Economist does a nice summing up of the mess …
THE Middle East holds a giant chunk of the world’s energy reserves, and also generates its biggest political headaches. Small wonder that the United States has long had an outsize interest in the place.
Since September 11th 2001, and the rise of radical Islam as the sole violent challenge to an American-shaped international order, America’s focus on the region between the Nile and the Indus rivers has been obsessive. Yet all the attention would seem to have been in vain. America’s influence has dwindled everywhere with the financial crisis and the rise of emerging powers. But it seems to be withering faster in the Middle East than anywhere else. …
Is there any hope of getting out of the “Mesopotamia“. Economist doesn’t think so.
The conclusion:
… At the same time, the two things most consistently cited by Arabs and Muslims as their main objections to America—and which therefore serve as the biggest rallying calls to jihad—are its support for Israel and the regional presence of American forces. Neither of these is likely to change. That may one day lead Americans to ask why they invest so much in a troubled region with such poor returns. …
Rick McCharles 