Middle East is not US priority - this is not a sign of weakness - opinion

• Published date: 24 September 2021
• Author: KSENIA SVETLOVA/THE MEDIA LINE
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The current developments are rooted in long-term American policy that is focused on countering China in the multipolar world. All other projects, such as the "forever wars" that were initially meant to advance democratic state-building and regime change, are now officially abandoned. Israel, whose security is closely tied to the American presence in the Middle East, should take note and prepare for the future.

All eyes on China

Alon Pinkas, who served as Israel's consul general in New York as well as [a] policy advisor for former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and political advisor to the late President Shimon Peres, was not surprised by the US's latest moves in Afghanistan or vis-à-vis Australia, the UK and France.

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Pinkas believes that the speedy pull out of military forces from Afghanistan was necessary for the US, in order to focus on its top priorities, while the creation of AUKUS was an essential step in this direction.

"Of course the French are mad, as they've lost their contracts and their status," Pinkas told The Media Line. "However, the Australians have been saying for the last two years that they are not happy with the French submarines, that [is] not nuclear-powered. Australians had a revelation recently when China targeted their goods as a means of 'economic punishment' after Canberra called for a COVID-19 probe. The Chinese presented them with the list of demands that were to be fulfilled prior to mending the ties. The Americans were ready to give the nuclear technology to a country that is not nuclear but they demanded that the Australians will let go of the French contracts. Basically, the US is showing the Chinese that they are doing exactly what they promised to do and enhance their alliances."

The US, Australia, and New Zealand are also partners in ANZUS, a collective security non-binding agreement signed between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, between Australia and the United States in 1951 that was forged to cooperate on military matters in the Pacific Ocean.

Not only President Joe Biden but also former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump made efforts to switch the focus from the troubled Middle East to Asia and the Pacific, each in their own fashion. However, unlike Obama, Biden seems to be determined not to let the Middle Eastern drama drag him down in regional affairs, and, unlike...