Analysts in Washington believe that the Republicans’ victory this week in the midterm elections for the House and the Senate will have a knock-on effect on President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, particularly regarding the Middle East.
Sources familiar with the issue said that shortly before the voting results emerged, a delegation from the U.S. Congress visited Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine to evaluate the situation in the countries.
During the visit, the U.S. officials conveyed their concern over what was happening in Iraq and Syria and the possible impact it could have on the demographic structure of the Middle East.
Members of the delegation posed a basic question to officials they met in the three countries: How can conflicting parties in the region find common ground?
Diplomatic sources who were familiar with the visit said the question indicated that the U.S. considers the regional situation to be dangerous and also reflected the confusion the anti-ISIS international coalition was suffering from in Syria.
In Lebanon, the delegation asked a number of other questions as well.
The first was about the significance of the election of a president for the country.
The Lebanese officials answered that as the president would be a Maronite and the only Christian to fill such a high post in the whole region, such an election was very important and would help in the war against terrorism by bringing together Lebanon’s Sunnis and Shiites. This in turn would thwart strife, which extremist groups feed on.
The second question that the delegates asked was whether Lebanon had become a fertile ground for terrorism due to recent developments, and if so, how the phenomenon could be confronted.
The Lebanese officials replied by denying that the country provided a favorable environment for terrorism, adding that less than 1 percent of the population actually supported radical groups such as ISIS and Nusra Front.
The public is well aware of the dangers resulting from sectarian strife and is against all acts that could push the country into this trap, the Lebanese officials said.
They went on to say that confronting terrorism required the fulfillment of three conditions in order to be effective: the swift election of a president; moral and material support for the Army; and dialogue between rivals Hezbollah and the Future Movement with the aim of reducing sectarian tensions.
The final question asked by the U.S. officials was whether Hezbollah’s military involvement in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad had boosted its popularity in Lebanon.
The answers they received were contradictory, reflecting the clear political division in Lebanon.
The sources familiar with the issue said that after its meetings in Lebanon, the delegation concluded that preventing strife from breaking out and reviving state institutions both required a Saudi-Iranian rapprochement first, something which would lead to dialogue and communication between Hezbollah and the Future Movement.
The sources said Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s stance earlier this week, in which he announced his group’s readiness to engage in dialogue with the Future Movement, was brought about by regional developments and advice from Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt.
Separately, meetings will take place Sunday and Monday in Oman between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, during which they are supposed to decide on their final stance with regard to an agreement over the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program.
The meeting comes amid expectations that after meeting Kerry, Zarif may visit Saudi Arabia in response to an invitation from the Gulf country.
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