End of the American era in the Middle East | Financial Times

End of the American era in the Middle East | Financial Times:

For centuries, the Middle East has been dominated by outside powers. The collapse of Ottoman rule at the end of the first world war was followed by a century in which western nations — first Britain and France, then the US — were the most powerful external actors. But that era of American dominance is now coming to a close.

The decline of US influence in the Middle East was captured by an impotent tweet from President Donald Trump on Boxing Day: “Russia, Syria, and Iran are killing, or on their way to killing, thousands of innocent civilians in Idlib Province. Don’t do it!” Underlying the president’s hand-wringing about Syria is a rapid decline in the ability and willingness of the US to shape events in the Middle East — leaving a gap that is being filled by other powers, such as Russia, Iran and Turkey.

Of course, if the Americans are directly challenged they can and will respond forcefully — witness the bombing raids that the US staged on an Iranian-backed militia on the Iraq-Syria border this weekend. But the appetite for broader strategic plays in the Middle East seems to have largely disappeared from the White House.