President Trump's return to the Middle East this week, the first since his first-term 2017 visit, will take place amidst great turmoil. It is a region that bears little resemblance to  the Middle East of 2017 and it appears, at least from media reporting this past week, that the Trump Administration has some understanding of this reality.

Syria has been over-run and is now controlled by the same al-Qaeda that the US government supposedly spent 20 years fighting in the "war on terror." Violence against religious and ethnic minorities has, predictably, exploded under the "rule" of a self-proclaimed Syrian president who until very recently was on the US "most wanted" terrorist list.

After the October 7, 2023, Hamas raid, Gaza has been reduced to rubble and turned into a humanitarian catastrophe. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and perhaps another million face starvation. US bombs and financial aid have facilitated the utter destruction of Gaza.

Iran has made peace with Saudi Arabia thanks to Chinese mediation and is deepening its ties with the Kingdom. Thus, the US has little leverage in talks with the two former enemies.