Philip Gordon

2 months ago | foreignaffairs.com | Abigail McGowan |Philip Gordon |Elliott Abrams |Dennis Ross

For decades, the Middle East has been the region where diplomatic aspirations go to die. At least since U.S. President George H. W. Bush left office on the heels of the Gulf War, successive U.S. presidents have, often after fleeting periods of hope, ended up leaving the region in a more perilous state than they found it.