{"id":1329,"date":"2026-06-30T12:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/?p=1329"},"modified":"2026-06-30T12:31:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:31:26","slug":"washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Iraq, Lebanon, and the Politics of Conditional Sovereignty. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel<\/h3>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A quiet shift is underway in how power is exercised in the Middle East. It is no longer defined primarily by large-scale military intervention or formal regime change, but by a more indirect mechanism: financial leverage, institutional pressure, and conditional access to global systems of legitimacy. The emerging pattern can be described as conditional sovereignty\u2014the idea that a state\u2019s autonomy is increasingly tied to its ability to meet externally defined benchmarks in governance, finance, and security control.<\/p>\n<p>Read the full article on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.timesofisrael.com\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Times of Israel<\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1330\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1330\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1330 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3-300x181.jpg\" alt=\"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook. Iraq, Lebanon, and the Politics of Conditional Sovereignty. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel \" width=\"300\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3-300x181.jpg 300w, https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3-768x463.jpg 768w, https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg 1274w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1330\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iraq, Lebanon, and the Politics of Conditional Sovereignty. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[288,289,14,25,271,287],"class_list":["post-1329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-iraq","tag-lebanon","tag-middle-east","tag-raghu-kondori","tag-the-times-of-israel","tag-washington"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook - Shahvand think tank<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook. Iraq, Lebanon, and the Politics of Conditional Sovereignty. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook - Shahvand think tank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook. Iraq, Lebanon, and the Politics of Conditional Sovereignty. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shahvand think tank\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/raghukondori\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T12:31:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T12:31:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1274\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ShahvandIran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ShahvandIran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e6f1625908d56463547f92fd7f0dd66a\"},\"headline\":\"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T12:31:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-30T12:31:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":131,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Iraq\",\"Lebanon\",\"Middle East\",\"Raghu Kondori\",\"The Times of Israel\",\"Washington\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Essay\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/\",\"name\":\"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook - Shahvand think tank\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T12:31:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-30T12:31:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook. Iraq, Lebanon, and the Politics of Conditional Sovereignty. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg\",\"width\":1274,\"height\":768},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u062e\u0627\u0646\u0647\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Shahvand think tank\",\"description\":\"Shah, Homeland, Freedom\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shahvand think tank\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Logo-Shahvand.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/Logo-Shahvand.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Shahvand think tank\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/raghukondori\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ShahvandIran\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e6f1625908d56463547f92fd7f0dd66a\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/shahvand.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook - Shahvand think tank","description":"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook. Iraq, Lebanon, and the Politics of Conditional Sovereignty. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook - Shahvand think tank","og_description":"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook. Iraq, Lebanon, and the Politics of Conditional Sovereignty. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel","og_url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/","og_site_name":"Shahvand think tank","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/raghukondori","article_published_time":"2026-06-30T12:31:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-30T12:31:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1274,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ShahvandIran","twitter_site":"@ShahvandIran","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e6f1625908d56463547f92fd7f0dd66a"},"headline":"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook","datePublished":"2026-06-30T12:31:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-30T12:31:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/"},"wordCount":131,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg","keywords":["Iraq","Lebanon","Middle East","Raghu Kondori","The Times of Israel","Washington"],"articleSection":["Essay"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/","name":"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook - Shahvand think tank","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-30T12:31:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-30T12:31:26+00:00","description":"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook. Iraq, Lebanon, and the Politics of Conditional Sovereignty. By Raghu Kondori in The Times of Israel","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg","width":1274,"height":768},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/washingtons-new-middle-east-playbook\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u062e\u0627\u0646\u0647","item":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Washington\u2019s New Middle East Playbook"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/","name":"Shahvand think tank","description":"Shah, Homeland, Freedom","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#organization","name":"Shahvand think tank","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Logo-Shahvand.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/04\/Logo-Shahvand.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Shahvand think tank"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/raghukondori","https:\/\/x.com\/ShahvandIran"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/e6f1625908d56463547f92fd7f0dd66a","name":"admin","sameAs":["https:\/\/shahvand.org"],"url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/HL_wLv1W0AA08n3.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1331,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1329\/revisions\/1331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shahvand.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}