Here we go again. It is almost impressive how the world leaders manage to look so busy while doing absolutely nothing. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet with Donald Trump in Washington. The cameras will flash, the hands will be shaken, and everyone will wear their serious, "I am saving the world" faces. It is a scene we have watched a thousand times before. It is a rerun of a television show that was not very good the first time around, yet here we are, forced to watch the sequel. They are meeting to discuss Iran, we are told. But while they prepare for their photo opportunity in the comfort of Washington, the reality of the situation is playing out in a much clumsier way across the ocean.

Just last Friday, in Oman, the United States and Iran tried to talk to each other. Well, "talk" is a very generous word for what happened. The reports say they held "indirect talks." For the normal person who does not speak the silly language of international diplomacy, let me translate that for you. "Indirect talks" means grown men and women refused to sit in the same room. They likely sat in separate suites in a fancy hotel, passing notes back and forth through messengers like shy middle school students who are angry at each other. It is embarrassing. These are the people responsible for preventing nuclear disaster, and they cannot even look each other in the eye. They treat global security like a petty argument at a family reunion.

And what was the result of this childish game of telephone in Oman? The news reports tell us that the discussions appeared to "return to the starting point." Read that again and let the hopelessness sink in. The starting point. After years of tension, after endless threats, after spending millions of dollars on travel and summits and experts, they have achieved zero. Actually, they have achieved less than zero. They have managed to walk in a giant circle and end up exactly where they began. It is the diplomatic equivalent of spending all day cooking a meal only to drop it on the floor and order a pizza. Except in this case, the pizza is a continuing threat of nuclear escalation.

So, why are Netanyahu and Trump meeting on Wednesday if the actual negotiations are stuck in the mud? Because it is all theater. It is a show. Politics has become less about solving problems and more about pretending to be the solution. Netanyahu gets to look tough and important by standing next to the American leader. Trump gets to look like the master deal-maker, even though no deal is actually being made. They will likely issue statements about how they are "aligned" and how they will not tolerate a nuclear Iran. They will use strong words. They will frown for the cameras. But beneath the suits and the flags, there is a total lack of progress. They are actors on a stage, reciting lines to make the audience—us—feel like someone is in control.

To be cynical is simply to be paying attention. When you look at the facts, you see that the "starting point" on the Iranian nuclear program is a terrible place to be. It means that every effort made recently has failed. It implies that the strategies used by the West, and by Israel, have hit a brick wall. Yet, instead of admitting that the current method is broken, the leaders just double down. They schedule another meeting. They fly to another capital city. They shake the same hands. It is the classic definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

The saddest part is that they think we do not notice. They think the average person is too distracted to realize that "returning to the starting point" is a fancy way of saying "we messed up." They rely on the fact that international politics is boring and complicated so that no one will ask why we are walking backward. But it is not complicated. It is actually very simple. You have a group of people who are very good at keeping their jobs and very bad at solving problems.

So, when you see the headlines on Wednesday about the big meeting in Washington, do not get your hopes up. Do not expect a breakthrough. Do not expect peace in our time. Expect two men who love the spotlight to stand there and tell you that everything is under control, while the real work—the messy, difficult work of actual diplomacy—lies in ruins back at the starting line. The wheel keeps turning, the hamster keeps running, and the cage stays exactly where it is.