A report
published by the American Foreign Policy website stated that the US President, Joe Biden, has begun to bring experts to the White House to deal with the renewed fluctuations in the Middle East, even as his administration is looking to shift Washington's main focus to China and direct America is one of the costly and continuous wars that dominated its security for two decades.
The site quoted informed sources as saying that 7 new officials have joined the Middle East team of the National Security Council, and will present their reports to Brett McGurk, the council's coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.
The report said that the new officials will manage US policy in some of the most difficult crises around the world, but the Middle East is likely to continue to capture the team’s attention, especially as it seeks to bring Iran back to the new nuclear negotiating table and tries to broker peace in a torn Yemen. the war.
Veterans
"Veterans" in the State Department will join the National Security Council: Sam Parker as Director of Iran Affairs, Zahra Bell as Director of Iraq and Syria, and Max Martin in Lebanon and Jordan, as will Josh Harris, the State Department official who held the position of Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Embassy. Libya has to the council to deal with North African issues.
Parker and Bill served under McGurk's tenure as a special presidential envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition under former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, a position he resigned from in 2018 after Trump suddenly announced the withdrawal of US forces from Syria.
Brett McGurk, US National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East (Anatolia)
The report showed that Parker, who previously served as director of the National Security Council for Syria and Iraq under Obama, as well as Zahra Bell, a professional foreign service employee, spoke Arabic fluently and worked in the Middle East for years, as Bell recently held the position of political head in Istanbul for the Assistance Response Team. In the transition process in Syria, which is affiliated with the US government, which managed projects aimed at achieving stability inside the country.
As for Max Martin, he was an advisor to Michael Ratney, the former US envoy to Syria, whose team worked closely with McGurk.
Palestine and the two-state solution
While the Biden administration hopes to rebuild relations with the Palestinian Authority and revive efforts on a two-state solution in the wake of Trump's Middle East peace plan, Julie Sawyer, former assistant to Obama's special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, will take over as director of Israeli-Palestinian affairs for the National Security Council.
Meanwhile, Evinia Sideris, a foreign service officer, will assume the position of Director of the Arabian Peninsula, and K.
Evans is the new director of the National Security Council for political and military affairs in Yemen.
The report indicated that both officials could play important roles behind the scenes in US efforts led by US envoy Tim Lenderking to mediate peace talks in Yemen between the Saudi-backed government and the Iranian-backed Houthis.
Josh Harris and Cediris served in key roles in North Africa at the State Department during the Trump administration, when US policy initiatives in the region were sometimes upended due to surprise tweets from Trump, as Harris served as Libya's top diplomat before Trump chose Richard Norland as the country's ambassador in 2019.
Annie Rohrhoff has also been named to the National Security Council as director of counterterrorism.