The US Ambassador to Ankara and Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, expressed his views on the future of the Middle East in a statement addressed to the countries of the region, emphasizing that the decisions belong to the peoples of the region.
The editorial reports that Tom Barrack stated: “Our message to the region is this: this is your region, and this is your decision. Of course, this is your regional opportunity.” He noted that the US and the West would not dictate any obligations on how processes should be conducted, nor would a new “Sykes-Picot 3.0” mechanism be established solely based on the oil factor.
In his speech, the diplomat also admitted the historical mistakes of the West, stating that in the past, tribes and regions were brought together by artificial borders when they were never meant to coexist. According to him, “As the West, I say this honorably and respectfully: we messed things up.”
Barrack's statements are assessed as a message of transferring political responsibility to local actors in the region, limiting foreign interventions, and drawing lessons from historical mistakes. The statement is also considered a noteworthy position in terms of future political processes and regional cooperation in the Middle East.