Упрощенная HTML-версия
Author : Ye. Biryukov
Assistant Professor, Moscow State Institute (University) of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Russian Federation, Candidate of Science (Economics)
IN THE UNITED STATES, over 200 research institutes, centers and
groups are engaged in studying the situation in the Middle East, fore-
casting future developments and identifying the means and methods
of channeling them in the right direction. The arsenal of instruments
used for this purpose is highly varied: on the whole, the measures
Americans apply to the target countries can be described as either
containment or engagement.
The containment strategy relies on international isolation of the target
country with the help of political coalitions, sanctions and the use of
force, first, to prevent unwelcome actions or, at least, reduce their ef-
ficiency and, second, to coerce the country change its policies.
The so-called Islamic State (banned in Russia) is not an independent phenomenon; it is yet an-
other scenario (after the Arab revolutions) of America's policy in the Middle East and other re-
gions.
On the whole, the entire body of what has been written so far about the measures the U.S. uses
when dealing with hostile states can be summed up as 20 methods of containment and engage-
ment. The former includes: (1) physical liquidation of leaders; (2) revolutions and coups; (3)
promotion of all sorts of programs of developing democracy or (4) support of the opposition;
(5) democratic regime change; (6) wars; (7) special operations; (8) regional coalitions; (9) proxy
wars; (10) diplomatic methods; (11) economic and other sanctions; (12) disengagement. Engage-
ment is achieved through (13) encouraging economic development of the target country; (14)
profitable involvement into international trade; (15) setting up non-inclusive trade blocs; (16)
bringing its own "agents" to power in the target country; (17) drawing the target country into
the system of international organizations and treaties; (18) development of tourism; (19) edu-
cational contacts; (20) development of cultural ties, including mass or so-called pop culture.
THE "ARAB REVOLUTIONS" and proxy wars allowed the United States to achieve its aims
in the region at a much lower price and without drawing its army, on a wide scale, into the con-
flicts. The document published by Barry Rubin, leading analyst of the Global Research in Inter-
national Affairs (GLORIA) Center at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel,
confirmed that the Arab Spring had been planned by the American Administration.
On the whole, under Obama's administration, the United States continued its line at supervising
the processes unfolding in all corners of the world with the obvious aim to prevent the emer-
gence of an alternative global center of power and a rival of the United States.
Today, when we know the name of the next president of the United States, the possible ap-
proaches of the United States to the Middle East have become somewhat clearer: they will be
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The U.S. Middle East Policy: Stages and Instruments