Epstein Secrets

f anything resembling a grand strategy, the Obama administration seemed, and still seems, primarily animated by a desire to reduce its footprint in the Middle East. It is in Syria that the puzzling absence of American leadership has served to confirm just how important the United States still is. Without U.S.

erg, probably choose the candidate they believe would be less likely to ignore or evade their plight. Anicic 3. Foreign Policy Middle East Lost Shadi Hamid EFTA00700262 November 5, 2012 -- One of the great mysteries of the past four years is how Barack Obama -- who rose to the presidency, in part, on

ble middle class. The gap between rich and poor will persist as a source of popular dissatisfaction. To make matters worse, by 2030 more than half the Middle East's population will still be under 34. This persistent "youth bulge" will challenge even efficient regimes, as demands for jobs, social services and u

that might help relieve Gaza's isolation. "A lot of these groups are now having to do this difficult dance and straddle these two constituencies," Shadi Hamid, research director at the Brookings Doha Center, said of Hamas and other Islamist organizations in the region. "That leads to considerable policy i

y of their sworn Shiite enemy, Iran, which destabilizes the region with terrorism and nuclear threats. For the Saudis, depriving the Russians of a Middle Eastern toehold is an added bonus. The two countries share a long-standing animus. In the 1970s, the Saudis used their enormous oil wealth to inflict pain

ah II takes a risk in waiting. "If the Jordanian regime keeps dragging its feet on popular reforms, you will see more and more frustration," says Shadi Hamid of Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. "That's why it isn't as stable as you'd like to think." Article 3. Foreign Policy Saudi Arabia Is Arming the

, say, $70 per barrel) is about 45 billion barrels, or 10% of the total North American oil in place. This would exceed the magnitude available from the Middle East. Over time, it would yield a shift in global oil-market power from the traditional producers (OPEC, Russia) to consumers (such as Germany, Eastern

and they will now be beholden to him and owe their positions to his administration," Brookings Doha Center analyst EFTA_R1_00298529 EFTA01884048 Shadi Hamid told the Economist. "What we're going to see is a temporary accommodation in the short-term. But the institutional struggle between the military an