Strategic Absence

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The recent presidential elections have highlighted international policies, and the support or disapproval of government action overseas, such as the Iraq war. As supportment over the Iraq war has led to questions over United States involvement in the Middle East. Americans today tend to strongly believe on one stance or another, however there is indecisiveness over the more recent question if the United States should remain in the Middle East, especially when it comes to the issues of geopolitics, radical organizations, and an in-depth look at current United States policies.
When it comes to the topic of the Middle East, most economists would agree that oil has been a central focus of United States affairs. This is in part due to the dependence …show more content…

As President Barack Obama has implemented a policy of strategic absence in Northern Africa and the Middle East. As Paul Williams emphasizes in his writing “President Obama’s Approach to the Middle East and North Africa: Strategic Absence” defines the term strategic absence as. “ The term Strategic Absence is used to describe political behavior that arises from a belief that sometimes, in foreign affairs, it is better to be absent rather than present.” (President Obama’s Approach to the Middle East and North Africa: Strategic Absence). However this policy has been disastrous to multiple nations, and caused severe problems such as Yemen becoming a power-struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia, that has led to air-strikes killing numerous citizens, tensions between Tunisia and Libya, and instability in Iraq (President Obama’s Approach to the Middle East and North Africa: Strategic Absence). Of course, many will most likely disagree with this assertion that the United States should not implement a strategic absence, seeing the controversy of going into the Middle East in the beginning, and the criticism faced by President Barack Obama by not removing troops fast enough from the Middle

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