The problem for the US is not the divisions in the Middle East that it must understand and navigate better, but rather the divisions within the US that have eroded domestic consensus on many foreign-policy issues. Those internal differences are what have kept the US on the sidelines during the latest Middle East upheavals.
但中东地区渴望领导，而美国仍是唯一能提供领导的国家。美国的问题不在于它必须理解并更好周旋的中东地区的分裂局势，而在于美国国内的分裂，后者破坏了美国国内在诸多对外政策上的共识。正是这些内部分歧让美国在最近的中东乱局中冷眼旁观。