The US is considering deploying thousands of soldiers to the Middle East, raising concerns about the political risks involved, according to expert Christopher Featherstone.

The Pentagon is reportedly ⁠expected to send thousands of soldiers from ​the U.S. Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, adding to a massive U.S. military buildup in view of potential ground operations. Christopher Featherstone, Associate Lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of York, says it is "difficult to overemphasise just how risky this would be politically for the US".