Analysis: Others Competing for Influence

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi listens to Sheik Saleh bin Humaid, the head of Saudi consultative council and Imam of Mecca great mosque, during her visit to the Saudi consultative council, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, April 5, 2007. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (Amr Nabil - AP)

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi engages Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus and passes him a peace message from Israel. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad frees 15 British captives, defusing a crisis with Britain. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah moves to take the lead in pressing for Mideast peace.

The missing thread in these international developments? President Bush.

Bush opposed Pelosi's visit to Syria. Other than labeling the British sailors "hostages," he stayed on the sidelines in the standoff between Iran and Britain. And Abdullah's surge of diplomatic activity _ declaring the U.S. presence in Iraq illegal and reviving a Palestinian-Israel peace overture _ signaled that Saudi Arabia would no longer take a back seat to its longtime ally the United States.

In a Rose Garden news conference this week, Bush disputed that he was becoming increasingly isolated _ even in his own party _ and portrayed himself as a strong leader determined to keep Iraq from becoming a "cauldron of chaos."

But the world keeps turning. As Bush remains locked in a standoff with the Democratic-led Congress over Iraq spending and resists direct talks with Syria, Iran and the Palestinian Hamas party, others are stepping up to the plate.

Being the leader of the world's remaining superpower sometimes has its limits.

Judith Kipper, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the president should take more seriously the recommendation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group to negotiate with adversaries.

"Clearly, the leaders of Congress have every right in the world on their fact-finding trips to go and talk to anybody they want to," Kipper said. "Congress has a role in foreign policy. It provides the money and the support of the American people, as their representatives."

The White House is maintaining its criticism of Pelosi's trip. Her visit to Syria just rewards Assad for his bad behavior, Vice President Dick Cheney told ABC on Wednesday.

Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said the administration had been engaging Syria in international forums such as last month's conference in Baghdad that brought together Syrian, Iranian and U.S. delegates. "And it's unfortunate that she took this unilateral trip that we only see as counterproductive," Johndroe said.

Speaking with reporters in Damascus, Pelosi said she pressed Assad over his country's support for militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, which the U.S. considers terrorists; discussed foreign fighters who slip into Iraq from Syria, and relayed a message that Israel was ready for peace talks with Syria. She expressed hope that "the road to Damascus is a road to peace."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said later that peace talks would be possible only if Syria abandoned terror and stopped assisting terror groups.