...Making things worse in the Middle East Over the past few months, the Middle East has become an even more violent place than usual. Iraq is now once again home to one of the most bloody civil wars in the world, after Syria of course, which is the worst. Watching these horrors unfold, many in the United States are convinced that this is Washington’s fault or that, at the very least, the Obama administration’s “passive” approach toward the region has allowed instability to build. In fact, the last thing the region needs is more U.S. intervention. The Middle East is in the midst of a sectarian struggle, like those between Catholics and Protestants in Europe in the age of the Reformation. These tensions are rooted in history and politics and will not easily go away. Three factors have led us to this state of affairs. First, the structure of Middle Eastern states. The modern Middle East was created by the colonial powers at the end of World War I. The states the British and French created, often with little forethought, were composed of disparate groups that had no history of being governed as one entity. Iraq, for example, was formed by putting together three Ottoman provinces that had little in common. The colonial powers often chose a set of rulers who came from a minority group. (It was a cunning strategy. A minority regime always needs the help of some outside force to rule.) Thus the French, when facing a nationalist insurgency in Syria in the 1930s and 1940s, recruited...
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...Sectarianism is a dividing force that groups individuals by politically salient identities, such as religious beliefs, resulting in societal fracturing and internal conflict/grievances. In the Middle East, sectarianism finds its prominence along the Sunni/Shia divide and is exploited for political advantage by both internal and external entities. In this paper, I will argue that two causes for the prevalence of sectarianism in the civil conflicts in Iraq and Syria are one: domestic political gain, on behalf of the current and past regimes, and two: international geo-political strategy, on behalf of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and in the case of Iraq, United States intervention. First, I will discuss the concept of sectarianism, and the ways in which...
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...“Should Pakistan remain involved in the peace process between Saudi Arabia and Iran?” In the last few years, especially since the outbreak of sectarian violence in Syria in early 2013, the Middle East has gradually moved towards a sectarian regional political order.The surge in sectarian fighting between Shi’ites and Sunnis in Iraq. Syria and Yemen, the proclamation of the Islamic state by Sunni militants in 2014 and the competition of power and dominance between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite Iran have increasingly come to define and shape the current Middle Eastern political order. Saudi Arabia and Iran are both muslim majority nations but relations prevailing between them have been affected mainly because of different geopolitical issues which are sectarianism which includes different interpretations and leadership issues over the Islamic world, oil export policy and relations with western countries such as US. After the Islamic revolution, relations between both the countries ran down because Iran indicted Saudi Arabia for having relations with US. Iran wanted to adopt westernized culture which was opposed by the Saudis whereas on the other hand the king of Saudi thought that Islamic solidarity would be something that would actually make both of the countries unite. The rebels in Yemen killed two Saudi guards which infused the Sunni government of Yemen. They accused Iran that the houthis shouldn’t have been armed due to which in retaliation Iran said that Saudi Arabia...
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...Religious Nationalism and Sectarianism in Pakistan Introduction Since the American occupation of Iraq, intra-Muslim violence has become daily news but prior to 2003, Pakistan not Iraq was the global centre for violent conflict between different Muslim sects. In 1947, British India was divided on religious lines and two nation-states India and Pakistan emerged. The British educated founding fathers of Pakistan perceived a united India as being detrimental to Muslims because as a minority Muslims would be not be recognized as equals by the Hindu majority state which would also suppress their rights so the concept of Pakistan was formulated as a nation-state where some aspects of liberal democracy would be implanted so that fairness and non-interference would be the norm. In the 1970s partly because of violent challenges to the state by ethno-nationalist movements partly inspired by uneven economic development and the upheavals in the international arena due to the Cold War, there was a major shift away from pluralistic politics and a move towards greater Islamisation beginning with the narrowing of the definition of a Muslim by the state in which the state gave up its neutrality. Additional government legislation imposing uniform religious taxes widen sectarian differences between the Sunni majority and Shia minority. By not initially accommodating Shia collective demands the state had alienated many of them. The subsequent and reluctant autonomy awarded to the Shias implied that...
