The Middle East geopolitics explained simply.
What is the Middle East?
The Middle East is a loosely defined region at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa.
Normally included in the list of Middle Eastern countries are the countries of the Arabian
peninsula, that is Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait
as well as Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq and Iran.
The term Middle East can be used to refer to countries that are predominantly Islamic
in culture. This usage expands the term to include the remaining states of North Africa
as well as Afghanistan and even perhaps Pakistan.
Why is the Middle East always in the news?
The Middle East is always in the news because the region is embroiled in many conflicts
for reasons which we will go on to explore.
The conflicts are covered extensively in world news as the middle east is globally important.
Several countries in the region are rich in oil and natural resources which it exports
to the rest of the world at competitive prices.
Who lives in the Middle East?
The Middle East is home to several ethnic groups including Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds
and Jews.
The three major Abrahamic religions were born in the middle east – Judaism, Christianity
and Islam.
Islam is the major religion in the region.
The two major branches of Islam are Sunni Islam and Shia Islam.
What are the reasons for the conflicts in the Middle East?
The main causes behind the conflicts in the Middle East can be boiled down to the following:
1). The way the Middle East was divided by foreign powers after the World Wars
2). The spread of Wahhabism across the region
3). The Israeli – Palestinian conflict
4). The regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran and
5). American foreign policy
We’ll look at each point in more detail.
Division of the Middle East by foreign powers
During World War I, the British and French convinced the Arabs to revolt against the
Ottoman Empire in exchange for an independent Arab state after the projected fall of the
Ottoman Empire.
However, after the allies won World War I the Middle East was divided up between Britain
and France according to their own interests rather than what would be good for the diverse
range of people and ethnic groups that lived in the region.
After World War II Britain and France could no longer afford to continue their imperialist
strategies and left the region but the borders they had established remained. This meant
that people with deeply held but differing beliefs and ideologies ended up living side
by side in the same country. Ethnic groups such as the Kurds ended up with no homeland at all.
The spread of Wahhabism
A powerful dynasty - the House of Saud - had been fighting for control of much of the Arabian
peninsula from the 16th century onwards.
By 1932 they were successful in creating a unified Saudi Arabia, with the House of Saud,
the ruling Royal Family of Saudi Arabia, controlling the country as an absolute monarchy.
The rulers of Saudi Arabia follow a fundamentalist doctrine of Islam, known as Wahhabism.
When vast amounts of oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia, the country became unimaginably
wealthy overnight which allowed the export of Wahhabism throughout the Middle East, promoting
an ardent religious fervour over a more moderate religious culture.
The Israel – Palestine conflict
Both Jews and Palestinian’s lay claim to land in a small part of the Middle East.
The claims arise from historical and religious connections.
After the first world war and the fall of the Ottoman empire, the British came to control
the region in question - it was known as the British mandate for Palestine.
Throughout the 20th century both Jewish nationalism and Arab nationalism gained traction.
Zionism was and is a movement that promoted the establishment of a Jewish state in their
ancestral homeland - what was the British Palestine mandate.
The movement inspired mass immigration of Jews into British Palestine which caused tensions
with the existing Palestinians already living there.
After the second world war, the world had immense sympathy with the Jewish people, having
borne witness to the holocaust and Hitler’s actions.
The British - who had promised to help establish a Jewish state - were unable to come up with
a satisfactory plan for both Jews and Palestinian’s and looked to the United Nations.
In 1947 the UN proposed a plan which would allow both the Jews and Palestinians to have
two separate states but as soon as the British left the region and Israel declared independence,
war broke out between Israel and surrounding hostile Arab nations.
Israel not only won the war but managed to gain territory, in what was meant to be part
of the Palestinian state.
Over time Israel has emerged as a power to be reckoned with and Arab nations have begrudgingly
accepted Israel’s existence. As a consquence the wider Arab-Israeli conflict has reduced
down to a more localised Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Over the course of multiple wars, Palestianian refugees have been displaced from their homes
and the Palestininas who do remain within what was meant to be Palestine, are now effectively
under Israeli control.
