Putting a positive spin on events, one might say that President Bush's policies in the Middle East have come full circle, though, as with so much in this administration, not in the way intended. Bush launched his first term by pulling back from President Bill Clinton's peacemaking efforts at Camp David. The new policy was for regional players to take the lead in resolving their issues.

Well, today they are doing just that. Syria and Israel have begun to talk to each other about their differences in a process that was midwifed by U.S.-ally Turkey. Israel is also talking through Egypt, another U.S. ally, with Hamas in Gaza about a ceasefire. And in Lebanon a third U.S. ally, Qatar, brokered the political deal that ended the fighting between Hezbollah and the government – and left Hezbollah greatly strengthened.

The trouble is that, from the administration's viewpoint, all these developments are against U.S. policy. Washington opposes speaking with Syria or Hamas until they change their behavior, although neither seems to consider the lack of conversation a great loss. In fact, the U.S. government put a great deal of pressure on Israel not to open talks with Damascus. The results were a lesson in foreign policy realism, much ridiculed in the past by supporters of the administration, as Israel made its own assessment of where its interests lie.

In Lebanon, Washington pushed the Siniora government to challenge Hezbollah, and offered support to do so. Not enough support, though, to get the job done. The resulting conflict instead confirmed Hezbollah's power.

America's enemies in the region stand unbowed and even strengthened while her friends have decided to follow the policies that make sense to them, with or without Washington's approval. This is an astonishing state of affairs for the world's last superpower standing and a harsh object lesson in the limits of power.

The Bush national security doctrine was built around the notion that, as the world's sole superpower, America should use its strength to maintain that position. Misunderstanding the nature and uses of power, particularly military power, the administration has produced the opposite effect. The chess master Aron Nimzowitch wrote: "The threat is mightier than its execution." After the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan a lot of countries feared U.S. power. After U.S. forces were mired in the Iraqi insurgency for a while, the fear disappeared.

Now even America's friends don't listen. As a result regional players are stepping up and playing a bigger role in resolving regional issues. That is what the Bush administration wanted in the first place, though it certainly never imagined it happening quite like this.