The Middle East: End of an Era

Great article on the Middle East from the Foreign Affairs.  An excerpt:

Just over two centuries since Napoleon's arrival in Egypt heralded the advent of the modern Middle East -- some 80 years after the demise of the Ottoman Empire, 50 years after the end of colonialism, and less than 20 years after the end of the Cold War -- the American era in the Middle East, the fourth in the region's modern history, has ended. Visions of a new, Europe-like region -- peaceful, prosperous, democratic -- will not be realized. Much more likely is the emergence of a new Middle East that will cause great harm to itself, the United States, and the world.

Ah the Middle East. Such contradictions, expectations and stereotypes. Truth and daring lies. Facades of millenniums.

How so?