https://amgreatness.com/2020/01/05/what-is-the-middle-east-in-the-middle-of-anymore/
What Is the Middle East In the Middle Of Anymore?
Victor Davis Hanson
FTA:
This reality is especially germane when the European Union, larger and nearly as rich as the United States, simply will not provide for its own security, despite its proximity to the region and its dependence upon it. China likewise freeloads on the U.S. Navy’s deterrent presence in waters off the Middle East.
These new realities do not necessarily mean we should vacate the region entirely, only that we should be far less likely to intervene when others have far more at stake.
https://amgreatness.com/2020/01/05/trumps-counterpunching-as-grand-strategy/
Trump’s Counterpunching as Grand Strategy
The president is leaving Iran, Iraq, and Syria to their own self-destructive devices while he empowers U.S. allies in the region and focuses on defending actual American interests.
Brandon J. Weichert
FTA:
Yes, the United States escalated a tense situation with Iran with the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. It is possible, though, that Trump’s escalation was actually meant to de-escalate the larger problem with Iran. Trump’s moves may simply be about covering the exits while U.S. forces draw down from the area in an orderly fashion to more defensible positions in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.