... and enduring interests in the Mid-dle East. 1 Six important U.S. interests include countering terrorism,countering WMD proliferation, maintaining stable oil supplies and prices, ensuring the ... security.This chapter sets the stage for these issues by identifying U.S. na-tional interests in the region and the potential threats to thoseinterests.U.S. INTERESTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST The United States ... Murphy and F. Gregory Gause III, “Democracy and U.S. Policy in the Middle East, ” Middle East Policy, Vol. 5, No. 1, January 1997, p. 59.6 The Future Security Environment in the Middle East In the...