Chuck Hagel, U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Times of Israel – WASHINGTON – In a bid to calm regional concern that the United States is withdrawing from a troubled Middle East, the Obama administration is working to strengthen ties with several Persian Gulf states, according to experts.

Many of America’s staunchest regional allies believe the Obama administration is seeking to focus less on the Middle East and its troubles and more on other regions with greater geopolitical clout, like East Asia. Several Middle Eastern countries have read American behavior — the so-called strategic “pivot” to Asia, cuts in the defense budget, and the unwillingness to intervene in Syria — as signs of growing American reluctance to shoulder the burden of regional security.

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