With international facilitation, Israeli and Palestianian leaders have made attempts to
find a resolution however each time the peace process has been derailed by extremist players
on both sides.
Israel continues to face open hostility in the Middle East from nations such as Iran
and Syria as well as militant political groups such as Hamas based in the Gaza Strip and
Hezbollah, based in Lebanon.
Israel is no longer making any real attempt to give Palestinian’s their land back and
Palestinians are losing hope.
The existence of Israel and how it came to be remains a source of resentment for many
in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia and Iran rivalry
Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran soured after the Iranain revolution in 1979.
Prior to that, both nations were governed by Western backed monarchies but Iran’s
revolution overthrew the Iranian Shah and a new regime with a different ideology took
its place.
Iran was ruled by a religious theocracy whereas Saudi Arabia was an absolute monarchy and
Iranian leaders had no qualms in denouncing the Saudi Arabian regime as un-Islamic.
The countries began competing for dominance and influence in the Middle East which resulted
in several proxy wars being fought in places such as Yemen and Syria.
Proxy wars are wars where competing powers don’t fight each other directly but get
involved in foreign wars, backing opposing sides.
Saudi Arabia has a majority Sunni muslim population and Iran has a majority Shia muslim population.
In the conflicts across the Middle East, Saudi Arabia generally supports Sunni groups and
Iran supports Shia groups.
American foreign policy
After the second world war, America and the Soviet Union emerged as the two competing
world powers.
Both had ideological differences. America was and is a capitalist democracy whereas
the Soviet Union espoused communism as the best method for governance.
America’s presence in the Middle East after the second world war was there to stem the
spread of Soviet backed communism.
Americans were initially welcomed in the region, being viewed in a favourable light when compared
to the imperialist European powers that had previously had a strong foothold in that part
of the world.
When oil was discovered in the Middle East it became even more important for America
to protect its interests in the region.
Modern life is dependent on oil energy, America’s consumers and therefore their economy demand
oil and as such it is important to America that the Middle East is stable, however try
as they might America’s peacekeeping and nation-building efforts have failed and sometimes
exacerbated the situation on the ground.
America also has strong ties with Israel which doesn’t make it popular in the Middle East.
Israel is a strong and stable democracy and has proved its military might in the region.
The American public remember the Holocaust and and there is a prominent pro-Israel lobby
in America.
All these factors contribute to the strong relationship between the two countries and
America’s backing of Israel.
America also has strong ties with Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy.
Their alliance stems from the economics of oil.
This alliance can be viewed as either American pragmatism or alternatively American hypocrisy.
Those who level the hypocrisy accusation argue that America espouses democracy and anti-dicactor
sentiment only when it comes to dealing with regimes and dictators that don't play ball.
They argue that Saudi Arabia and several of the countries in the Middle East who have
ruling monarchies are the very antithesis of democracy and yet America continues to
be their ally.
On the 11th September 2001, a terrorist group Al-Qaeda carried out the twin tower terror
attacks in New York, killing thousands of civilians.
In response America invaded Afghanistan, where the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden had
been given shelter.
The US government, under the Bush administration, then proposed a preemptive strike against Iraq,
linking president Saddam Hussain with supporting terrorism and shoring up weapons
of mass destruction.
After 9/11 anti-muslim sentiment had reached high levels in the American psyche and terrorist
organisations had successfully managed to muddy the waters between fundamentalist muslim fighters
with a political agenda and moderate muslim civilians.
This meant that it was relatively easy for the American public to initially support the
invasion of Iraq.
However as the war in Iraq dragged on and it transpired that much of the evidence for
going to war in the first place was not supported by strong intelligence the appetite for war
dwindled and America ultimately withdrew from Iraq in 2011.
