Define long term history, what parameters would you like to use? “We” as in the US really only had a conflict with the region when it was the Ottoman Empire, that was in WW1. Prior to that we got along pretty well (see Jefferson and his quote about the Musselmen and how we are not a religious nation thus have no quarrel which was used to stop some of the chaos on the high seas). And that’s from the start of our nation.
Now post WW1 when the Ottoman Empire was broken up we started to get states governed by crazier elements since the boot was taken off their neck. We have always had allies there since then, and those allies (with the notable exceptions of Iran and Iraq) haven’t really changed.
I’d say we have less allies now than we once had, if only because we aren’t willing to ignore the human rights violations commited by Sharia/Islamic nations because the Godless Soviet Union is gone. We were willing to overlook those instances as long as they were anti Soviet, now we aren’t so much.
So when exactly, in terms of US history, was it not that way other than our brief tangle in a war against the Ottomans, and our role was very minor in that.
Perhaps. The key card here is Iran. Will Iran reform from a theocracy and remove sharia and become a westernized nation without it’s crimes against it’s own people? If it does there is a lot more historical, and strategic reasons for us ally with a non insane Iran than some of the other powers. And if that is the case the real issue is the Shia/Sunni issues that we see across the region today.
If Iran remains a hostile Shia theocracy threatening the region, than our Arab allies are stuck with us, and us with them. If they do modernize and stop their rights violations there is a high chance we may abandon some of the old aligences in order to work with them.
We really have no control over the internal feuding though, but for some nations (Turkey, Egypt, Kuwait) the chances of us having a conflict with them are really non existent.
That’s not why it was created, and it doesn’t really keep the Arabs in check. Syria is still proxy fucking the hell out of Lebanon and other areas. They are still up to the same old bullshit and that’s not going to change.
The real game changer in the region is Turkey. Turkey could actually go toe to toe with Israel, and might even win. In a hilarious twist of fate Turkey is NATO so if war did break otu we’d be compelled to both fight with the Turks and the Israelis :nunchuck:.
From a strategic standpoint, we can keep the entire region in check from Saudi and Turkey, and those nations are strong enough to roll the others. Who exactly are we keeping in check via Israel? Iran, that’s not working, and they are Persian, not Arab and the entire region is after them, Syria? Again, it’s not doing anything.
Good point but it’s not actually the same. That was covert ops and CIA meddling. It’s not like the current ones where we arm them, have trade agreements with them, and have it writing that if anybody so much looks at them the wrong way we are taking them the fuck out.
The better example would be Iraq where they attacked Kuwait, and then got curb stomped in the most one sided battle in history.
