U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Egypt's newly elected president Mohamed Morsi on Saturday in an bid to patch up cracks that emerged in their relationship due to the Mideast upheaval.
However, the high-profile visit was greeted by demonstrations, as well as shoe-throwing, which embarrassed Clinton and the U.S. government's Middle East policy.
As one of the keys to ending the enduring chaos in the Middle East, the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been seen as a keystone of peace in the volatile region.
However, the conflict has not seen any major breakthrough, despite intensified efforts of the international community, and has been marginalized in recent years due to Obama's shift of focus to pressing Iran on its controversial nuclear program and dealing with the unrest in the Arab world.
Even President Barack Obama himself has publicly admitted the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is a blot on his three-year presidency.
In the meantime, after the "war on terror," sectarian conflicts, slow reconstructions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the resurgence of al-Qaida and the Taliban have also mocked the wars' sponsor.
Moreover, the political patterns in many Middle East countries have gradually changed following the rise of religious forces.
In the face of growing tension between the Syrian government and the opposition, Iran and the West, as well as between the new Egyptian government and its military forces, the United States has to make new friends with its old enemies to keep its status in this strategic region.
The Middle-East policy of the Obama administration in recent years was described by Hanan Ashrawi, a member of Palestine Liberation Organization, as a "disaster."
The fact that Washington has long played a pro-Israeli role and its vital position in forcing regime change in the Middle East has not only failed to push forward the democracy process but also somehow fueled the unrest in this troubled area.
The United States has already realized its strategic transition in the past two years and gradually withdrawn its military forces from the Middle East. However, great efforts and serious introspection are still needed to break through the dilemma it currently faces.