The aftermath of the war in Iraq led to fertile ground for fundamantalist terrorist organisations
to flourish, namely the Islamic State of Iraq also known as ISI.
That same year, the Arab Spring protests erupted, a series of pro-democracy anti-government
movements across the Middle East which led to the outbreak of civil war in Syria.
This gave ISI a chance to spread across to Syria and they became known as the Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria, otherwise known as ISIS.
ISIS declared a worldwide caliphate and claimed religious, political, and military authority
over all muslims across the globe. This was strongly rejected by mainstream muslim groups,
the UN and international governents.
In 2014 the US was once again compelled to intervene directly in the Middle East, in
light of the growing influence of ISIS.
The US faces a conundrum when it comes to the Middle East. They stay in the region to
protect their allies and their own national interests.
But their presence and military interventions are used by terror organisations to radicalise
displaced young men which have resulted in attacks carried out on American soil.
To a certain extent the world has looked to the US to lead and they have. But toppling
regimes and attempting to export democracy in a region with such a different culture,
background and history has proved unsuccessful.
Timeline of major conflicts and events in the Middle East
To understand the current status of the Middle East it’s helpful to rewind back through
the major conflicts and events that happened in the region from the middle of
the 20th century to the present day.
We’ve already touched on how the middle east was divided up after the first world
war, the American and Soviet Union influence in the region after the second world war,
the establishment of Israel and the discovery of oil.
So, let us now look at the 1979 Iranian revolution
The Iranian oil industry was developed by the British who enjoyed the monopoly and sale
of Iranian oil.
By 1952, Iranians had grown tired of the status quo and their democratically elected prime
minister nationalised Iranian oil.
In response the British and Americans organised a military coup to oust the prime minister.
The Shah of Iran, who favoured modernisation and westernisation of the country was unpopular.
The rapid modernisation was an affront to religious values and the corruption of his
government and brutal political oppression by his secret police fueled public resentment.
All this culminated in the 1979 Iranaian revolution, when the Shah was ousted and replaced by religious
leaders, the Ayatollahs.
The Ayatollahs denounced the US, refused to recognise Israel and argued against Saudi
Arabia’s absolute monarchy.
Unsurprisingly none of this made Iran popular with the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Iran – Iraq War (1980 – 1988)
In 1980, Iraq’s president Saddam Hussein saw an opportunity in the chaos of the Irani
revolution to annex oil rich Iranian territory and to quell the chance of a rebellion in
his own country.
Saudi Arabia backed Iraq against Iran and the US reluctantly did the same.
The war lasted for eight years with no border changes.
Soviet – Afghan War (1979 – 1989)
At around the same time the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in order to prop up the Soviet
backed communist government against insurgent groups known collectively as the Mujahideen.
Atheist communism is at odds with the muslim faith and the Mujahideen waged a holy war
to gain control of the country.
The Mujahideen were backed extensively by Saudi Arabia, the US and Pakistan.
Muslim militiants across the Arab world joined the fight in Afghanistan and among them was
Osama Bin Laden, who would go onto become the founder of Al-Qaeda, a fundamentlist Islamic
terrorist organisation .
After the Afghan government collapsed, the Taliban, an Afghan faction of the Mujahideen,
emerged and took control over roughly three quarters of Afghanistan.
Gulf War (1990 – 1991)
Two years after the Iraq-Iran war, Iraq invaded Kuwait in what was a blatant attempt at oil grab.
This alarmed both Saudi Arabia and the US, and the former looked to their powerful
military allies for support.
Iraq was driven back and the US military stayed on in Saudi Arabia, signalling their willingness
to defend Saudi Arabia’s and also their own interests in the Middle East.
9/11 and the US invasion of Afghanistan (2001)
In 2001 Al-Qaeda managed to carry out a series of terrorist attacks on the US where passenger
airliners were crashed into the twin towers and the Pentagon.
