DHAKA: Last weekend America announced that it was sending more troops to Iraq, Russia allegedly sent more troops into Ukraine and president Barack Obama set off for Beijing.

Ask policymakers in Washington which of these parts of the world should be America’s top priority and the first response is usually a variant of – ‘We’ve got to be able to chew gum and walk at the same time’. Press on, and the replies get more interesting.

Broadly speaking, the Washington consensus seems to be that, of the two immediate crises, the one in the Middle East is more urgent than the one in Ukraine.

One US national security official, whose responsibilities include both Russia and the Middle East, looked incredulous when I asked him, last week, which was the more important, ‘The Middle East, by far’, he replied, reports The Straits Times.

The argument for prioritising the Middle East is threefold. First, there is an actual war going on, with the United States involved in daily bombing raids.

Second, if national security is defined as protecting civilian populations from harm, the Americans see a much more immediate threat from jihadist terrorism than from Russia.

Third, the Americans believe an entire regional order is unravelling in the Middle East and that the reordering could take decades. By contrast, the order in Europe is only fraying at the edges.

BDST: 0702 HRS, NOV 14, 2014