The middle east has always been a major player in world politics. Massive conflicts, revolutions, religions and its liquid gold (Oil) reserves has always been a turning point and deciding factor in its course of politics and history.
The middle East consist of the countries of the Arabian Penninsula- Egypt, Turkey, UAE, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Qatar, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Bahrain, Yemen, Kuwait. Even though, it is the origin of the Abrahamic religions namely Christianity, Judaism and Islam, most of the countries are Islamic, that is majorly divided further in Sunni and Shia. As a part of the spectator group, we can see how the lives of millions of people are affected in the middle East due to its brutal conflicts and unnecessary invasion by foreign powers. Most of the countries are poor with below average living conditions and oppressive forces that affect the lives of common people everyday. It was known as home to one of the cradles of civilization with some of the oldest cultures and indigenous ethnic tribes.
The British and French had convinced the Arabs to revolt against the Ottoman Empire of the middle East in promise of a separate independent Arab country. But after the world wars and the fall of the imperialist British and French forces,the countries were unethically divided with borders that resulted in century long disputes and conflicts in the years that came. After the 2nd world war millions of jews had immigrated to Palestine in the hope of shelter. But the jews formed a separate country of Israel. Israel declared independence within the next few years. This did not go down well with its neighboring Islamic countries. It slowly took over major lands of Palestine and the Palestinians became refugees in their own homeland. Several militant groups like Hamas in the Gaza and Hazbullah in Lebanon was established to fight the Israeli forces but in the present times Israel is waging war against them that has left Palestine in utter shambles and killed millions of civilians.
In Saudi Arabia, with the discovery of oil, the country grew rich and the religion of its rulers, ‘the house of Sauds’- Wahabism became popuar and spread across the middle east. The American invasion into the countries like Afganistan and then eventually into Iraq had also dismantled its ruling party. It resulted in the rise of several military terrorist groups, most prominent being ISI that eventually became ISIS in that region. ISIS claimed its caliphate of religious, military and social power over all of Islam. During the same time, several Arabic protest groups against the government came into force that resulted in the civil war of Syria.
With the ongoing Israel- Palestine conflict, the assassination of several leaders of the middle eastern countries and other military pro religious disputes, we can only imagine the plight, oppression, and loss of lives of the common people living there. On the other hand, cities like Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dubai of UAE and Doha of Qatar are some of the safest cities in the world with luxuries and riches that one can only imagine. Israel has one of the largest military powers in the world. It is very appropriate to say that the middle East’s political prowess is as enigmatic and deep as its oil reserves.
Sanjana Karan
