What is the US military doing in the Middle East?

In spite of shifting landscapes and strategic aims throughout the decades, an extensive US military presence persists across the Middle East. The initial mission of these American soldiers was to defeat the Islamic State (or ISIS), thus ensuring US national security.

Yet, over two decades post-AUMF and the same bases continue to operate, often with entirely transformed roles, unclear aims, and flimsy legal justification. Now, as tensions flare up across the region, these forward-deployed US troops invite the unnecessary risk of drawing the United States into entirely new conflicts. This begs the question, what is the US military doing in the Middle East?

The Reimagining US Grand Strategy program’s April 2024 roundtable brought experts together to discuss this very question, with many weighing in on the state of US military engagement in the region. The conversation focused on the legal justifications given for US military activity, the changing role of the US military in these countries, the self-reinforcing nature of military engagement, and the hurdles facing legislative attempts to temper it, and the ultimate end-goals of such engagement. Three experts weigh in on the matter below.

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