Does the United States need a “Biden Doctrine for the Middle East”? I ask because Thomas Friedman laid it out in the New York Times in late January. Apparently, the Biden administration is prepared to take a “strong and resolute stand on Iran,” advance Palestinian statehood, and offer Saudi Arabia a defense pact that would hinge on normalization of Riyadh’s relations with Israel.
Put me down for a “No.” U.S. President Joe Biden and his advisors, who have previously eschewed big projects aimed at transforming the Middle East, are about to bite off a lot more than they can chew, especially when it comes to building a Palestinian state, setting Washington up for yet another failure in the region.
Looking back across the post-World War II era, an interesting pattern emerges in U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East: When policymakers used U.S. power to prevent bad things from
