Strategic Assessment

It is hard to overstate the importance of the earthquake currently underway in the Middle East. It is a shock wave affecting multiple systems, and its impact, already felt, will be sensed more in the future. Regimes have fallen and others may follow suit. New elements are demanding and beginning to receive their share as the governing structure in several countries starts to change. These changes will have economic implications, and oil prices have already increased. The shock wave is liable to alter relations and the balance of power among the leading countries in the region. It will affect US standing in the Middle East, and there will be implications for Israel and the prospects of peaceful relations with its neighbors.