Featuring the author Leon Hadar,
Research Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies,
Cato Institute; with comments by
Jim Pinkerton,
Columnist, Newsday, and analyst, FOX News; and
Geoffrey Kemp,
Director of Regional Strategic Programs, the Nixon Center,
and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs,
National Security Council (1983–1985).
Against the backdrop of the war in Iraq, the nuclear crisis with Iran, and the deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian peace process, there is a growing sense that U.S. policy in the Middle East has failed to advance American national interests. In his book, Sandstorm: Policy Failure in the Middle East, Cato Research Fellow Leon Hadar surveys the historical evolution of what he calls the U.S. “Middle East Paradigm” and concludes that its costs have outweighed its benefits. Hadar argues instead for a policy of “constructive disengagement” from the Middle East, whereby the United States would transfer greater responsibility for security in the area to other global players while encouraging the formation of regional security institutions.