Empire examines the role of the US in the Middle East as it contemplates its future and fate in the region.
![According to the Pentagon, US fighter jets dropped seven 500-lb Joint Direct Attack Munition-guided precision bombs, hitting seven targets [File: Yves Herman/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2003-04-08T000000Z_1605303286_RP3DRIKJTUAA_RTRMADP_3_IRAQ-WAR.jpg?resize=170%2C113)
![The February 1 coup has put the spotlight on the sprawling business interests of Myanmar's military [File: Hein Htet/EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/h_55084359.jpg?resize=170%2C113)
![President Joe Biden and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, shown together in 2011, spoke by telephone about the US-Saudi Arabia relationship on Thursday, the White House said [File: Hassan Ammar/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AP_111027166409-e1614166643702.jpg?resize=170%2C113)
![On November 28 and 29, Eritrean troops killed hundreds of civilians in a 'coordinated and systematic' manner in order 'to terrorize the population into submission' [File: Nariman El-Mofty/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AP_21036385604494.jpg?resize=170%2C113)