International Involvement in the Middle East

The United States remains the most influential international element in the Middle East. This is so notwithstanding its relative weakening internationally and the slow move of the international system towards a more multi-polar dynamic, the involvement of additional actors in the Middle East, and the American failures in the region. The influence of the United States is based on its political, economic, and military weight; its determination to persevere in its involvement and spearhead processes; and the fact that states in the region simply need the United States. For the most part, other international elements conduct their Middle East policy in coordination with or with reference to American policy.