A superpower rethinks its strategy. Regional powers seize the moment. From the negotiated tables in Vienna to the front lines of an endless-seeming conflict, the entire political map of the Middle East is being redrawn. The American era, as we knew it, is evolving, leaving a question mark over the region's future. Is this a moment for de-escalation, or a prelude to a new kind of cold war? On Today's The Missing Piece, we connect the dots between Washington's decisions and the social and political tremors being felt from Tehran to Tel Aviv, and from Riyadh to Gaza."

Ms. Elizabeth Dent is the Nathan and Esther K. Wagner Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where she focuses on U.S. foreign and defense policy toward the Gulf states, Iraq, and Syria. She was previously the director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, managing the day-to-day U.S. defense relationship with the nations of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and many more. Prior to that, she served as the special assistant to the special presidential envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, supporting diplomatic engagements with coalition countries and working with local partners on the ground in Iraq and Syria to accelerate the campaign against ISIS.