Why is the US ‘removing’ military assets from the Gulf?

President Biden has ordered the Pentagon to remove some United States military assets and forces from the Gulf, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

At least three Patriot anti-missile batteries have reportedly been withdrawn, including one from a base in Saudi Arabia.

Biden has pledged to recalibrate US-Saudi ties since taking office in January, including freezing the sale of some weapons used by the kingdom in the war in Yemen. But his administration also says it does not want to destroy the relationship. It says it will still continue to help Saudi Arabia defend itself against increasing attacks from Yemen.

So, is this a shift in military strategy? And what does it mean for security in this volatile region?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra

Guests:

Douglas Ollivant – Retired army officer and senior fellow with the Future of War Project at New America

Andreas Krieg – Assistant professor in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London; co-author of Surrogate Warfare: The Transformation of War in the Twenty-First Century

Hussein Ibish – Senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington