In Middle East, US is Viewed as a 'Country Unable to Resolve Any Issue'

US President Barack Obama will leave his successor a "bitter legacy" in the Middle East, Konstantin Eggert wrote for Deutsche Welle, saying that Iraq has become Iran's "vassal state," Iran has turned into a major regional player and Turkey has become an unreliable ally, while relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia have been damaged.

Washington's image in the region has also been tarnished.

"What is most important, in the region where power, including military power, is worshiped, the United States is perceived as a country that has been unable to resolve any issue and that has decided not to take part in the affairs of this strategically important and dangerous region of its own free will," he said.

Indeed, the United States scaled down its military presence in the Middle East when Barack Obama came to power, pledging to end America's costly military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, the US has been increasingly active in the region since Daesh carved its terror caliphate out of Iraq and Syria. In August 2014, the White House launched a major campaign that has seen the Pentagon send warplanes and special forces to both countries. In addition, US troops remain deployed in Afghanistan which has struggled to contain the Taliban. 

For its part, Moscow's foreign policy in the Middle East appears to have been successful.

"There is a real military presence in Syria, but it is not so massive that fatalities would start to affect public opinion at home. Relations with Tehran are challenging, but working, even close despite the fact that Iranians have traditionally disliked Russia," the journalist suggested. "They are ready to use close ties with Moscow as a counterbalance to rocky relations with the US."

Moscow's relations with Ankara have been restored following a deep freeze that was sparked by Turkey downing a Russian bomber in Syria last November. In addition, Russia has fostered close ties with Israel, America's key ally, with President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting three times in less than a year.  

Egypt, under Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Egypt, "has increasingly gravitated towards Russia," Eggert added.