【明報文章】The Middle East is in crisis. Increasingly it seems to be more of a long-term process rather than an aberration, as many thought when the war in Gaza began. The conflict and the spiralling tensions between Israel and Iran keeps the region highly unstable. The Gaza war also prevented quick Israeli-Arab reconciliation ardently championed by the United States. Moreover, amid the crisis China and Russia have further further expanded their diplomatic engagement with the Middle East.