Just days before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan proclaimed a “quieter” Middle East, and, with faintly concealed satisfaction, declared how little attention he – and thus the nation – needs to devote to the region’s myriad geopolitical headaches.

But now, Israel’s war on Gaza has dragged the United States back to the Middle East, and the Biden administration finds itself sucked into the vortex of multiple regional flashpoints revolving around Gaza. However, five months of frantic, high-level U.S. diplomacy, accompanied by creeping military involvement of U.S. forces, have brought little in the way of tangible returns for the administration.

This piece, authored by Cairo Review co-managing editor Karim Haggag, was originally published in U.S. News & World Report. Read the full text here.