US continues to curb its involvement in Middle East
US President Barack Obama's speech on attacking the Islamic State reflects the US regional strategy on Iraq, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: partial engagement only, since radical Islam and conflicts in the Middle East are first and foremost a regional problem.
"Is America back?" This was the question many Middle East analysts asked themselves after President Barack Obama's policy speech on confronting the Islamic State (IS). "No, absolutely not," a White House source told Al-Monitor.
That opinion is shared by many in the region: Saudi Arabia had hoped for greater US military engagement, while the Palestinians had wished for greater US political engagement.
According to US administration Middle East analysts, Obama made his decision on the airstrikes against IS with restrained enthusiasm. "It's not in his DNA," said the White House source. ''He believes in collective diplomacy for conflict resolution and is also driven by moral considerations.''
Yet, Obama was left with little choice — the genocidal attacks against religious minorities and the beheading of Western journalists were too much to stomach. The timing was also conducive to his decision, as weeks before the midterm elections (Nov. 4), US public opinion swayed in favor of military intervention in Iraq and Syria.
