US President Joe Biden’s administration appears keen on rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Barack Obama administration’s so-called “Iran deal” that notionally guaranteed Iran would not produce nuclear weapons.
A deal remains unlikely. Nevertheless, the very fact that the Biden administration has doggedly pursued the chimerical agreement for so long, and in the face of such undeniable strategic evidence of Iranian hostility and coordination with China and Russia, shows that the White House’s current strategic heuristic is out of touch with Middle Eastern reality.
By pursuing a calamitous Middle East policy, the Biden administration plays directly into China’s and Russia’s hands.
After much hand-wringing and clear resistance from a conflict-averse military leadership, the US seems to have abandoned its conciliatory approach to China: As punishment for Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the Communist Party of China (CPC) canceled John Kerry’s climate-cooperation pet projects.
In Europe, Biden began by seeking another Russia “reset.” But the mounting evidence of Russia’s planned invasion of Ukraine convinced the US president that a more robust policy would be necessary. Biden, and once again an element of the American military leadership, has repeatedly shied away from direct confrontation with Russia.
Nevertheless, the US has progressively expanded the weapons it provides to Ukraine. At this point, fighter aircraft are virtually the only capability the US has refused to provide. Ukraine now fields American barrel artillery, precision-guided shells, long-range rocket artillery, and anti-radiation missiles.
Now that Ukraine has demonstrated its will to fight, the Biden administration seems committed to staying the course until Russia’s invasion is defeated.
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