The Middle East is splitting into rival blocs

The region is entering a season in which old assurances are fading and new habits of power are being learned in real time

Across the globe, the post-Cold War settlement that once carried the promise of Western primacy is no longer taken as an unshakeable fact. Its vocabulary remains in circulation, yet real-time history continues to contest its authority. In the space left behind, many states are seeking a different idea of order, one that...