Causes of Unrest in the Middle East Essay

1141 Words Jul 30th, 2008 5 Pages
The Causes of Unrest in the Middle East

The causes of unrest in the Middle East are historical, religious, economic and geo-political. Ancient history and ancient civilizations can serve as a framework for understanding some of the existing enmity. For example, the Persians (Iranians) and the Babylonians (Iraqis) have been fighting for more than 3,000 years. However, the current unrest in the Middle East is the result of Western ethno-centrism and colonialism (covert and overt), combined with religious and sectarian conflicts. The impact of Western (Europe and the USA.) interference in the Middle East cannot be overstated. Indeed, the term “Middle East” is an artificial term that has no meaning except in the context of its
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Iraq. We do not learn from history. The current effort by the U.S.A. in Iraq to form or reform the Iraqi people into a nation, democratic or otherwise, are eerily similar to a failed effort by Great Britain after World War I. Following enormous expenditures, which nearly bankrupted Great Britain, substantial loss of life and political discord, Great Britain was forced to withdraw from Iraq. Sound familiar? The USA has already spent $1,000,000,000,000 for the Iraq War (Bush). The number of lives that will be lost and changed, Iraqi and others, are incalculable. How many enemies have the Western civilization and the “coalition” made?
Why would God have the world’s current three major religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, attempt to share the same holy land? Historically, the coexistence of the three religions has moved from living together cordially, to mutual dislike, to visceral hatred.
Today, the context of the unrest in the greater Middle East is framed by the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, but some of that context is rooted in events that occurred nearly one thousand years ago, the Crusades. Currently, the immediate issue is the ability of Islamic fundamentalists to use the Palestinian struggle for the return of their homeland as their \
“cause celebre.” On the

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