One of the goals of the USA administration’s efforts to create a NATO in the Middle East is to prevent Russia from returning to a Soviet-era state after the Syrian civil war and ushering in a new Cold War. in the Arab world.
From the developments in the Middle East so far, it appears that the US-Israel are pushing the countries of the Middle East to form “NATO Middle East”, in order to resist the growing influence and military power of nuclear Iran in the region, but also to bind the Arab countries in the region through an alliance with Israel so that the US can turn against China in the Indo-Pacific.
The war in Ukraine brings closer Russia-Iran-Turkey, each of which has its own interests and aspirations in the Middle East, a fact that advocates for the creation of “NATO of the Middle East”. A foreshadowing of this is the “Middle East Air Defense Alliance” with US-Israeli blessings to counter Iran’s ballistic missiles.
Τhe “Middle East Air Defense Alliance”
The establishment of a regional security-defense cooperation is emphasized as a necessity, as the strengthening of Iran in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen and its influence in the Middle East has increased in the regional context, as a result of which Israel, especially the Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are worried. Israel in particular is concerned because of the headquarters of Iran’s militia forces in Syria
On the other hand, on June 20, 2022, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz emphasized that they created a structure called the “Middle East Air Defense Alliance” supported by the US and that it prevented Iranian attacks. In addition, Israel is known to offer defense cooperation to Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which are concerned about Iran’s power in the region.
On June 23, King Abdullah II of Jordan, in an interview with CNBC, stated that they support NATO in the Middle East and emphasized that “the vision and mission statement must be very clear and its role well defined, otherwise everyone will be confused.”
The real question
Does the US want to establish NATO in the Middle East as a defense and security alliance or as a cooperation organization like the Baghdad Pact?
It should be noted that the efforts of the Biden administration in Washington to create a NATO in the Middle East have three main goals:
1. The first of these is to prevent Russia from returning to the Middle East like the Soviet Union period after the Syrian civil war and starting a new Cold War from the Arab world.
2. Second, Biden’s realization that he could not get an Obama-era outcome from the nuclear negotiations he had begun with Iran.
3. The third and even more important goal is to keep Tel Aviv in a defense and security alliance with Israel and non-normalized Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Qatar called Middle East NATO.
Why is it difficult to achieve this task?
Because all Arab countries, except Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, do not see Iran as a threat. For example, Qatar and Oman have very strong relations with Tehran. It can be said that Egypt also does not see Iran as a threat. We must not forget that Arab countries such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen are under the influence of Iran.
On the other hand, the ongoing Saudi war and the power competition and crisis of confidence in relations between Amman and Riyadh are negative factors for the creation of an Arab NATO or the Baghdad Pact model.
In other words, King Abdullah II of Jordan’s statements about NATO in the Middle East among Arab leaders that he first supported show that he played for leadership in the Arab world with the encouragement of the US.
In this context, in the Middle East it seems that the water project will turn into a new leadership contest in the Arab world. To summarize, conceptually, there is a complex conceptual debate about the Arabic/NATO Middle East.
Since the concept of Arab NATO excludes Israel, it can be said that the US prefers the name Middle East NATO. Therefore, it is difficult for such an anti-Israeli and anti-Iranian organization to find resonance in the Arab world.
Because, as mentioned above, not all Arab countries see Iran as a threat and do not want their relations with Israel to normalize. In this regard, if such cooperation in the field of defense and security is sought to be established in the Middle East or among Arab countries, establishing it in the context of the fight against terrorism will provide greater support to Arab forces.
