The Aim of the West Strategy in the Middle East: A Historical Review

Looking back to the chain of events in the Middle East region in the past decade, we can realize a trend of an important strategy which has been adopted by the West and especially the United States. The events of September 11th, 2001 created a turning point in the U.S foreign and strategic policies in the world. Waging two main wars against Afghanistan and Iraq were the first signs of this policy. Attacking Iraq and presenting the plan of "Greater Middle East Initiative" to re-socialize the Muslim people of the region through democratization and cultural reform, were of the main elements of George W. Bush's agenda for the region. The final aim of the plan was so-called eradication of terrorism's roots form the Middle East. After Hamas' victory in 2006 Palestinian election, the U.S incumbent administration understood that pursuing democracy cannot reach them to their interests in the region because democratically elected officials in the region are not their clients. Another important issue occurred in Iraq. Toppling Saddam and shaping new government in Iraq by the Shia majority was not good news for the United States regarding especial relations between new Iraqi elites and Iran. Even the United States managed to influence Iraq parliamentary election and bring to power pro-American elites in Iraq, but it was not successful. Trying to manage these situations, the United States and its allies tried to curb Iran’s sphere of influence through changing the balance of power in the region. Their targets were Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria. In this regard the West put more pressure on Hezbollah and Syria after Rafik Hariri assassination. They wanted to disarm Hezbollah and evacuate Lebanon from Syrian army. In June 2006 Israel attacked Lebanon and waged a 33-day war against Hezbollah, aiming to destroy its infrastructures and dismantle Hezbollah. But they suffered a crushing defeat in the imposed war to Lebanon. The Zionist regime later in December 2008 attacked Gaza to save its face but it met with no success again through 22-day war. Using hard power could not reach the West to their goals. So they decided to try soft power against Iran and the axis of resistance in the region. The West wanted to destabilize Iran after presidential election 2009 and supported the opposition groups by all means at its disposal against Iranian government but finally it could not succeed in this regard. Another turning point occurred during the Arab awakening process in the region. It was really shocking for the West because they were witnessing collapsing their allies one after another. The Islamic awakening put the West interests in the region at stake. The great event was toppling Mubarak regime in Egypt. The West wanted to manage the events after the Arab revolutions in different ways. In some countries it supported the dictators to suppress the people like Bahrain. In some countries the West tried to manage the result of elections according to its interests. In some states the West accepted some changes within the ruling parties superficially. Changing strategic situation in the region because of Islamic awakening, the West tried to alter its role from reactionist –defensive to offensive one. In this regard, Syria was the good place to put pressure on Iran and its allies to improve the West position. The U.S policy is a new kind of "Dual Containment" of Iran and Syria. The Unites States and its regional partners such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and other Arab micro-states are supporting opposition groups in Syria and attempting to collapse Syrian government. It is remarkable to note that the aim of this policy is to tighten the Screws on Iran. The temperature between the West and Iran has increased dramatically and we're on the eve of an historical moment which can determine the strategic map of the region for decades. All the Iranian –West disputes such as nuclear issue are part of this broad image. The West has been doing its best in all aspects to put pressure on Iran and the axis of resistance which are against the West hegemony. Bearing in mind this chain of event, we can conclude that the West's problem is the ideas of Iranian Islamic Revolution which has been extended throughout region and caused Islamic awakening in a way that the West's interests in the region endangered. So the main goal of the West is to contain these pure Islamic thoughts and all kinds of the West accusation against resistance axis are excuses to justify its policies.