Washington Watch Articles From 2026
Don’t Look to the Democratic National Committee to Change Middle East Policy, That’s Not What the Party Does
There is compelling evidence that voter disaffection with the Biden administration’s failure to confront Israel’s war on Gaza played a role in the Harris presidential campaign’s devastating loss in 2024. The groups most impacted by this failed policy have been central to the Democratic Party’s support base—young voters, voters of color, and those who self-identify as liberal. Polling data establishes that these groups did not turn out to support Harris in 2024 in the same numbers that had voted for Biden in 2020.
The Consequences of Post-9/11 Policies Are Still With Us
In response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Bush administration rushed to implement domestic and foreign policies that had dramatic consequences for the US and the world.
The US Is No Longer Trusted
While the US has a long history of signing treaties, making commitments, and then walking away from them (ask Native American tribes about this), this century’s record of American policy in the Middle East is something quite extraordinary. Dramatic policy shifts, broken treaties, promises made and forgotten, foolish wars fought without attention paid to the mess left for others, and the shattering of international law and conventions—all of these have done substantial damage to the region and to the trust that others have in the US.
The Middle East Needs Political Solutions, Not More Violence.
Back when the Obama administration was negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran, I asked National Security Council officials: “Why are you expending all of your economic leverage, and political and diplomatic resources on stopping Iran from developing a bomb they don’t have (and even if they did, could never use), while these same resources could be mobilized to pressure Iran to end its meddlesome behaviors that are destabilizing countries across the region?”
US Middle East Policies Making a Bad Situation Worse
One reason why US policy in the Middle East has been so problematic is because policymakers refuse to consider its impact on the needs of Arab people. With Israel, it’s a different story. Over-attentiveness to Israeli concerns coupled with the lack of sensitivity to what Arabs think about our actions has led to deep fractures between Arabs and the US and within the Arab World.