Security Cooperation in the Middle East

The US is going to have to rebuild and modernize much of the structure of its security cooperation in the Middle East over the coming years. It must adjust this cooperation to deal with events in Iraq, and to deter, contain, and defend against Iran. It must reassure its Southern Gulf allies that it seeks common security, rather than risk taking or regime change. It must rebuild confidence in US restraint, willingness to consult it allies as true partners, and that it will provide improvements in regional security rather than be a source of instability and risks.

The attached briefing addresses the political, diplomatic, and military dimensions of the changes that the US must make, with special attention to the military dimension. It focuses on the changes in the strategic environment, changes in the threat, and the changes needed in the way that the US and its friends and allies in the MENA area need to shape their conventional forces.

It addresses the need to respond to emerging missile and CBRN threats, and to the problems of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency.

Finally, it addresses the changes the US needs to make in security cooperation to establish a new level of trust and partnership with each of its friends and allies, including shifts in its approach to arms transfers and the need to design more “alliedcentric” approaches to interoperability.