The American Factor Behind The Radical Change In The Middle East

A political radical change took place in the Arab world at the end of2010and is still going on. The change has changed the Middle East political map and involved interests of outside powers including China. Among them America has most direct relations with this accident.The American factors behind this change consist of three parts:the far, close and direct factors. The far factors determined American interests in the change. And these interests are the same as those since the end of the cold war. These traditional interests are as follows:to keep Israel safe, to fight against terrorism, to stop the proliferation of massive destruction weapons, to keep oil safety, to export west democracy, and to keep American hegemony in the region. The details of American Middle East policies have changed with time since the end of cold war, however, the mainstream American interests, i.e., the above-mentioned interests never changed. Facing challenges from this change, America tried its best to keep these interests intact.The development of the Middle East policies from Clinton to Obama is the close factor. Among them, Bush’s and Obama’s strategy to make Middle East democratic, Obama’s policy to make American strategic focus move from Middle East to East Asia, and the decline of American influence in the region, contributed directly to this radical change. Bush administration regarded democratization as the fundamental means to uproot terrorism. As is obama. Democratization effort for over10years in the region encouraged and fostered pro-west democrats in the Arab world, resulting in the "arab spring", as is called in the west media. As regard to foreign policy, Bush administration focused anti-terrorism and made the middle east the center of his anti-terrorist strategy. The side-effect is decrease of American capabilities and its influence in the region. Obama learned from this lesson and reduce American military existence in the region and made American strategic focus eastward to the east Asia to contain China’s rise. The result is decrease of American control of the region affairs. So shook the rule of pro-American political strongmen and encouraged rise of the political Islam.Since the radical change happened, Obama has kept a policy called "Obama doctrine". The content of the policy is as follows:don’t lead military intervention while encouraging European and Arab allies to lead; make the military intervention dependent on UN’s empowering; to use diplomatic, economic and internet means to influence Arab countries in the change, and carry a realistic attitude toward political Islam. These policies have softened political Islam’s hatred to America. However, these policies can’t stop the trend of decreasing American influence.