US leaving oil-for-security approach, not Middle East: Envoy Tom Barrack

Doha, Qatar — The United States is moving away from its traditional security-for-oil relationship with the Middle East and no longer seeks to dominate the region, senior US diplomat Tom Barrack has said.However, it was not abandoning the Middle East, he added, speaking at the Global Security Forum in Doha on Tuesday — but rather reassessing its role, after years of attempts to reshape governments across the region.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Qatar to unveil regional defence partnershiplist 2 of 3Houthi attack on Yemen army camp in Shabwa kills at least 53: reportslist 3 of 3Saudi Arabia cancels 2026 ‘Davos in the Desert’ amid Houthi attacksend of list“The US no longer wants to own,” said Barrack, who serves as US Ambassador to Turkiye and Special Envoy for Syria. “The bargain is not to control, but to not leave. We’re not leaving.”Barrack acknowledged that regional countries were increasingly recognising the limits of US involvement.“Everybody is saying: OK, I can’t rely on America to solve all my problems,” he said.Barrack questioned the effectiveness of previous interventions, saying that the US had been involved in 23 regime changes across the wider Middle East...