Blinken's faltering regional tour shows declining US influence

Reality sets in

Yet, for all the optimism Blinken expressed during his meetings with Arab leaders about securing a better future for the Palestinians, as well as the rest of the region, the reality of the situation was laid bare during his visit to Israel, where he came face-to-face with the Israeli government's intransigence to any notion of an independent Palestinian state.

Having discussed Washington's backing for a two-state solution to resolve the Palestinian issue during his meeting with Abbas, his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made little headway.

Not only did the Israeli premier reiterate his objection to the creation of an independent Palestinian state, but he repeated his view that Israel will assume responsibility for security in Gaza long after the fighting against Hamas has ended.

Perhaps the most graphic illustration of Blinken's failure to make any significant progress during his four-day mission was the fact that his presence in the region was accompanied by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels launching their biggest-ever attack on merchant shipping in the Red Sea.

Preventing the Gaza conflict from escalating into a wider Middle East conflict has been another key objective of the Biden administration since hostilities erupted in Gaza.

To this end, the US and its allies have warned the Houthis to cease attacking international shipping in the Red Sea or face the consequences.

The Houthis' decision to launch a major attack in the Red Sea during Blinken's tour of the region was yet another example of how America's ability to assert its influence in the region has waned in recent years.

Stark contrast 

The atmospherics surrounding Blinken's inconclusive tour certainly stand in stark contrast to the attention former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger attracted 50 years ago when he sought to cool tensions in the region in the wake of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.  

During two years of intense shuttle diplomacy in the region, Kissinger successfully negotiated two disengagement agreements between Egypt and Israel and a third between Israel and Syria, which ultimately paved the way for Egypt to strike its historic peace deal with Israel in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter.

Read more: Peacemaker or evil genius? Kissinger's mixed legacy in the Middle East

It could even be argued that his efforts led to the normalisation agreements known as the Abraham Accords that were signed by several Arab states with Israel at the end of the Trump administration.

One of Kissinger's more notable shortcomings, though, was his failure to resolve the fate of the Palestinians — an omission that lies at the heart of the crisis that today faces the region.

Indeed, shortly before his death last year, the elder statesman warned that the attacks carried out by Hamas on 7 October could have profound consequences for the region — especially Israel.

"In the Middle East, a barbaric attack by terrorists has redefined the problem for Israel and its allies," Kissinger said in remarks posted on his website shortly before he died in late November, warning that the US needed to revitalise its leadership role in the region if further bloodshed was to be avoided. 

"The immediate question is whether the Jewish state can fulfil its aspirations for freedom in the face of these accumulated arms, both to the north and to the south," Kissinger warned, "and the seemingly implacable hostility to Israel of some Palestinians that produced this latest disaster."

The problem Washington faces, though, as Kissinger himself would no doubt accept, is that, after years of deliberately ignoring the political challenges of the Middle East, Washington's influence in the region, as Blinken's latest tour has demonstrated, is today at a very low ebb.