Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state under President George W. Bush, traveled 23 times to the Middle East in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to mediate an Israeli-Palestinian accord. Meanwhile, the Russians invaded Georgia. President Barack Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, has shuttled 11 times to the region in search of the same elusive goal. And while American diplomacy was once again focused elsewhere, the Russians invaded  Ukraine. Now, in an effort to curb Russia, the United States is pausing from its efforts to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace to generate international pressure on the Kremlin. But the pivot may prove impossible, as the issues of Russian expansionism and the stability of the Middle East remain dangerously intertwined.
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Michael Oren: While U.S. focused on mediation in Middle East, Russia acted in Crimea
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He says Russia has influence with Syria and relations with Iran could upend strategy on nukes
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Russia has played its cards well, while U.S. risks being outmaneuvered, he says
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Oren: U.S. should reassert itself in the Middle East and move to protect its allies
The erosion can only be stopped -- and @placeholder expansionism checked -- by the reassertion of American preeminence.
Today, conversely, the struggle over Crimea could further escalate @placeholder conflicts and lead to even greater violence.