Christopher Hitchens: American Intervention in the Middle East - Foreign Policy, Economy (1998)

• published: 25 Nov 2014
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Afghanistan and Pakistan, though situated in Asia, are considered part of the Greater Middle East. U.S. intervention in both Afghanistan and Pakistan started with the Carter Administration after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The relations of the U.S. with Afghanistan and Pakistan have been closely tied to the War on terrorism that has happened there. American policy has been instrumental in coordinating the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. In recent times, political situations of both countries have been bracketed under a single theater of operations, denoted by the newly coined American term "AfPak." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_intervention_in_the_Middle_East Sudan -- United States relations are extremely complicated, both politically and economically. China is critical of Sudan's human rights record and has sent a strong UN Peacekeeping force to Darfur. Many Sudanese, both civilians and Government officials say that the interference of the U.S. and other Western nations in Darfur and against leader Omar al-Bashir is part of a covert plot to throw their country in economic (since business relations between the two have been defunct since 1997), governmental, and territorial unrest. U.S. relations with Sudan were further strained in the 1990s. Sudan backed Iraq in its invasion of Kuwait and provided sanctuary and assistance to Islamic terrorist groups. In the early and mid-1990s, Carlos the Jackal, Osama bin Laden, Abu Nidal, and other terrorist leaders resided in Khartoum. Sudan's role in the radical Pan-Arab Islamic Conference represented a matter of great concern to the security of American officials and dependents in Khartoum, resulting in several drawdowns and/or evacuations of U.S. personnel from Khartoum in the early-mid 1990s. Sudan's Islamist links with international terrorist organizations represented a special matter of concern for the U.S. Government, leading to Sudan's 1993 designation as a state sponsor of terrorism and a suspension of U.S. Embassy operations in Khartoum in 1996. In October 1997, the U.S. imposed comprehensive economic, trade, and financial sanctions against the Sudan. In August 1998, in the wake of the East Africa embassy bombings, the U.S. launched cruise missile strikes against Khartoum. The last U.S. Ambassador to the Sudan, Ambassador Tim Carney, departed post prior to this event and no new ambassador has been designated since. The U.S. Embassy is headed by a charge d'affaires. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan%E2%80%93United_States_relations Cyprus -- United States relations are bilateral relations between Cyprus and the United States. Cyprus has an embassy in Washington, D.C. and a consulate general in New York City. The United States has an embassy in Nicosia. Relations between the two countries can be described as being excellent, both sharing membership in the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation. Cyprus has been an observer to the Organization of American States.[1] According to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 26% of Cypriots approve of U.S. leadership, with 35% disapproving and 39% uncertain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus%E2%80%93United_States_relations Image By Artur Andrychowski (originally posted to Flickr as 3B) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons