He reversed the entire foreign policy of Egypt by abandoning efforts to extend or even maintain Egyptian power outside the Nile valley. Egypt stopped being imperialistic and aggressive. It was something like an immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Vietnam. The immediate result was a powerful opposition within Egypt from those who, for material interests or mere ideological reasons, resented the changes. Every revolutionary has his opponents.
Every revolution spawns a counter-revolution.
Chaos followed in Syria and Palestine, where the principalities tried to take advantage of the situation to reestablish their independence. The greater Asian powers tried to win for themselves larger territories. Akhenaton died after only fifteen years of rule. His successors were young and ineffectual and hence victimized by the leaders of the party of the old regime. The worship of the old god Amen was shortly restored and the counterrevolution was victorious.