Conditions in the Arab world since 2011 have brought about a perfect storm of national and regional instability: the Arab revolts challenged the authoritarian order in six Arab countries, and intense competition among regional powers has flared into an open proxy war. The combination has caused four Arab states to fully or partially fail. Their failure has created the ungoverned space and sociopolitical chaos that has allowed al-Qaeda to resurge and enabled the formation and spread of ISIS. This article examines the elements of today’s unstable Middle East regional order and suggests steps that the next U.S. president can take to help re-create a stable and less conflictual regional order, including in key states such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Iran. This is key to ending civil wars, rebuilding failed states, and reclaiming ungoverned space from terrorist groups and denying ungoverned space to them in the future.
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