Discussion
Conflicts have been arising between the Middle East and the West for centauries, and as eras change, the reasons for those conflicts change along according to surrounding world events. Historically, the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth centaury paved a path for European colonialism, which was ignited by the desire for extra territories and a gate to Asia. Consequently, World War I started, and the conflicts were then mainly about religion. However after the war, when all countries broke out of the European imperialism, England handed the Jewish people a piece of land that originally belonged to the Palestinians in their 1917 Belfour Declaration; Arabs and Middle Easterners in general took a stand against the Jews who were later allied by many of the Westerners. This was the fire that caused the smoke. In more recent times, after the discovery of the fortunes buried under parts of the Middle Eastern region, the energy resources interested the Westerners. Fossil fuels and oil depletion are the main reasons behind the Western conflict with the Middle East; starting from the war on Iraq in 2003 till the Syrian intervention that has been recently planned in late August, and several more focal events in between, gaining power and control over these resources have been the motives behind many relatively recent political encounters.
Uses of Oil:
In order to fully understand the Wests urge of control over Middle Eastern oil, one must recognize the forms that those energy resources come in; given the importance of oil in almost everything produced, controlling the basic component would significantly affect the market. Petroleum products, in all of their forms, are used in four major sectors: transportation, ind...
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...s, including having a bas next to Israel, enhancing democracy, restating security, monopolizing trade currencies, and freeing others from dictator leaders, but it mainly revolves around wanting to control and having power over the energy resources and oil reserves in the region. Crude oil is of great use to any economy in mainly four sectors: Industrial, commercial, residential and transportation. The United States has been in conflict with several Middle Eastern countries over the course of its relatively short history for reasons that change over time; from religion, to ethnicity, illegal weapon possession, and finally for its buried treasures. From Iran in the 1980s, to Afghanistan in 2001, to Iraq in 2003, to Syria in 2013, and many more in between, the West, specifically the United States has been seeking its own gain and has taken that to incredible measures.
The Middle East has historically rebuked Western influence during their process of establishing independence. When Britain and France left the Middle East after World War II, the region saw an unprecedented opportunity to establish independent and self-sufficient states free from the Western influence they had felt for hundreds of years. In an attempt to promote nationalistic independence, the states of the region immediately formed the League of Arab States in 1945. The League recognized and promoted the autonomy of its members and collaborated in regional opposition against the West until 1948 when Israel declared independence. Israel represented then and now an intrusive Western presence in the Arab world. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict typifies this cultural antagonism. The Cold War refocused attention to the Middle East as a site of economic and strategic importance for both sides, yet the two hegemons of the Cold War now needed to recognize the sovereignty of the Middle Eastern states. With their statehood and power cemented, the Middle Easte...
The story begins by Shlaim breaking down the conflict into four periods: the Ottoman, the imperial (British/French), the Cold War (US/USSR), and American (present day). He then traces how these foreign powers have shaped the region and intruded in the relations among the local states. He argues that the post-Ottoman syndrome refers to the inability of the Middle East countries to achieve peace following the onset of imperialism. According to Shlaim, the conflict begins during World War 1 when the British made various promises to both Jews and Arabs while simultaneously plotting with the French to divide all the territory into spheres of influence. The British assumed that Palestinians and Jews could leave peaceably in a single state, but Britain's obligation to the Jews could only be met at the expense of the Arab majority.
...ts to women and freedom of religion. Moreover, the horrors in the genocide of the European Jews brought on a growing demand for a Jewish state. The territory of Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, was promised by the League of Nations after World War but was never granted. The United States created the state of Israel after World War II giving Palestine land to the Jewish people to make up for their treatment from the war. This was controversial and eventually sparked the Arab-Israeli war and has led to terrorism and major issues in the Middle East today.
The relations between the U.S and the Middle East are strained at best. The troops deployed in the area face constant threat of attack by a militant group. These broken relations between the U.S and the Middle East started over 50 years ago, with the Iran Hostage Crisis. Root causes of the crisis were many. One was U.S greed over oil in Iran. The second, the coup in Iran organized and funded by the CIA. The U.S dependence on foreign oil is another cause of the problems. Lastly, should the U.S stop moving into other countries sovereign lands and trying to “Prevent the evil of communism”, the nation would not have so many problems around the world. This worry was even shown in Iran (Kinzer, 10). While often blamed on radicals, the strained relations between the U.S and the Middle East are a direct result of a poor US foreign policy.
People need oil for daily life and work. Since World War II, oil has caused many serious problems in the United States and throughout the world. Remarkably, economic and social problems were heightened by the emerging energy crisis. By 1974, the United States gained a third of its oil by importing from the Middle East. James Oakes, et al.
