With the discord in the Middle East and North Africa seemingly reaching a fever-pitch, Arab leaders are stepping up efforts to take some control back.

At the Arab League Summit in the Egyptian town of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the creation of a “joint Arab military force” to counter the various extremist movements in the region.

While constructing a unified military coalition will take time, it could prove to be a critical step in combating such threats as ISIS and the sectarian violence in Yemen.

Yet while Arab efforts point to a renewed commitment to a focused mission, America’s strategy in the region has taken on a more haphazard tone.

In Iraq, U.S. airstrikes against ISIS-held Tikrit suggest a tacit (if not more) cooperation with Shiite militias, many of them backed by Iran. Yet in Yemen, U.S. intelligence support is aiding Saudi Arabian airstrikes–against Shiite militias, many of them backed by Iran.

And, oh yeah…there’s still the whole nuclear-negotiation-with-Iran-thing going on.

If only U.S. policy towards the region could always be this straightforward.