Western policy toward the Middle East has long operated on a flawed premise: that military power can create stability. Decades of evidence suggest otherwise. Massive arms sales, military bases, and periodic interventions have not produced lasting peace or prosperity. Instead, they have created dependency relationships, fueled arms races, and occasionally sparked the very conflicts they aimed to prevent. The current crisis in the Strait of Hormuz exemplifies this failure. Both sides have accumulated vast arsenals, yet neither is more secure. Military buildups have created a security dilemma where each side defensive measures appear threatening to the other, ratcheting up tensions. What is needed is a fundamental rethinking of regional security architecture. Economic interdependence, not military deterrence, offers the most promising path to stability.
✦Some sections of this article have been supplemented with AI-generated contextual information.

Core of the Argument

Economic interdependence, not military deterrence, offers the path to lasting Middle East stability Amid diverse perspectives on Myth issues, this column presents a new viewpoint that challenges conventional wisdom.

Viewing Through Historical Context

To understand the current situation in the Myth, one must examine historical events including the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

This article is based on on-site reporting and major news agency coverage. Some sections have been supplemented with AI-generated contextual information.