The Middle East is Changing, Hillary Clinton’s Policy Isn’t

http://www.niacouncil.org/the-middle-east-is-changing-hillary-clintons-policy-isnt/

To her credit, Clinton supported the Iran nuclear deal before it was a foregone conclusion that it would survive in Congress. “Is it perfect? Well, of course not. No agreement like this ever is,” she said in September. “But is it a strong agreement? Yes, it is and we absolutely should not turn it down.” Clinton’s public support for the deal sent a clear message that it was not a bilateral transaction between President Obama and Iran – instead, the deal was a multilateral agreement between seven nations that she would continue to honor if elected President.

After that, however, things get complicated. Clinton also said, “This is not the start of some larger diplomatic opening” and “I don’t see Iran as our partner in implementing this agreement. I believe Iran is the subject of the agreement.” Making statements that echo Iranian hardliners is a dangerous self-fulfilling prophecy that erodes the aforementioned credit she deserves. Downplaying the possibility of a larger diplomatic opening – and pretending Iran is not a partner in implementing a deal that required its approval – needlessly reduces the requisite political space to make such an opening come to fruition should the opportunity present itself.

Things got even more complicated in Secretary Clinton’s recent speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. “We cannot view Iran and ISIS as separate challenges. Regional politics are too interwoven,” she said. “Raising the confidence of our Arab partners and raising the cost to Iran for bad behavior will contribute more effectively to the fight against ISIS.” How can Iran and ISIS be the same challenge when Iran is the only Muslim-majority country in the Middle East fighting ISIS on the ground? Perhaps more importantly, is raising the confidence of our Arab allies really the right move at a time when they are the ones financing jihadists such as ISIS?

Clinton herself has acknowledged that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.” If we take new steps to raise their confidence level while they continue working against American interests, won’t they be socialized into thinking this kind of behavior delivers results and they can get away with anything? Clinton acknowledges this logic – but only when applied to Iran. “Raising the cost to Iran for bad behavior” while turning a blind eye to the unsavory behavior of our Arab allies actively reverses President Obama’s important progress in re-establishing America’s role as a balancer in the Middle East.

Secretary Clinton is telling Americans that we should do more of the same in the Middle East, and that is precisely the policy prescription that helped develop al-Qaeda and ISIS in the first place. The U.S. needs to forge pragmatic, functioning relations throughout the region to maximize its flexibility and reduce security threats as they evolve. Working with a greater number of countries provides America with more leverage and better options – and perhaps most importantly, it will impose a cost on countries that take U.S. support for granted.