Introduction:
This essay looks to examine how the US and its NATO allies have exercised their control over their self proclaimed sphere of influence in the Middle East and subsequently how this has lead a severe threat to global security and international peace. I chose to look into the deeper history of the Middle East and how the subsequent conflicts between Western liberal democratic order have gone head to head with the Islamic status-quo which more often than not has lead extremist terrorist actions. My research mainly focused around why the West, mainly the US and NATO forces have been trapped in the Middle East since the late 1970’s with the first proxy war being fought between Russia, America and the Mujahideen during the Cold War and how this had lead to a knock on negative domino effect of radicalisation and extremist conflict. Moreover, since my topic has been so bored- it was fundamental not to ignore the historic clash of Christianity vs Islam and how it has lead to divisive conflicts since before the Crusades- it was crucial to just gain an understanding of how long the Middle East has been swept up by conflicts. Additionally, my research has looked inquisitively into what occurs once the West leaves and if its possible to have a western style government in the Middle East- how the Western forces are incapable of understanding the Islamic view on life, Western forces couldn’t understand the significance of ethnic, tribal and family alliances failing to build up trust and understanding when attempting to develop the governments. Furthermore, it looks into how ultimately, the West is accused of being Neo-colonial attempting to force their viewpoints and ideals onto the Middle East through education, governance and general infrastructure that has been put in place over the last thirty years- these attempts at trying to ‘Westernise the East’ will never work as the Islamic way holds different ideals, morals and standards in higher regard. This is why they all fail leading to wide spread dissent and uprisings within the nation as warlords and/or terrorist organisation such as ISIL and ISIS gain power over legitimate governments- as has been seen in Afghanistan as the nation state desperately attempts to fill the peacekeeping power vacuum left behind by the US and NATO forces after their withdrawal in 2014. Furthermore, this essay will examine the subsequent conflicts which have come as a result with the conflicts and how there has been wide spread over spill of the violence in the region, With ultimately, the rise of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State which ultimately have brought the conflict to the western theatre of the US, the UK, France and Germany as well as the now growing Islamist groups sweeping through the Central-West African peninsula – away from the traditional battle grounds of conflict in the Arabian peninsula.
Before delving into the essay I will make it explicitly clear what is the general definition and widely accepted countries within the Middle East as well as some key terms which will be used frequently throughtout..
The Middle East is, very generally speaking, a region in Southwest Asia and part of North Africa stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf, bounded by the Black and Caspian Seas in the north and the Sahara Desert and Indian Ocean in the south. It has a long shared history and a shared religious tradition but recently it has been the scene of every major Western conflict in the last three decades resulting with the majority of countries below being considered a near failing state or failed state on the fundforpeace Failed State Index(FSI) . Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, The Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen
What is a failed state?
If a government can't physically control its territory; has no, or only a limited, monopoly on the legitimate use of force; cannot adopt and enforce decisions binding for the whole country; is unable to provide basic public services; and cannot represent the whole country in the international community — that state is a failed or failing one, depending on the level of these shortcomings.
There are some key terms I will use frequently throughout this essay they are defined below.
Neo-Colonialism: The control of less-developed countries by developed countries” through economic, political, cultural, or other pressures.
NATO(The North Atlantic Treaty Organization): Is the collective defence force founded in 1949 and is a group of 29 countries from Europe and North America that exists to protect the people and territory of its members.
Power Vacuum: a condition that exists when someone/something has lost control or relinquished power of something and no one has replaced them.
Conflict: a serious disagreement or argument, typically a protracted one. In this case the conflict between the US and the UK and various other countries/organisations as stated above.
International Peace: Peace is the antonym of war and it is often defined as an absence of war. So in this case there is no international peace as of the conflict (defined above).
Chapter 1
Chapter Title: The History of the Middle East since 1096
Western involvement within the Middle East in not simply the last three decades- the relationship is nearly 1000 years old. The complex and turbulent history can be traced back to as early as the 11th century when the Pope of Rome declared a crusade to claim back the Holy Land from its Muslim inhabitants. This set in motion 2 centuries of crusades by European Knights to the Middle East. Many in the Arab world consider this to be the first encroachment by Western civilisation to disrupt and disturb Middle Eastern history and culture which is why after the September 11th attacks when George W. Bush declared the war on terrorism a “new crusade” it engulfed the region- mainly the terrorist groups responsible and in support of the attacks, in a new found hatred for the European powers.
After two centuries worth of crusades, which ultimately lead to a prolonged period of peace within the region and little to no aggression from European states. The rise of the Ottoman Empire saw the aggressors in the conflict change sides and the Turks began to seize part of Hungary and even seizing Vienna.
After centuries of no serious conflicts within either theatre, Napoleon began the re-aggression in the region with invasion of Egypt and Syria in 1798-1801. It had been the first time European and Arab states had clashed in centuries and it shocked the Arab world – it exposed the fundamental weakness of the Ottoman Empire compared to the Europeans. This lead to increased resistance to the French in Syria and Egypt, to the British in Sudan. Furthermore, it a growth of nationalism within the Ottoman Empire until they entered the First World War.
After WWI
The Ottoman Empire fell on the wrong side of WWI and it paid a great price for it. The Ottoman Empire was weakened greatly by the war and its territory was craved up among the allies- mainly the British and French in the Sykes Picot treaty which ultimately lead to the collapse of the 600 year old empire in 1922 – almost exclusively by western hands in a western conflict. This lead to widespread dissent mainly towards the British in Turkey and the French in the Sudan
After WW2
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