T HE M ID D LE E AST THE MI DD LE EAST
No Time to Stand Alone The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens to create a power vacuum in the Mideast—which means we need a new network of regional allies.
By Russell A. Berman
I
t is bitterly ironic that just as world leaders and diplomats were gathering in Munich in February to participate in the annual Security
Conference, the threat of enormous insecurity loomed over Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia, in collaboration with Belarus, tested ballistic and cruise missiles, clearly intended as a reminder that Russia was prepared to escalate the conflict. Against that backdrop, China came out in support of Russia’s demand that Ukraine be forever excluded from NATO, as if Beijing
Key points » A weaker US presence in the Middle East would create a power vacuum, and that would empower US adversaries. » Washington should take the lead in developing a regional security structure for the Middle East. It can include cornerstones such as India and Saudi Arabia. » Maintaining new networks of allies will require diplomatic skill, and the recognition that those allies will not be perfect.
had the right to limit the political choices Russell A. Berman is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, co-chair of Hoover’s Herbert and Jane Dwight Working Group on the Middle East and the Islamic World, and a participant in Hoover’s Human Prosperity Project and its working groups on military history and national security. He is also the Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University. H O O V ER D IG E ST • S u m m e r 2022
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