Joe Biden aims for a Middle East hat-trick. He's delusional and out of time

It's uncanny, the way America's declining influence across the Middle East seems to be tracking the previous, humbling retreat of the British empire from the same area. It's as if the countries of the region, having ditched one overweening imperium, are now rejecting another. Slowly but surely, ruling regimes and authoritarian leaders are asserting their independence and freedom of action - some democratically, most not - while courting new allies. This reflects in turn a fundamental shift towards a multipolar world, where solo superpowers no longer dominate. In Saudi Arabia and the UAE, ruthless royals inculcate a homogenous national identity…