On February 25, after just 36 days since Joe Biden has reigned the presidential office, the US began its airstrike abroad. It bombed the Iran-backed militias in Syria in retaliation for a rocket attack at an American base in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. On the next day, the US intelligence released a report on the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 which concluded that the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman ordered his killing. And the US president Joe Biden is willing to resume talks with Iran on the nuclear deal which had been revoked by the previous president Donald Trump in 2018.

These are three notable developments that have happened since the new administration has taken control of the country. However, the challenges it has to tackle are significantly gigantic and draw a broad outline of Mr. Biden’s West Asia policy.

Almost all the American presidents since WW II focused on the region very keenly. Barack Obama and Trump wanted to refocus away from West Asia to East Asia, where China is rising, but they did it differently. Obama identified Iran’s nuclear deal and desired to deal with Iran diplomatically. Trump, on the contrary, revoked that deal and reimposed sanctions on the country. He, furthermore, offered unconditional support to Saudi Arabia and Israel in taking on Iranian proxies and assassinated Iran’s top general, Qasim Soleimani, in Iraq.

Mr. Biden faces the same strategic reality, with greater urgency. The competition with China has increased, and the Biden administration wants to build an alliance system in the Indo-pacific. The US obviously cannot get stuck in West Asia for too long, but it also cannot leave the region so easily and hurriedly where the US has some of its closest allies. That is the reason, Mr. Biden is practising a carrot and stick policy in the region. On the one hand, he is offering talks to Iran and, on the other hand, bombing Iranian proxies and ending Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen.

However, there are three key challenges that Mr. Biden faces in the region. First, his decision to attack Iranian-backed militias in Syria can be seen as a weak show rather than a stern warning. When the Trump administration assassinated Qasim Soliemani, Iran retaliated and shot down an American drone and fired missiles at the US base in Iraq. Now again, Iran-backed militias continued to target the US positions inside Iraq and the Houthis, backed by Iran, also stepped up attacks against Saudi Arabia after the US stopped support for the Yemen war. While attacks and counter-attacks continue, Mr. Biden wants to sign the nuclear deal with Iran. The presidential elections in Iran are close, and Mr. Biden is running out of time to pack up the deal with president Hassan Rouhani.

His second challenge is to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia and Israel. Saudi Arabia has been a key ally of the US in the region that is now tilting toward Russia, the biggest rival of the US. Moreover, if Mr. Biden talks about Human Rights in Saudi Arabia and ignores the rights abuses and war crimes by Israel in the Palestinian territories, his policy would look hollow. He would be accused of double standards if he holds Iran accountable for its militias and does nothing to stop Israel’s ever-expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank. And if he compels Israel to revive the stalled peace process with Palestinians, he can infuriate Israel which may result in intelligence operation and target killings by Israel as it had done in past.

And the third challenge for the Biden administration in the region is to contain China. China is growing its presence in the region strategically. Both the US allies and rivals know this fact very well. Mr. Biden will certainly not allow China to fill the gap.

ALI HASSAN,

Mandi Bahuddin.