The twin pillars doctrine is a reminder of Nixon's government's strategy to maintain the liberal order in the Persian Gulf after the withdrawal of England from the region in 1969, which was named the Nixon's twin pillars doctrine. In 1969, the US government was the leader of the Western bloc in the structure of the bipolar structure of the international system. After the British Parliament obliged the government to withdraw from the Persian Gulf, it saw two ways ahead: either it should replace England in the Persian Gulf, or it should leave the maintenance of order to its allies. There was no third way either because the Soviets or Soviet allies undoubtedly filled the power vacuum in the Persian Gulf. Nixon's government, which was heavily pressured by public opinion and Congress due to the defeat in Vietnam, was not able to be present in the Persian Gulf, so it chose the second way and entrusted the maintenance of order in the region to Iran and Saudi Arabia with the twin pillars doctrine. In practice, the main actor of order was Iran itself because Saudi Arabia would not even be able to maintain itself without the umbrella of American support. Still, since curbing regional powers by balancing them with each other is the theoretical basis of maintaining American hegemony, Iran's power should also be balanced by adding power to Saudi Arabia. America was generally very satisfied and benefited from Nixon's twin pillars doctrine in the Persian Gulf. What were America's interests in Nixon's twin pillars doctrine?

• First, there was no power vacuum after England;
• Second, there was no need for the costly presence of American forces in the region;
• Third, new countries were created, which were defined in the Western Bloc list;
• Fourth, relative stability was established in the region;
• Fifth, Iraq, and Yemen were restrained as Soviet proxies in the Persian Gulf region;
• Sixth, security immunity was created for Iran, an ally of the United States;
• Seventh, energy security was maintained, especially after Arab oil sanctions against Israel and the West; Iran became the main exporter of oil to the West in 1973;
• Finally eighth, the security threshold of the Zionist regime also increased.

One of the future-making security and political trends in the Middle East, which started during the Obama government and after America's failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, is the change of the American intervention model from direct balancing to remote balancing or remote guidance strategy, a process that has been followed in the Trump and Biden governments. In this model, America's regional interests are pursued through America's allies in the Middle East, a policy or strategy that is also known as outsourcing of America in the regions. For the American government, Saudi Arabia and the Israeli regime are the closest regional allies to play the role of proxy. The Biden government is also looking for a strategy with the coordinates of the twin pillars doctrine with the role of Israel and Saudi Arabia. The political and security situation in the region is very similar to the situation in the 70s. America intends to go ahead with security trends in the region through the Zionist regime and economic trends with the financial support of Saudi Arabia through Biden's twin pillars doctrine. The process of normalizing the Arabs and the Zionist regime is one of the main drivers of Biden's twin pillars doctrine and one of the reasons for America's support for the normalization of the Arabs, and the Zionist regime should be considered the normalization; twin pillars forerunner.

Al-Aqsa storm operation and the Gaza war is an event that stopped some regional trends, slowed down some and accelerated some other trends. Clearly, the Al-Aqsa storm has postponed the Arab normalization process, but it has not stopped it. The important event of the Gaza war has even increased the motivations of the Arabs and especially the motivations of the Zionist regime to continue the normalization process. Currently, the acuteness of the crisis in the occupied territories and the pressure of public opinion have postponed the normalization process, but the drivers of the normalization process remain and have even strengthened, so this process will be revived in the future.

But the question is, with what goals is Biden's twin pillars doctrine being re-formed in the region?!

First, America's failure in Afghanistan and the exorbitant costs that America paid in Iraq have limited the possibility of America's direct presence in the region; therefore, since the time of Barack Obama, the American government has put the policy of reducing direct intervention in the region on the agenda and the policy of remote balance or remote guidance has gradually replaced the direct intervention of America.

America's strategy in the Trump government was followed differently, and Biden also followed the same policy as Obama. The Twin Pillars doctrine guarantees the possibility of indirect American presence in the region and will also reduce America's vulnerability in the region.

Second, today, the power structure in the Middle East also evokes the bipolar structure of the Cold War. The confrontation of America's allies with the resistance front is the basis for the reproduction of the bipolar structure.

Third, the Zionist regime feels extremely insecure from the resistance front, especially after the Al-Aqsa storm, and expects the US to take practical measures to increase its security threshold.

Fourth, the containment of Iran as the leader of the resistance front requires a regional strategy with the participation of the Zionist regime, the Arabs, and the US.

Fifth, with this strategy, the normalization project of the Arabs and Israel will also progress better in the bipolar security environment between the resistance front and the Arabs inclined to America.

Sixth, disrupting Iran's neighborhood policy and intensifying sanctions against Iran will become more effective with Biden's twin pillars doctrine and will place Arab countries in the first line of sanctions against Iran.

Seventh, it is the limitation of acting space for China and Russia in this doctrine.

Eighth, with Biden's twin pillars doctrine, the endogenous regional order will be postponed, and the possibility of American intervention in the regional order will be extended indirectly.

Ninth, Biden's twin pillars doctrine will be tested in the Middle East so that this strategy can be implemented in other regions by the American proxies.

Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, a senior expert at the IPIS

  (The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the IPIS)