"The removal of Hamas, an organization that firmly rejects all compromise or accommodation, would enhance the odds that peace could be achieved."

Washington has pursued a policy cooperating with Beijing where interests overlapped—but the dynamics in the Asia-Pacific are changing.

A thawing of relations with the West may well go far in uniting minority groups in the Middle East with the same strategic interest: opposition to Sunni rule.

An old threat is becoming even deadlier—and portable.