Is it over for America in the Middle East?

Middle East Strategy at Harvard (MESH) asks the question: Is the American era in the Middle East over? The argument was first made by Richard Haass in a Foreign Affairs article published in 2006.

The American era in the Middle East… has ended…. It is one of history’s ironies that the first war in Iraq, a war of necessity, marked the beginning of the American era in the Middle East and the second Iraq war, a war of choice, has precipitated its end…. The United States will continue to enjoy more influence in the region than any other outside power, but its influence will be reduced from what it once was.

J. Scott Carpenter, Lawrence Freedman, Mark T. Kimmitt, Martin Kramer, Walter Laqueur, Robert J. Lieber, Michael Mandelbaum, Aaron David Miller, Joshua Muravchik, Robert Satloff and Harvey Sicherman all take a shot at the answer.

MESH is a project of the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University. The Olin Institute is part of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

MESH is a community of scholars and practitioners who are interested in the formulation of US strategic options for the Middle East. Since 9/11 and the Iraq war, the Middle East has occupied a place of primacy in debates over US global aims and strategies. MESH brings together the most original strategic thinkers in academe, research centers, and government, in a web-based forum for exchanging and disseminating ideas.

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/2008/07/is_it_over_for_america_in_the_middle_east/