge impact on regional and international stability.

China must be vigilant of a destructive U.S. Middle East strategy. China closely follows developments in the region， as stability and development of the Middle East are in line with the interests of both the region and China. BR