NOLAN FINLEY

Editor’s Note: Russia fills void in Middle East

Nolan Finley
The Detroit News

Nothing symbolizes the sharp drop in American influence overseas than reports that Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to restart peace talks — in Moscow.

President Barack Obama can count the fraying relationship between Israel and Washington as among his biggest foreign policy failures, of which there have been many. The Israelis don’t trust a president who has intentionally sent ambivalent signals about America’s commitment to the survival of the Jewish State. And the Palestinians clearly don’t see Obama as having the gravitas to pull together a viable deal.

So Vladimir Putin steps in, just as he has in the Syrian civil war and elsewhere in the Middle East. Putin is determined to supplant the United States as the primary foreign power in the region.

Having Russia oversee the talks, if they actually come together, is not good for either the U.S. or Israel. Putin has little interest in protecting Israel from hostile neighbors. His only concern is expanding Russia’s influence at the expense of the U.S.

Obama has made it easy for him. His lead-from-behind foreign policy approach, which for the first four years of his presidency was directed by Hillary Clinton, gave rise to ISIS in Iraq and Libya. And his horrific deal-making skills renewed Iran as a threat in the region.

He’s perceived as an inept weakling. And so the Russian strong man is filling the void.