The Middle East and the World: Identity and Conflict in the Middle East - Assignment Example

The Middle East and the World: Identity and Conflict in the Middle East Countries in the Middle East have experienced a number of conflicts since the 1900s. Most of these conflicts are because of governance issues, religious identity, land and border issues. There have been wars in Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Palestine and most parts of the Middle East. Some of these countries have experienced civil wars among their citizens. Some of these wars may be caused by religious differences between Christians and Muslims (West Beirut). Others have fought their neighboring countries for a long time. War in the Middle East is an important issue of concern for people in these areas as well as the rest of the world. There are several attempts to solve these conflicts ranging from foreign intervention, national identity debates and social transformations. The success of foreign intervention, national identity debates and social transformations in solving conflicts in the Middle East is yet to be established. The European Union and the United States intervened in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. There was the use of declarations to solve this conflict. The approach of creating a solution between two warring states through declarations is acceptable worldwide. There are also a series of joint actions proposed as measures to solve the Israeli-Palestine conflict. The use of declarations and joint action has been used in this conflict but there is still decline in peace between Israelis and Palestinians (Bunton 549). Conditional aid has been quite effective in bringing reforms that would create a peaceful Palestine State. The Palestinian government has been denied direct aid from the western countries for failing to adhere to the EU conditions. In this case, economic sanctions have been employed to the Palestine government. Several other interventions from the foreign community were involved in resolving the Israeli-Palestine conflict. The Oslo process and the Madrid conference are good examples. The Oslo peace process was set up in 1993 as a step to solving the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Israel offered Palestine a good deal which could lead to the end of the war but Palestine denied. This was marked as the failure of the Oslo Process. Its failure was mainly because of poor negotiating styles and management of the process. It also failed due to the failure of the Israel’s Prime minister to honor agreements. Both parties therefore, failed to negotiate the relevant terms. The Madrid conference involved Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Palestine. It was aimed at creating peace between Israel and the Arab countries. However at the end of everything there was still no peace in the region The case was a bit different in Lebanon since the use of foreign intervention to some extent brought peace. The civil war in Lebanon was among the Christians, Muslims and the Palestinians early in 1975 to 1976. The civil war in Lebanon was solved through the intervention of foreign parties. The power sharing was under the French guidance. External factors played a very important role in ensuring there is power sharing in this country. The involvement of foreign interventions in solving conflicts in the Middle East has been a successful in some areas but fail in others. War in the Middle East is still going on despite the intervention of other foreign countries as well as organizations. War in Iran had a lot of effects to the people in this region. The effect is so profound for people who lived during the Islamic revolution (Satrapi 35) The United States involvement in Iran and Iraq had a lot of influence in these regions of the Middle East. America invasion of Iran and Iraq created hate for the United States by the Arab community. Political and Economic sanctions were developed towards Iran for failing to comply with United States policies (Bunton 309). This was mainly to frustrate Iran and push it towards cooperating. Conflicts over identity are those whereby a person sees the identity of the other person as a threat and this usually translates into a conflict. Such conflicts can also be as a result of religious differences as was the case in the Movie (West Beirut). For the case of nations, one nation denies to accept the identity of the other nation. The Israeli-Palestine conflict is a good example of such a conflict. The conflict resulted from the fact that one nation denied to accept the identity of the other and that side’s right to establish a state. The Arab countries refused to recognize the right of the Jewish people to establish a state. The Palestine on the other hand claims that they are being denied their national identity. These are countries with different religions. This may contribute to war (West Beirut). In this type of situation, National identity debates can be used to solve such conflicts. This is because these debates are aimed at developing national identity and national pride in the people. The debates may also be in form of national narratives. In Israel, history taught in schools involves identity forming narratives about Israeli Arab heroes. Debates on national myths and narratives can therefore be used to improve national identity among citizens. In a conflict, national identity debates should be encouraged for both parties involved. The use of National identity debates and narratives for solving the Israeli-Palestine conflict is still very hard The war in Iran was very Fatal and many people were affected (Satrapi 105)Iranian national identity is referred to as ‘Watan’ and it represents nationalism. These can be used to unify people. National identity can be used as an important tool to unify people of a particular region for example Iran. The intervention of foreign parties and the use of national narratives and debates can be important approaches in resolving the conflicts seen in the Middle East. Social transformation in these countries can also be used as an important method for creating peace. These social transformations may be in form of changes in the media and women empowerment. The media is not free to exercise its rights in the Middle East because of the laws and the conflicts found in these areas. However as a result of the international intervention, the media in Iran has adopted important changes that have led to its freedom. The media has also adopted diplomacy and tackles cultural, educational and religious issues. Over the last decade, there is increased intensity in the use of Iranian public media. With this kind of freedom the media can be used as a tool to preach peace in the region. Through the media, the effects of the war can be seen. This could help reduce such cases. However many Arab countries are characterized by poor media coverage as result of the rules set by their governments (Bunton 232) Transformations in the media in the Middle East were mainly driven by the regional war that occurred in these areas in 1980s and 1990s. The Middle East experienced major changes in the social, cultural and economic aspects (Bunton 243). War acted as the main internal force that drove the transformation of media in these areas. On the external point of view, foreign pressure also made a contribution in the media transformation. Countries like Qatar and Lebanon led the revolution in media development and freedom The use of foreign intervention has been the most widely used method of resolving conflicts in the Middle East as compared to the use of National Debates and Social transformations. However due to its extensive usage, foreign interventions have also led the failure of resolving the conflicts in the Middle East. This is may be because some of these interventions are biased towards one group and also due to poor methods of conducting these processes. The Israeli-Palestine conflict for example has been faced with several interventions from the external parties for instance the Oslo process, the Madrid Conference and even support from the United States. Failure of foreign intervention is emphasized by the fact that the war is still on today despite all this external involvement in solving it. Works cited Burton, William L. Cleveland and Martin. A History of the Modern Middle East. Westview Press, 2008.Print Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Gruop, 2003.Print Ziad Doueiri 1998. The Movie West Beirut Read More