http://lobelog.com/its-difficult-to-keep-allies-in-line-in-the-post-ideological-era/#more-36400

It’s Difficult to Keep Allies in Line In the Post-Ideological Era

by Shireen T. Hunter
In the last several years, the United States has found it increasingly difficult to gain the support of all of its allies, especially those in the Middle East, for its regional plans and policies.
A dramatic example was the disagreement between the United States and its Middle East allies over the decision to reach a negotiated settlement to the Iran nuclear file. Key American allies such as Israel and Saudi Arabia openly and vehemently campaigned against the prospective agreement. The late Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud Bin Faisal, even went to Vienna in the last hours of the nuclear negotiations in order to prevent its successful completion. The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, used the UN podium and a joint session of the US Congress for his campaign against the nuclear.
Both American allies would have preferred either a direct military attack on Iran, at least on its nuclear facilities and possibly also its missile sites and other sensitive military targets, or a continuation of harsh economic sanctions. From their perspective, the first option made sense. A US military attack on Iran, if successful, would have drastically weakened a regional rival and potentially even opened the way for its gradual disintegration. This expectation was obviously unrealistic, because any conflict with Iran would have had regional repercussions, especially in the Persian Gulf, potentially posing security threats to one of the most ardent supporters of an American attack on Iran, notably Saudi Arabia.
By contrast, had America heeded its allies’ preference and chosen the military option, the risks that it could have become entangled in another debilitating war in South-West Asia were considerable. Therefore, at least in regard to Iran’s nuclear file and more broadly regarding a possible normalization of US-Iran relations, US interests and those of regional partners fundamentally diverged. The latter’s goal was to use American power to eliminate a regional rival, while the US wish http://lobelog.com/its-difficult-to-keep-allies-in-line-in-the-post-ideological-era/#more-36400