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...Hamid Sbai Ethnic Conflict In contemporary terms the source of ‘the troubles’ can be traced back to the partition of 1922 when 26 of Irelands 32 counties were transferred to the control of the new Irish Republic whereas 6 of the nine counties from the province of Ulster remained under British control due to the fact that they contained a majority of Unionists, generally of the protestant faith, although they did also contain a significant minority of nationalists, around a third of the population, who were generally of the Roman catholic faith. This then led to nationalists being treated unequally in terms of housing and employment with nationalists facing significantly higher rates of unemployment than their protestant neighbors. The catholic population of the six counties also faced a problem, in that the police force of the north, the RUC, were predominantly from protestant/unionist backgrounds, with Catholics accounting for around 12% of the total force, and were seen as upholding the unionist domination of the six counties, although the auxiliary police force, the B specials, were even more vehemently hated by Catholics perhaps with good reason given that due to their actions they were disbanded by the British prime minister in 1970. By 1969 then there was a powder keg atmosphere in the six counties with nationalists, inspired by events in America, agitating for civil rights and unionists attempting to sustain their domination. By the end of 1969 the RUC were no longer...
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...The dominance of the extremist group has theoretical implications for the stability and security of the region. It highlighted how unsettled and fractured the Middle East is and threatens to trigger a wider sectarian conflict. Threats of US/EU fighters Government officials worry so much that some Europeans or Americans fighting for the jihadist group might one day return to the U.S to carry out attacks, though this is yet to happen, and might not happen. While the United State government considers the threat from the jihadist group as serious, they are not precisely sure of the credible threat from the Islamic State to their homeland. Conclusion During the research, I intend to gather information using both primary and secondary sources. For my primary sources, I will rely on historical books such as “Isis: The State of Terror” by Stern and Berger. This historical book has information regarding the sources of revenue for ISIS...
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...The Future of the Middle East We often think of the Middle East as a volatile region, but for a time experts saw the region as relatively stable. Entrenched authoritarian regimes were seen as pillars of the region that rested on their coercive apparatus as well as rentierism to maintain their rule. Thus, it came as a shock to experts when the Arab Spring bulldozed regimes that had been in power for as long as forty years. The hope of the Arab Spring was to eradicate the despotic rulers of the Middle East and replace them with democratic institutions. However, this hope has not been realized as civil war, failures of newly democratic institutions and unscathed monarchies continue to plague the region. Still, the Arab Spring is in its infant stage. The outcomes in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria remain to be seen while it appears that the monarchies of the region are stronger than ever. The future of the Middle East will be divided between the monarchies and the republics. The monarchies will most likely keep the status quo (with the help of the United States) while the republics will shape the future of democracy in the region. While it is impossible to predict the future of the Middle East due to a number of factors including the Arab-Israeli and Kurdish conflicts and the drying of oil wells, most experts on the Middle East would agree with the notion that monarchies will continue to remain unscathed in comparison to their non-monarchical neighbors. However, these same people...
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...WMD proliferation, Instability in the MiddleEast, Oil supply uncertainty) Of all the political risks covered, the Iraq/Middle East threat has the greatest likelihood of triggering the other major threats. Thus, the worsening of the Iraq/Middle East situation poses the gravest threat to the growth and stability of the world economy. If the situation in Iraq further deteriorates, the threat of sectarian violence spreading in the region increases and instability results. By this threat alone, this is a serious risk. However, the chain of events it could trigger is more significant. *Increasing incentives to join terrorism The conflict in Iraq and the Middle East, where civilian lives were lost and impoverished makes it easier for terrorist groups to attract new recruits. Destruction of lives and property, as well as the resulting chaos could popularize anti-US/Western sentiment. Also, joining terrorist groups could also be an escape from the difficulty of surviving in the ongoing chaos. The threat of this new wave of terrorist activities could result in a more unsecure world, where asymmetric warfare could break out in different regions. *Worsening oil supply uncertainty As the Middle East region accounts for more than half of the world’s oil reserves, with Saudi Arabia alone accounting for 25%, the effect of an unstable Middle East directly leads to a more uncertain oil supply for the world. Over the recent years, the number of attacks on oil-producing infrastructure...
