The US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were designed to accomplish both of the aforementioned aims: to put down potential threats and dissuade potential adversaries. The Bush regime had hoped that after Iraq, it would go on to carry out regime change in Iran and Syria. With the region under its control, the United States could then dictate terms to the other powers that rely on Middle East oil, particularly China.

XREF: Connects to geopolitical analyses of US foreign policy as resource-driven rather than security-driven, echoing realist international relations theory and critiques of American empire.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 417