Will The Next Great War Start In The Middle East?

Flash Point In The Eastern Mediterranean -- James Stavridis, Foreign Policy

Will conflict in the Middle East trigger the next great power war?

We need a strategy for the Eastern Mediterranean.

This is not a new crisis. The Greek poet Constantine Cavafy lived and wrote in Egypt a century ago. One of his short, evocative poems is entitled "In Alexandria, 31 B.C." It is about an itinerant peddler who comes to the city to hawk his wears and is beaten badly by the crowds. The poem ends:

And when he asks, now totally confused, 'What's going on here?'
someone tosses him too the huge palace lie:
that Antony is winning in Greece.

Here, in a few lines of poetry, is a metaphor not just for Egypt, but for the entire Eastern Mediterranean: crowd violence, confusion on the ground, economic disruption, and failing strategic communications.

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My Comment: I do not see any new policy position or movement coming from the White House on what to do in the eastern Mediterranean. The only one who is focused on the region is US Secretary of State John Kerry .... but his priority is to pressure Israel in making concessions to the Palestinians .... as to what is happening elsewhere, he is definitely not laying the groundwork for an expanded U.S. military and political presence in the region. If in the end the many conflicts in the region escalate into one major conflict it will not be the fault of the U.S. .... the U.S. has been engaged for years and all that the region has given us is grief and frustration .... it is now time for the Middle East to sort out its differences, and if it becomes violent, to make sure that it is only limited there.