U.S. President Joe Biden, with long experience in foreign policy, is likely to understand that contemporary Middle East issues are interrelated. Focusing on Biden's first 100 days in office, this study used a comparative analysis approach with the aim of assessing the significance of Biden's foreign policy, how a renewed American commitment to global engagement might help in addressing Gulf issues, and to determine Biden's priorities in the Gulf and how he is likely to deal with U.S. Gulf allies on issues such as human rights, the Yemen war, and the Iranian nuclear deal. It appears that Biden intends the U.S. to play a more active role globally but with an understanding that the U.S. will be less inclined to pursue unilateral action or use force to deal with foreign policy challenges. Only with the collaboration of allies in the region and around the world will the U.S. be able to pursue the multiple initiatives needed to address the legitimate security concerns of the Arab Gulf states while advancing human rights.

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Following are excerpts from an April 20, 1999, conference convened by the Middle East Policy Council. The papers these presentations are drawn from will be published as a book, forthcoming in 1999.

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In light of the challenges, difficulties, and risks facing the United States, and the inherited pitfalls at the local and global levels, this research aims to examine the credibility of Joe Biden’s foreign policy campaign promises towards the region after one- year in office. The aim is to analyze the U.S. behavior towards the Middle East based on Hans Morgenthau’s approach to the pursuance of the national interest at all cost. The hypothesis is that Biden’s Administration will follow a permanent interest approach towards the Middle East which has been constant over long periods of time. The U.S. policy towards the Arab world has remained remarkably consistent across administrations ever since the discovery of the region’s energy resources. This analysis suggests that the desire to shift U.S. foreign policy emphasis from the troubled Middle East to south Asia[i] is a persisting foreign policy objective under Biden. However, the new focus on Asia Pacific and de-prioritization of the Middle East in U.S. foreign policy does not negate the assumption that the region, due to its geopolitical importance, will continue to enjoy and attract significant U.S. attention. Joe Biden’s Administration has been pragmatic in its approach towards the region abandoning the “American values” of democratization and human rights in pursuance of national interest.[i] The U.S.- UK nuclear submarines deal with Australia is an example of Biden’s administration policy to contain the Chinese threat in South Asia. The announcement on September 24th of the Washington Declaration forming a quadrant military alliance consisting of the U.S., India, Japan and Australia to maintain peace and security in the Indian and Pacific oceans is another manifestation of the U.S. new policy to deter Chinese threat in the south Asia region.