The knowledge and understanding of blood feuds helps in the develop understanding of the current conflicts in the Middle East. The Middle East conflict started after World War II when the United Nations handed the Jewish people land once owned by the Palestinians. A conflict has occurred with the Palestinians who live together with Israelis that has led to terrorism and tyranny. Israelis believe they must control the Palestinians to stop their terrorism; while the Palestinians use terrorism to seek independence from Israelis. Blood Feuds in Thull are similar to the situation in the Middle East and are violently depicted in Lincoln Keiser's "Friend by Day Enemy By Night."
The Israeli-Palestine conflict is an event that has been well documented throughout the course of Middle-Eastern history. The conflict dates back as far as the nineteenth century where Palestine and Zionist, will later be known as Israel, are two communities each with different ideologies had the same overwhelming desire to acquire land. However, what makes this clash what it is, is the fact that both of these up and coming communities are after the same piece of land. The lengths that both sides went to in order obtain they believed was theirs has shaped the current relationship between the two nations today.
One interesting factor about the First World War is the extent to which it had a tremendous impact on the Middle East. Many westerners today would only remember it by reading Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front or attending an Armistice Day parade in Central London. Most would not even contemplate the fact that World War One had everything to do with the current events in the Middle East today such as the so-called Arab Spring, the Palestinian conflict, et cetera. With all being said, the argument presented is that even though the First World War was important in shaping the destiny of the modern Middle East, the long term unintended results were definitely more important. In addition, the war was mainly a catalyst for the continuation of defensive developmentalism in the Middle East. Now emphasis must be laid why World War One affected the Middle East.
Crude oil is a strategic product, in the sense that it is a most necessary fuel for all industries of nations in the world. While crude oil is a most strategy input for productions, transportations, and national defends, whoever have control over this source of energy will dominate over other countries, so in addition to supply and demand factors that affect the price, consumers must pay attention to the producers and export countries that can use this product as a weapon. Such as during and after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the oil giant Saudi Arab, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo against the United States and other Western European countries, which including the Netherlands, Portugal,
Unlike most Europeans countries, the United States of America enjoyed a rather healthy relationship with Middle East nations during the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Possibly, this was due to the fact that the US had little or no interest in colonizing countries in the region. On the contrary, it largely participated in philanthropic and educational activities therefore attracting positive perception among the Middle East people. However, after the world war II the situation begun to change. The US, after fully appreciating the strategic value of the region, opted to increase its interest there. Particular to ensure it does not lose control of the region’s natural resources (chiefly oil), protecting Israel (which was a newly established state and possibly are strategic America ally), and finally, prevent the Soviet Union from dominating the nation (Russel & Ghabra 2003).
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most controversial conflicts in modern history. The expansion of Israel since 1947 is seen as the beginning of the conflict, although its origins go back to the end of the 19th century, when Jewish immigration to Palestine began to increase. Since the start of the conflict, several peace negotiations have been carried out, resulting in variable degrees of success.
Since the inception of an Israeli nation-state in 1948, violence and conflict has played a major role in Israel’s brief history. In the Sixty-One year’s Israel has been a recognized nation-state, they have fought in 6 interstate wars, 2 civil wars, and over 144 dyadic militarized interstate disputes (MIDs) with some display of military force against other states (Maoz 5). Israel has been involved in constant conflict throughout the past half century. Israel’s tension against other states within the Middle East has spurred vast economic, social, and political unity that has fostered a sense of nationalism and unity in Israel not seen in most other states. Over the next several pages I will try and dissect the reasons for why the nation state of Israel has been emerged in constant conflict and how this conflict has helped foster national unity and identity among the people of Israel.
Since 1967, numerous illegal Israeli settlements have been built on Palestinian land and the occupied territory, “housing more then 400,000 Jewish settlers.” Even since 1967, there has been a lot of divergence, unrest, bereavement, war and obliteration on both sides. There was a war in 1973 and two intifadas Palestinian uprising one that began in 1987 and one that began in 2000 that brings us into the 21st century. There have been many attempts in resolving conflicts however; the conflict is a matter of whether the Palestinians should be permitted to form their own independent country and government in an area that was once theirs yet now occupied and currently the nation of Israel. The Arab- Israeli conflict is historically a fuse that ignites regional battle due to the occupation of Palestine.
In 1970 oil reserves became more scarce, leading to a decrease in production, while consumption continued to grow rapidly (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011). In order to fill the gap between rising demand and falling supply of oil, the United States became more and more dependent on imported oil, primarily from Arab countries in the Middle East. (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011). As the U.S and many other countries became highly industrialized nations, they became even more dependent on oil imports. With demand being higher than the actual amount of supply, prices kept rising reaching a peak of $140 a barrel in 2008. (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011).
Firstly, US strategic interests in the Middle East are challenged by Iranian ambitions to dominate the region. Iran is hardly involved in interventions of the domestic affairs of other Arab states, through establishing or supporting some Shiite groups, in terms of promoting the regional policies of Iran. Furthermore, despite geopolitical and economic prev...