A Hectoring Super Power

Over at the Asia Times, Spengler writes of Central Asia and the Middle East:

Without America to mediate, scold and restrain, each of the small powers in the region has no choice but to test its strength against the others. That is why the major players in the region resemble a troupe of manic Morris dancers in a minefield.

This analysis only makes sense if there was a point in time in which this region wasn't a minefield and the various regional players never jockeyed for position. I can't think of one (although I'll gladly stand corrected) - in part because this view of American power is facile. America has a limited means through which to control the behavior of independent nations. We can, at times, restrain actors from making very serious moves, particularly when our interests are directly implicated, but keeping a lid on sundry ethnic tinderboxes isn't exactly an American strong suit, is it?