Are you saying any of the above policy shifts (NK, CN, Mideast) have opened the floodgates on something bad relative to the preceding policies? Or is this just a theoretical point? At worst they’ve done nothing (NK). I can cite several overdue improvements in Mideast and China policy though.

By “we” I mean the United States, and by real change by last several admins, I’m of course referring to attempts to break the stalemate between Israel and the other ME nations after the wars (six years, etc), not world wars. Necessarily time-bound. Not sure what Romans have to do with this unless you’re making a point about futility? The Romans certainly impacted the near East for hundreds of years, right?