Christine Wormuth, former undersecretary of Defense for policy, said, “one of the reasons we’re not seen as an honest broker” any longer in the Middle East is Washington appears to be “all-in for Saudi Arabia; all in for Israel.”

Wormuth, a former top policy official at the Defense Department during the Obama administration, recently led Biden’s Pentagon agency review team.

As the Pentagon’s policy chief, Wormuth worked to carry out Obama’s pivot to the Asia-Pacific, and shaped the U.S. military’s counter-ISIS campaign alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin,

Wormuth led the Biden-Harris defense agency review and was previously under secretary of defense for policy during the Obama administration from 2014 to 2016. She also led the Biden-Harris Defense Agency Review Team in January 2021

If confirmed by the Senate, Christine Wormuth will be the first woman to serve as Secretary of the Army. On Monday, April 12, the White House announced President Biden’s intent to nominate 11 members of his Administration to lead on national security and law enforcement at both the White House and across key agencies with Wormuth being one of the many women announced.

Wormuth praised Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s probing of each combatant commander on how they can make their operations more efficient and allow the United States to concentrate more of its forces to the Indo-Pacific. She noted it was time for such a re-evaluation since the United States is no longer as dependent on Middle Eastern sources of energy as it was even five years ago.

Wormuth , For the Middle East, that may mean “a warm-basing approach” rather than large installations with substantial numbers of service members. This approach places more emphasis on missile defense, naval capabilities and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets. Washington also must make new moves in diplomacy and economic development to remain an “important player” in the region.