The New Project for the Middle East. From US Democracy Promotion to ISIL Destruction

Scientific Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, , course: American Studies, language: English, abstract: The supercilious idea of the United States that, by toppling Saddam Hussein, can rapidly democratize Iraq and unleash a democratic tsunami in the Middle East, has metamorphosed into an apocalypse that swept the core nations of the region. Chaos and destruction became the 'manifest destiny' of these peoples and democracy became a dangerous fantasy. The United States' record of building democracy after invading other countries is mixed at best and the Bush administration's commitment to state-building efforts in Iraq is doubtful. The United States have failed at developing democracy in the Middle East - which has led to increased instability and anarchy - because U.S. foreign policy has misunderstood the formula for building democracy in the region. The United States is just the latest Western nation to fail in the Middle East. The repercussions of a miscalculated intervention in Iraq were likely to complicate the spread of democracy in the Middle East rather than to promote it. Instead of developing democratic governments in the region the US intervention paved the way for the emergence of more oppressive radical groups that hijacked the reins of power from the legitimate governments and anguished peoples' lives through acts of terror and bullying. The new paradox that Bush's neoconservative government created in Iraq and the Middle East has turned a lofty project of democratization into a disaster of destruction. While ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) has seized core leadership positions in Syria, Iraq and other places, it is putting in practice the larger tripartite plan of the disintegration of the Middle East. In the process of establishing the Islamic Caliphate, ISIL is sowing the seeds of its own destruction as the U.S. contemplates increased military action in the Middle East, specifically authorization of military force in Syria. However, if the US desires to preserve American preferential treatment in the region it should reconsider the policies that created so much anarchy.

The author is an Associate Professor at 8 Mai 1945 Guelma University and holds a PhD in American Studies from Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Badji Mokhtar, Annaba. He lectures on American civilization, Anglophone literature, English language, and civilization. He has held various service positions at the department (Deputy-Head of Department in Charge of Pedagogy 2010-2012, Manager of the Training Team in Charge of Subjects). He is currently the English Department Chair and faculty member. He has received training and research grants from Paris x, Nanterre University (France), and Jordan University, Amman (Jordan) in 2012 and 2013, respectively, and then Nanterre University again in 2014. He received a long-term research scholarship to Manchester Metropolitan University in 2015-2016. Likewise, he is an alumnus of the Study of the US Institute (SUSI) on US foreign policy, 2017.