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...phenomenon, more deadly and obtuse than the more traditional terrorism associated with separatist and nationalist movements. Religious writings are subject to wildly different interpretation and can be used to justify opposing viewpoints. Often, man’s interpretations of these teachings are twisted and distorted to emphasize to their followers what they stand to gain rather than what they can give or share with others. The issue seems fundamentalists, whether Christian, Jewish or Muslim; share a common fault that emphasizes personal gain above the welfare of others, and a belief that somehow this inherent selfishness and self-interest will ultimately be rewarded. The irony is that religion taken to extremes is more likely to cause a violent conflict than a solution. More predictable is the fact that people exploit other people to advance selfish interests under the guise of religion [Religious Extremism www.globalfocus.org/GF-religion.htm]. Twenty years ago people thought that Islamic extremism meant the Shiites in Iran. Now society find that the extremists in Afghanistan are Sunni....
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...Lebanon The Israel Hamas Hezbollah Conflict The United States and the Israel-Hezbollah War Prof. Jeremy Pressman Although American soldiers were not involved in the fighting in Lebanon and Israel this past summer, the United States was nonetheless a central player in the war. U.S. policy was defined by staunch American support for Israel and repeated calls by U.S. officials to use the crisis as a means to get at the root causes of violence in the region. What were the American objectives in this war? Does a preliminary assessment suggest that Washington took steps toward achieving them? How does U.S. policy on the Arab-Israeli conflict look moving forward? American Objectives in the Israel-Hezbollah War Two global foreign policy commitments informed the United States view of the Israel-Hezbollah confrontation this past summer; the war on terror and the democratization of the Middle East. Since September 11, 2001, the American war on terror has been defined to include several different international actors. In his speech of September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush stated that the war would “not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated,” and that “any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.” In addition, he warned, terrorists could not be accommodated but instead must be met by force. This approach has most directly been applied to al-Qaeda and its satellites...
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...has gone through numerous changes throughout history. Syria has been governed by different entities such as the Umayyad Dynasty and Ottoman Empire (1516-1918) as well as French influence under the French Mandate (1923−1946) and finally the Baath Party (1963–present). “The Arab Socialist Resurrection (Baath Party) took control after the Baath Revolution in 1963. ‘The Baath Party was formally founded in April of 1947, and membership was open to all from the Arab Fatherhood’.” (Devlin, 1991). Traditionally Syria was stratified with landowners and merchants having the highest political positions. The Baath party helped to change the stratifications by letting peasants move into the cities and join into the middle class, as well as helping to educate therefore growing a larger middle class. Syria is a secular state and religion is generally determined by birth. “The first historical texts were produced in the sixth century, when the history of what would become...
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...important challenges or problems which are political, religious, and educational. Iraq is challenging great political problems. There are many parties in Iraq, and each party is working for its own benefits and advantages. If you watch Iraqi parliament for one time, you will see that they are just want money and high positions. They just agree on constitutions that benefit them, and they don't care about the country. The latest issue was the conflict between Nuri Al-Malki and Anbar's tribes. Anbar's tribes request from the government to change some policies because they are not fair, but Al-Malki disagrees because that is against his benefits. Iraq has political issues with neighbor countries too. For a long time, Iraq has problems with Kuwait and still has problems because Iraq conquered Kuwait in 1990. Iraq has troubles with Iran because Iran wants to control our country, so they can control the Middle East after that. Iran has many spies in our country and government. The other reason is that Iraq is the main base of USA army in the Middle East Iraq has many religious problems. There are different types of religions in Iraq; Islam (Sunna), Islam (Shea), Christian, etc. these days, there are a lot of problems between Sunna and Shia. In Baghdad Shea have more power than Sunna, so they Arrest people who are Sunna and punish them or kill them without any reason. Terrorists are taking advantages from this situation by trying to incitation these two sects against each other. They...
