Few consider US actions against region positive, says American professor

An American professor believes “few people would claim that the United States actions in the region (West Asia) have all been positive or always reflected its ideals.”
Michael Wuthrich, who is an assistant professor of political
science at the University of Kansas, also thinks that Donald Trump and Benjamin
Netanyahu of Israel see eye to eye.
“The Trump administration has certainly shown more of a
priority for Israel even than other administrations. Part of this was because
Trump and Netanyahu have similar political styles and outlooks,” Michael
Wuthrich added as he was asked about his prediction of the behavior of Joe
Biden’s administration toward Israel.
The following is the text of the interview conducted and
published by the Tehran Times:
“Q: Given the U.S. arms deal with Saudi Arabia, do you
expect a significant shift in U.S. policies towards Arab states and West Asia?
A: The Biden administration is most likely to repair
relationships with European countries and probably decrease some of the
closeness of the Trump administration to Saudi Arabia and Israel. These two
countries are likely to encounter more criticism for their domestic and
international politics from the Biden administration, but I doubt that they
will completely pull out of arms agreements that Trump has already made unless
it is very easy to do so.
Q: The U.S. has meddled in West Asia under the pretext of
providing security for Israel and stability for the region. But it seems that
Washington is ready to sacrifice the entire region for the sake of Israel.
A: The Trump administration has certainly shown more of a
priority for Israel even than other administrations. Part of this was because
Trump and Netanyahu have similar political styles and outlooks. The Biden
administration would likely be more balanced in its approach to Israel. Biden
and Netanyahu are less likely to get along as well. Attitudes toward Israel do
vary from president to president. Israel is considered an ally by the United
States, but this doesn’t mean that everyone agrees with all of their actions in
the region. The United States and the region would probably benefit most from a
balanced and fair approach to all parties.
Q: How can Iran trust
the U.S again while the Trump administration quit the nuclear deal
unilaterally? What is the guarantee that the incoming administration won’t
behave so?
A: You ask a reasonable question from the perspective of the
Iranian public. It is important for Iranians to understand that President Trump
was a very unusual political leader in American politics. He broke many norms
that presidents of either party would not have. Most of these behaviors, where
Trump behaved differently than other leaders, have created a lack of trust or
confidence in the promises of U.S. leaders. President-elect Biden is definitely
a member of the older tradition of American politics. He has signaled and
expressly stated over and over that he wants to return to the JCPOA agreement
with Iran and the European countries. The question is not what the U.S. will
do, but how will the Iranian government respond to a gesture by a new president
who fully intends to keep his promises to international agreements.
Iran has a lot of potential strength, and even though it is
operating in conflict with the U.S. now, a healthy relationship with the U.S.
would actually reveal that both countries could benefit from a renewed
partnership. Most of Iran’s concerns in its regional neighborhood overlap with
similar or complementary concerns of the United States. Now considering the
coming alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia, it would be good for Iran to
begin to open channels of communication with the U.S. Turkey under Erdogan has
tried to make a friend of Putin and Russia, but this has only led to if
anything, Russia taking advantage of Turkey, and Turkey losing some of its
political leverage. Iran should, of course, work with Russia and China as most
countries do, but I’m not sure that a close friendship would work out well for
Iran. Like it or not, Iran has the most to gain by working out its relationship
with Europe and the United States.
Q: How do you measure the assassination of Iranian nuclear
scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on Nov. 27? Can it derail a possible
revitalization of the nuclear agreement?
A: The assassination was very concerning. There is only
speculation about who and why the nuclear scientist was assassinated and why it
happened at this current time. Most people believe that Israel was behind it,
but I don’t know what their intention was. Were the assassins trying to bait
Iran into a greater conflict with the United States? The situation could
potentially affect the nuclear deal in various ways, or it could end up not
being an issue. How much will Iran end up playing into the intentions of those
who instigated the assassination?
Q: The U.S. claims
that it wants to establish peace in the region while it seems that American
policies and Israel’s adventures are the main sources of insecurity. What is
your comment?
A: This is a very complex question. There is propaganda on
both sides of the U.S. involvement in the region. As you know, there is a lot
of propaganda about Israel and Iran’s involvement in the region. I think few
people would claim that the United States' actions in the region have all been
positive or always reflected its ideals, but few people inside or outside of
Iran would say that Iran’s involvement in the region has always been completely
successful. This does not mean that Iran, like every other state, shouldn’t
have interests or involvement in the region. The problem is that when countries
see one another as enemies, they see all involvement and action of the other as
threatening. At the same time, even in the current situation of tension between
the U.S. and Iran, some of the actions and involvement of these two countries
in the region, HAVE nonetheless benefited one another. Israel has its own
interests and agenda in the region that also sometimes works against the
benefit of Iran and even the U.S. If we look at the interests of these actors,
though, the primary expressed concern of all of them is security. There are
many ways that greater security and peace in the region would work to
everyone’s benefit."
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