TEHRAN (Basirat)- US President Barack Obama will leave his successor a "bitter legacy" in the Middle East, Konstantin Eggert wrote for Deutsche Welle, saying that Iraq has become Iran's "vassal state," Iran has turned into a major regional player and Turkey has become an unreliable ally, while relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia have been damaged.
US President Barack Obama will leave his successor a "bitter legacy" in the Middle East, Konstantin Eggert wrote for Deutsche Welle, saying that Iraq has become Iran's "vassal state," Iran has turned into a major regional player and Turkey has become an unreliable ally, while relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia have been damaged.sputniknews.com reports:
Washington's image in the region has also been tarnished.
"What is most important, in the region where power, including military
power, is worshiped, the United States is perceived as a country that
has been unable to resolve any issue and that has decided not to take
part in the affairs of this strategically important and dangerous region
of its own free will," he said.Indeed, the United States scaled down its military presence in the
Middle East when Barack Obama came to power, pledging to end America's
costly military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This is What Russia and US Agreed to Do in Syria
However, the US has been increasingly active in the region since Daesh
carved its terror caliphate out of Iraq and Syria. In August 2014, the
White House launched a major campaign that has seen the Pentagon send
warplanes and special forces to both countries. In addition, US troops
remain deployed in Afghanistan which has struggled to contain the
Taliban.
For its part, Moscow's foreign policy in the Middle East appears to have been successful.
"There is a real military presence in Syria, but it is not so massive
that fatalities would start to affect public opinion at home. Relations
with Tehran are challenging, but working, even close despite the fact
that Iranians have traditionally disliked Russia," the journalist
suggested. "They are ready to use close ties with Moscow as a
counterbalance to rocky relations with the US."
Moscow's relations with Ankara have been restored following a deep
freeze that was sparked by Turkey downing a Russian bomber in Syria last
November. In addition, Russia has fostered close ties with Israel,
America's key ally, with President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu meeting three times in less than a year.
Egypt, under Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt, "has increasingly gravitated towards Russia," Eggert added.