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...Cartoon Analysis. Name: Wai Yuen Course: Composition II Lecturer: Institution: City & State: Date: The cartoonist, David Horsey, use symbolism theme of a soldier and a wolf to illustrate the U.S military withdrawal from Iraq. He vividly depicts the western Coalition troops' situation in Iraq by placing the soldier inside a treacherous and hideous wolf's mouth. The soldier represents the western Coalition troops while the wolf represents Iraq. He is trapped inside the wolf's mouth and surrounded by its sharp teeth. His eyes are wide open and focused outside the wolf’s mouth as if requesting for external help from that situation. He has a helmet on his head to emphasize how hostile his environment is with situations such as bomb attacks being one of them. In the cartoon, we see the soldier within inches of the wolf's tongue, and if he advances further he may be rolled up by and engulfed by it. Consequently, he cannot withdraw himself due to the surrounding sharp teeth which can tear him into pieces. The wolf looks barbaric and ferocious, an image which is an analogous description of some nomad countries which apprehend international peaceful treaties. The cartoonist further scribbles “Iraq" on the head of the wolf to drive the point home about who he is referring to. The phrase “Whatever you think of how I got in here, you have to agree the tricky part will be getting out." was the only statement by the soldier in the entire drawing. This statement carries...
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.../ * We have no common cause with either side in the conflict. We do obviously not want to support Assad’s murderous regime backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah but more importantly we do not want to assist rebels some of which have with links to Al-Qaeda who want to create a militant Islamist state. This is not a simple case of ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’ and there are also sectarian issues we don’t even fully understand. We cannot even be sure the chemical attack was carried out by the regime – it could be a desperate ploy by rebels to produce exactly this response. * Whatever level of action we take, whether it’s firing off a few Tomahawk missiles or sending in troops it will result in further civilian deaths. Although we may aim at ‘military’ targets there is always ‘collateral damage’ in fact the regime may even force civilians into military installations as ‘human shields’. Will the long-suffering people of Syria welcome yet more ordnance raining down on their country, however carefully targeted? * The most obvious lessons from the tragedies in Iraq and Afghanistan is that we should not get involved in a war without a planned exit strategy and a realistic hope of post conflict nation-building that serves both the people of Syria and long-term regional stability – a very tall order. * We will not be thanked. Our motives for involvement maybe honourable – to protect the civilian population and end the conflict but the Arab world and probably most Syrians...
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...From Ethnic Conflict to Genocide Individuals are mostly identified by their religion, culture, race and most importantly, their ethnicity. They would be labeled by what country or race they represent. Over the past decades, many ethnic conflicts have occurred and are still occurring in the world today due to political reasoning. When there are at least two ethnic communities called multiethnic or multisectarian, who realize they cannot form their own independent countries, they would change their geographical locations. But there is no guarantee that both ethnic groups will solve their conflicts by moving in different parts of the region. Each ethnic group competes for power, authority, resources and political independence, which lead up to deep conflicts between ethnic groups and even dehumanization. Each ethnic conflict is associated with deep emotions such as hatred, bitterness, resentment, anger and aggression. Political leaders play a significant role in identifying ethnicities. Such leaders commit violent acts for the sake of their group and victimize their followers. There are also political extremists who are only self-concerned and tend to disregard others’ lives through horrific actions. According to political psychologists, extremists have a variety of personal characteristics. They are not mentally sick. They are insane and are capable of evil behavior because they do not have any empathy for anybody. In Milgram’s experiment on power of authority, personality...
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