Essay Example on U.S.-Middle East Tension: Unresolved Since Cold War

Introduction

Ever since the Cold War, there has been tension between the U.S. and the Middle East. U.S. Presidents have issued out policies and laws to address the situation. Glaring factors like religious, geological, political, economic, socio-cultural differences have only deepened the rift between these two regions and any hopes of curbing the tension (Jones & Sage, 2010). From the selection of research articles relevant to this topic, there are clear reasons as to why this tension has completely skyrocketed, and a massive chunk of this can be tied to American president Donald Trump. His focus on Iranian geopolitics can be considered a ticking time bomb.

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Findings show that the U.S. policies and in extent, this conflict, have been molded by the geography of the Middle East. The trail of our thesis as a group centered upon the geopolitics between Iran and the United States of America (Jones & Sage, 2010). In a lock of horns between these two countries, it is clear to see why these two countries issue out comprehensive mandates and strategies to ensure the situation evolves towards one side of two possibilities. The scuffle between America and the Middle East, Iran, to be precise, is more than just a battle for resources as one might think (Jones & Sage, 2010). It spanstrivial factors that make or break countries such as the economy and politics of these areas.

To add to this, in this imminent collision of such powerful countries (both in possession of military-grade warheads), it is also prudent to mention America's using religion as a weapon against Iran. By using images that can instill fear in the Iranian Muslim populace, the U.S. is dividing Iranians into "us" and "others" (Roberts et al., 2003). A good example of this is the meta-narrative associated with Middle Eastern terrorist groups as religious fanatics following a strict code of conduct (Sedghi, 2017).The tension intensified, and this is because Iran is a country sitting on vast reserves of oil reserves that the United States of America seeks to get a hold of.

Critical analysis of the Literature Review

What is most interesting in this analysis is perhaps the fact that the U.S is interested in Iran because of oil. As a resource that is needed worldwide, even of the world in space explorations, oil is among the few commodities with the power to shift economies (Roberts et al., 2003). Its availability in Iran due to the region's hot and dry location poses a threat to the U.S as a world superpower and as the most economically influential country in the world.This need to acquire Iran's oil reserves graduate this issue from mere politics to geopolitics. This is why strategies employed by the U.S are geopolitical (Sedghi, 2017). Even though there are several factors relevant to why the U.S has a keen interest in the Middle East, it would be foolish not to admit that their sole focus in the region is commandeered this oil and to benefit from it.

It is thought-provoking then, that through the many years, American presidents have endeavored to gain control of Iran and its surrounding environs (Roberts et al., 2003). In his presidential campaign, Trump gave American citizens a promise to make America great again by relinquishing its global leadership duties, s so that it could focus on itself. He said he would move America's Embassy to Jerusalem from the city of Tel Aviv and tear up the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) or the Iran nuclear deal that the U.S signed back in 2015 aside world superpowers like China, Russia and the United Kingdom (Sedghi, 2017).Trump, in his first year of office, increased military support to Israel and brokered huge arms deals with Saudi Arabia. U.S military presence in Syria, Yemen, and Somalia also increased exponentially.The U.S, under Trump's initiative, supported Saudi Arabia's blockade against Qatar. The president then authorized a Tomahawk missile attack on Syria and ordered the air force bombardment of Afghanistan (Sedghi, 2017). This alone shows just how much the United States has focused on the Middle East as a whole, controlling its states both directly and indirectly.

As a businessman and president of the most powerful country in the world Donald Trump understands the fact that Iran has become a competitor in the oil business against the U.S. To dampen its influence in the oil market, the U.S. has drilled down the chances of Iranian oil being bought on the global market by placing sanctions against the Middle Eastern state (Jones & Sage, 2010).These sanctions have introduced low oil prices globally, and this has protected the U.S from being affected negatively. Iran cannot export oil, and thus, the U.S. remains the primary global supplier of oil.

Relating this to the themes covered in this course, it is crucial to understand that international and domestic policies are dynamic (Jones & Sage, 2010). They change rapidly daily.Geopolitically speaking, the U.S. has fashioned this idea of the Iranian threat being among the main reasons why civilization might do not live to see the next century. What they call the Iranian threat is simply a country defending its political, economic, and geological heritage (Sedghi, 2017). Several questions must be answered in this regard. Under Trump's promise of making America great again, how is his current militarization of the Middle East tying to his promised goals? If there truly is an Iranian threat, is it only political, or is it geopolitical?

A Reflection of Working as a Group

The best part of working on this research with a group was joining all our minds into one cohesive unit. Being a number of us, everybody had their subjective view over the research (Jones & Sage, 2010). As much as there was objective proof to steer us in the right direction, subjectivity and individuality gave us several perspectives over a matter that would have been handled one-sidedly if assigned individually (Jones & Sage, 2010). Academically, personally and professionally speaking, tackling issues in a group offers far more solutions to the presented problems. Having colleagues, friends, and family to help with a problem is better than dealing with it alone.

The most challenging bit of working as a group was time management. As many of us have different personal and academic schedules, there was difficulty in finding a time plan that would cater to all of us without inconveniencing others.From a sheer amount of fun and learning that we experience, I would rate my group members as excellent team players who sacrificed a lot to make our meetings possible, let alone interactive. As a person, I found myself at ease and able to engage more with them.

Conclusion

Conclusively, it is clear the geographical position of the Middle East is endowed with oil. This is what has made countries like Iran targets to powerful countries like the U.S. The dry terrain and heat of the region are conducive for oil formation. This oil holds power to the world's hyperpower. Iran has been named a threat as it will not relinquish its natural resources to the U.S. As a group, we subjectively concluded that this issue is more than merely political. It is geopolitical.

References

Jones, L., & Sage, D. (2010). New directions in critical geopolitics: an introduction. GeoJournal 75(4), 315-325.

Roberts, S., Secor, A., & Sparke, M. (2003). Neoliberal geopolitics. Antipode, 35(5), 886-897.

Sedghi, H. (2017). Trumpism: The geopolitics of the united states, the middle east, and Iran.

Socialism and Democracy, 31(3), 82-93. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08854300.2017.1388039