Bin Laden cited U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, and
sanctions against Iraq as reasons for the attacks.
Bin Laden was living in Afghanistan and America demanded the Taliban hand him over and expel
Al-Qaeda from the country. When the Taliban failed to comply America invaded Afghanistan.
After a decade-long manhunt, Bin Laden was found and killed in Pakistan.
Although America forcibly removed the Taliban from power and a new democratically-elected
government was formed, a significant area of the country is still controlled by the Taliban.
Invasion of Iraq (2003)
In 2003 America accused Iraq of promoting terrorism and possessing and developing weapons
of mass destruction. The US then initiated preemptive military action by organising a
coalition to invade Iraq and remove Saddam Hussain from power.
The American public, still reeling from the events of 9/11, were convinced by the American
government’s arguments that this was an extension of the war on terror although no
real links between Saddam Hussain and Al-Qaeda were established.
It transpired that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction as described and the reasons
for going to war in Iraq have since been highly criticized.
The country descended into a bloody civil war along sectarian lines and much like in
the Soviet-Afghan war, fundamentalist extremists flooded into the county to fight.
America became bogged down until eventually, the Iraqi government was deemed stable
enough to allow the US to withdraw in 2011.
The Arab Spring (2010)
Starting in 2010 a series of pro-democracy rallies and protests spread throughout the
Arab world which led to the toppling of regimes in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen.
The protests which began peacefully in Syria were violently put down and in response the
protestors took up arms. The country became embroiled in a civil war.
Meanwhile, the circumstances in neighbouring Iraq allowed for the rise of Islamic State, and the
group became notorious for their brutality, taking hostages and recording beheadings,
carrying out massacres and suicide bombings.
Spotting an opportunity Islamic State spread to Syria and their mission was to establish a worldwide
caliphate, i.e. a single Islamic government ruling over all muslims.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria - ISIS - continued to grow and in 2014
America once again stepped in and their so-called caliphate was destroyed.
Other international powers also became involved in the fight for Syria.
Iran and Russia supported the Shia government while Saudi Arabia, most other Gulf states,
and America initially supported the rebels.
But as more and more violent fundamentalist groups joined the rebels it became harder
for those countries to continue supporting them.
Russia has been instrumental in the Syrain regime hanging onto power, providing military
support and with this they have signalled that they should once again be considered
a global power.
Yemen is also another tragedy to emerge from the fallout of the Arab Spring.
Iranian backed Shia rebels, the Houthis took hold of the north of the country whereas the
Saudi backed government struggled to regain control. Seeing an opportunity Al-Qaeda and
Islamic State affiliates took control of the south of the country.
In 2015 Saudi Arabia, fearing Iran’s influence on their borders, launched a military intervention
to restore the Yemeni government. Chaos has ensued as the country’s infrastructure has
been destroyed.
Conclusion
This video is for those looking for a high level overview of what is happening in the
Middle East and how it came to be this way. This is a broad brush strokes explanation for the
average person who is utterly confused by what is happening in the Middle East.
This video is not about taking sides with Middle Eastern regimes or condemning the US
and assuming they purposefully move to destabilize the region.
This video is also not intended to attack Israel, surrounded by hostile countries, and
it does not ignore the fact that the Jewish people have been subjected to anti-semitism
throughout history. At the same time this video is not unsympathetic to Palestinians
who’ve effectively had their land taken away.
Governments respond to domestic pressures and will act in their own national interests.
People in power will have their own agendas; be it an inherited sense of entitlement or
a misguided attempt at nation-building.
The real tragedy in the Middle East is the number of innocent civilians, Israelis, Palestinians,
Iraqis, Yemenis, Syrians etc. all of whom have had their lives disrupted or even taken
away as a result of competing agendas and ideologies.
If you would like to learn more about the various issues in the Middle East
a list of resources will be left in the description below.
As always I hope you found this video useful and informative,
make sure to subscribe and I’ll see you next time.