Middle East and International Relations - Term Paper Example

MIDDLE EAST AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS The Middle East is the region that consists of Western Asia and some parts of the Northern Africa. This majority of this region comprises of Arab Muslim states. This region had been the center of world affairs, dating back to ancient times. Although the Middle East has a majority of Muslim population, yet Christianity and Judaism also have their roots in this area. This region has been regarded as a sensitive region in terms of politics, economy, geostrategic, culture and religion. 1. The modern Middle East came into being after the World War I when the great Ottoman Empire was defeated by the British and its allies and it was partitioned into many small states, which were initially under the British and the French directives. The discovery of oil in the region, in the 20th century, brought about an economic revolution and the economic as well as the strategic significance of the Middle East grew. The conflicts in the Middle Eastern region have primarily revolved around the differences from the religious point of view. The establishment of a Jew state, Israel, in the Palestine rose tensions between the Muslims and the Jews. This led to the well known Arab-Israel Wars resulting in the thousands of casualties from both the sides. After the Second World War, the weakening of Europe provided a chance to those Middle Eastern countries, which were the colonies of various European countries, to break free and become independent. This had a geopolitical impact on the region. It became important to hold control of the oil and other natural resources and to do so the support of dictators and military rulers was supported by the West which had a severe impact on the human rights issues in this region. In the years to come this gave rise to extremist ideologies among the youth which were deprived of their basic rights. Among the issues prevailing in the Middle East, the issue of Palestine would be of core importance, not only today, but also in the days to come. The conflict between the Jews and the Muslims started after the formation of Israel, a Jew state. Over the years since its creation a question has been asked again and again. Should the Jews be allowed to have their own country or should the land, which constitutes of modern Israel, be given back to the Palestinians to redevelop and reform an independent, sovereign and autonomous Palestinian state? This conflict dates back to the First World War. The Balfour Declaration stated that after the First World War Britain would control the Palestine region and would strive for the creation of an independent Jewish state. Therefore at the end of the war and after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, British forces took over Jerusalem. When the new Jew settlers started to move into the Palestinian region, a huge conflict happened. “Our basic aim is to liberate the land from the Mediterranean Seas to the Jordan River. We are not concerned with what took place in June 1967 or in eliminating the consequences of the June war. The Palestinian revolution's basic concern is the uprooting of the Zionist entity from our land and liberating it.” (Yasser Arafat) "If the Jews win this battle, then the Arabs had better go bury their faces in the mud!" (Jamal Abdel Nasser) The locals of the region, which were mostly Muslim Palestinians, were not ready to accept Jewish people to settle in their land. Hence riots started between the two parties and in the meanwhile the state of Israel came into existence. This conflict, even after 6 decades, is still present between them, and happens to be the root cause of the majority of the issues of the Middle Eastern region. Thousands have lost their lives only in the conflict between Israeli armed forces and Palestinian people. “The Israelis are mistaken if they think we do not have an alternative to negotiations. By Allah I swear they are wrong. The Palestinian people are prepared to sacrifice until either the last boy or the last girl raises the Palestinian flag over the walls, the churches and the mosques of Jerusalem.” (Yasser Arafat) 2. The economic structure and condition varies from country to country in the Middle East region. Some nations rely heavily on the oil export to run their economies, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates, while some countries like Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Cyprus have a varied economic base which consists of not only oil related products but also of textile, dairy, cattle, surgical instruments and defense related industries. In countries like Bahrain, banking is also a major sector of economy. Besides, tourism has also been a major source of earning for some of the Middle East countries, notably Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates and Egypt. Oil is a non-renewable form of energy. The Middle East region, as stated earlier, is enriched with this wealth. Muslim countries, such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, and United Arab Emirates, all have the largest of oil deposits of the world. With the growing universal demand of oil, this region has become a center of attention of the world to fulfill its energy requirements. Thus the international community, particularly the West, has its own interests in this region. Over the decade, the United States and its allies had endeavored to promote and encourage democracy in the region. But they had been facing serious issues like the violation of human rights, especially in the Gaza Strip, and the question of how to implement the democratic reforms which could lessen the problems of this region, which would not only be beneficial for the local people, but also for the West. The United States of America, claiming to be the sole super power of the world, seeks for its interests in the region of the Middle East. This could primarily be of two major reasons. The first one is the wealth of oil and gas resources. It is evident that this region has oil stocks which could last for centuries. The growing economies around the world and the increasing demands for energy resources prompt this region as the solution to all the arising energy and power sector problems. Eventually stability, peace and harmony have been among the top of priorities of all those countries which are interested to keep their national interests alive in the region. “Nothing would please me more, but who else would pump the oil that we need? God damn America”. (Muammar Gaddafi) The second reason is the state of Israel and its existence. Israel has been among the top of United States of America’s allies. Since its creation a conflict has arise in the Middle East between the Arabs and the West, particularly the Jews. This has lead to many wars in which both the sides suffered severe loss of life. Ultimately this growing tension and warfare has hurt the progress and development of the region at large. 3. The future of this region is still very much uncertain. The prevailing conflicts have given rise to religious fundamentalists who are ready to go to even the last mile to meet their demands. It has been observed and it can be said that when one is deprived of his or her basic civil rights, he or she is forced by the nature to fight for it. The uncertainty and turmoil in the Middle East has led to the rise of militant wings of many organizations which are supposedly striving to get the rights of their supporters. And this ultimately has led to the overall unrest of the region. The Middle East region happens to be the most militarized region of the world. Over the years the world has seen the largest arms sales here. United States of America, Russia, Britain, France, China, Germany etc all have been the major suppliers of arms to the Middle East countries. This could be regarded as something destructive for a safe future of this region. The presence of large armies with heavy arms and growing conflicts on religious, strategic, geo political, cultural and ethnic basis could ignite the situation any time in the near future. Even in the past many armed conflicts had led to severe loss of life and property. The military combats between the Israel army and Palestinian militants have led to turmoil and unrest in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Over the decades thousands of innocent people, women and children, have lost their precious lives and the damage done to the civilian infrastructure and the property of the people is beyond calculation. “We [Libyans] support the Palestinian resistance, and all the world supports this. We support their just cause, but we are against terrorism”. (Muammar Gaddafi) Another example of this was recently observed in July 2006, when a conflict turned into a war between Israel and Lebanon. The war continued for about two months and took the lives of hundreds on both the sides of the border. Heavy loss of property and infrastructure was observed, mostly on the Lebanese side, millions of Lebanese and thousands of Israelis were forced to migrate to safer places. It is, therefore, necessary for the sake of this region and the people living in this region that political solutions should be find out with utmost urgency to ensure that the lives and property of the people remain in safe hands. This would eventually bring an end to the fears that the world has regarding the future of the World, in general, and the Middle East in particular. References: Dowty, Alan. Middle East crisis: U.S. decision-making in 1958, 1970 and 1973. International Crisis Behavior Project. 1984. Wint, Guy and Calvocoressi, Peter. Middle East Crisis. 1957. B. Quandt, William. Peace process: American diplomacy and the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1967. 2001. Weinberger, Peter E. Incorporating Religion into Israel-Palestinian Peacemaking: Recommendations for Policy Makers. Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution. Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. George Mason University. 2008   Read More