Renewed conflict in the Middle East increases the costs and risks of America's entanglement in the region, and despite the strategic case for retrenchment, there is no sign of a substantial change to U.S. foreign policy there. Jennifer Kavanagh of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace discusses America's costly, security-first approach to the Middle East, the Biden administration's support for Israel, policy inertia and the reluctance to change posture, the risks of escalation, backlash, and overstretch, and why the use of force in U.S. foreign policy is increasingly ineffective.&nbsp; Show Notes<ul><li><a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/2172" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jennifer Kavanagh bio</a></li><li>Jennifer Kavanagh and Frederic Wehrey, "<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/washingtons-looming-middle-eastern-quagmire" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Washington's Looming Middle Eastern Quagmire</a>,"&nbsp;Foreign Affairs, November 24, 2023.</li><li>Jennifer Kavanagh and Bryan Frederick, "<a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/us-military-why-force-fails" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Why Force Fails</a>,"&nbsp;Foreign Affairs, March 30, 2023</li></ul> <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

Arms, Influence, and the Military Industrial Complex

Power Problems is a bi-weekly podcast from the Cato Institute. Host John Glaser offers a skeptical take on U.S. foreign policy, and discusses today’s big questions in international security with distinguished guests from across the political spectrum. Podcast Hashtag: #FPPowerProblems. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.