America’s misadventure in Iraq, its exhaustion as a world power, and its unwillingness to maintain its previous level of commitment to the region have rendered the Sykes-Picot structure untenable, because no other external force for order is available. The resulting vacuum has been filled by various currents of political Islam, terrorism, protest movements, uprisings, secession attempts by national or religious minorities, and aspiring regional hegemons (Iran and Saudi Arabia).
美国在伊拉克的出师不利、其作为世界超级大国的衰落以及其不愿维持如同过去那样的对中东地区的干涉程度导致赛克斯-皮科结构不再能够维持下去，因为再无其他外部势力或秩序可用。填补由此造成的真空的是如今一波又一波的政治伊斯兰教、恐怖主义、反抗运动、起义、民主或宗教少数派的分裂活动以及雄心勃勃的地区霸权（伊朗和沙特阿拉伯）。