Marwan Muasher
As the war on Iran continues to engulf the Middle East, the scope and goals of the United States and Israel in the operation remain murky. President Donald Trump has oscillated between claiming he is not after regime change to later seeming to adopt the Israeli position that regime change was indeed a main target. But without clear objectives, the war will not bring peace to the region—only further instability and violence. The history of the region provides many examples of what happens without clear objectives or shifting goals. It should be a guide to roads to avoid, and those that should be taken, if peace and prosperity are to be the final objectives.
Take the Madrid process as an example. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush realized, even as he assembled a coalition of thirty countries to get Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, that the introduction of American forces in the region fighting an Arab country would not be popular among many Arabs. As a result, he decided that changing the Iraqi regime was not a desired U.S. objective and limited the scope of the U.S. forces’ presence.
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