Despite minimal payoff from U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East last summer, Washington has nonetheless scored some diplomatic wins over the past year. But the gains Washington has made have now run into significant yet predictable headwinds, highlighting the difficulties facing Biden’s regional agenda.
The U.S. military commitment to the Middle East has long been a core principle of U.S. foreign policy, stemming from the conviction that it keeps the region from falling into chaos and that a retreat would embolden enemies there and around the world. But the world is changing, and so should U.S. policy toward the Middle East.
The Western Hemisphere is experiencing increased migration, driven by repression, persecution, crime, conflict, poverty and the climate emergency. But thousands of migrants are caught between Washington’s continued closure of the southern border to most asylum-seekers and the dangers they face on the Mexican side of the border.
