December 16, 2020
Small, Distributed, and Secure: A New Basing Architecture for the Middle East
The recent assassination of Iranian physicist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh may not have been an American-led operation, but it nonetheless raised the risk of reprisal attacks, quite possibly targeting U.S. bases. The vulnerability of American military bases in the Middle East to missile attack is not new, but growing Iranian capabilities make U.S. assets deployed in the region more vulnerable. In recognition of this threat, a rethink of U.S. basing architecture is needed.
A rethink of U.S. basing architecture is needed.
The administrations of both Barack Obama and Donald Trump sought to scale back commitments in the Middle East in order to focus on countering Russia and China. But these plans were repeatedly thwarted by challenges in the region, as well as nervous local partners, and complications created by Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. President-elect Joe Biden has also argued for a reduced U.S. presence in the Middle East. It is this impulse to disengage from the region, combined with the risks to U.S. bases there, that makes a rethink so essential.
Read the full article in War on the Rocks.
More from CNAS
-
Trump’s Caribbean Surge Nears $3 Billion Price Tag So Far
Commentary
This article was originally published in Bloomberg. When US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, early in the new year, the Trump a...
By Becca Wasser
-
CNAS Insights | America Isn’t Ready for a Drone War
Commentary
This week, U.S. personnel near El Paso, Texas, tested a high-energy laser as part of their mission to shoot down cartel drones along the southern border. The resulting confusi...
By Stacie Pettyjohn & Molly Campbell
-
Commentary
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
Trump’s NATO DilemmaThis article was originally published in Foreign Affairs. Last November, Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, startled a gathering of European officials at the Berl...
By Sara Moller
-
What to Expect From U.S., Iran Talks Friday in Oman?
Video
Bloomberg's Becca Wasser & Wayne Sanders state they are not optimistic when discussing what they expect from the US and Iran when both countries speak Friday in Oman. They sug...
By Becca Wasser
