Arab Fractures seeks to analyze the human, political and geopolitical landscapes in the Middle East to show how it ties to the region’s instability. The Arab region experiences a common Human Landscape which consists of characteristics with remarkable differences, challenges and achievements, but also similarities. The make-up of the human landscape in the region is based on its ethnic, religious and cultural diversity. Advances in the educational sector are happening, but they take too long to be accepted, fully implemented and taken advantage of, denying the opportunity to produce benefits for the population. Higher education is now accessible to women, but those resources are lost because there is not a high number of women in the work force and keeping up with the rest of the world is difficult. Despite all of the limitations from religious beliefs, practices and cultural differences, empowering minority groups is a process that takes a long time in the Arab world and should be reinforced with aid by the international community.
The political landscape in the Arab region refers to the failed attempt to reach freedom, with the goal to change the ways that the Arab community has been ruled, in order to bring justice and equality to its people. However, one must recognize that even when it turned into more chaos and radical groups, and political interest knew that it would not be successful because there is no precedent in the Arab region of how to change a way of governing without the support from the international community. As well as a plan that could deal with the consequences in any scenario and how to manage a transition. As a result, the world viewed an attempt to reach freedom and the respective regimes took note and retaliated. However, the first step was made.
The geopolitical landscape in the Arab region is interconnected. It consists of a group of states with no natural boundaries but with artificial internal boundaries that make it more difficult to rule and organize. Each state is acting independently without a common map of action and compromise, which has helped radical and terrorist groups to harm the social composition of the region and attempts to have a conversation or find common ground are nearly lost. I agree that more care and support shall be given to the states that want a change and are working towards that goal. Not a lot of effort is being put into this conflict at an international level by the most powerful world leaders.
I found the geopolitical landscape the most interesting. It discusses the origins of the conflict and puts into context the longevity, reasons and evolution of this conflicting part of the world. The cultural differences and the tribal disputes are in the core of each one of the Arab states and the extremist religious views that rules many of these states stresses social deficiencies that bring inequality to the lives of the Arab people. The Arab states seem to be stagnant in their own beliefs, giving no room for communication and mutual cooperation.
Jordan faces a lot of problems in the region, mainly due to the inability to change the government system together with a lack of natural resources. The levels of corruption and national security due to the conflicting neighbors has made Jordan once again a very vulnerable state. Jordan is one of the poorest nations in the Arab community with a very damaging level of unemployment, especially among the young population who are easy targets for radicalized groups. Jordan has accepted a great number of refugees from Syria and does not have the resources to maintain them, although it is admirable how Jordan remains a friendly neighbor in the region willing to extend a hand to all of those who need aid.
The case study about Syria describes the worse repressive system within the Arab States. A complete disaster left by Hafez al-Hassad. There is extremely violent repression in all of the sectors of the Syrian society who are living under a strong military control. An economy which affected the lives and futures of the Syrian people who are misguided by their leaders and taken advantage of Russia whose only purpose was to undermine the United States. Most of all, Syria served as an example of what could happen to the rest of the Arab states who want to pursue any kind of reform.
This case study on Saudi Arabia is a reflection of the steps that the country wants to make in order to be in the same realm as other countries who have the resources to be a leader in its respective regions. The plans to implement a series of economic reforms, fiscal policies and its participation in international markets have been confronted with the reality, internal socio-political situation, and the conflicts in the region that have made it difficult to achieve those goals and to overcome the challenges. One of the factors that rules Saudi Arabia’s plans for change has been the constant plummeting of oil prices, which is its primary source of income.
Egypt’s case study emphasized the consequences of the Arab Uprising, and the violent and repressive actions the regime subjected the Egyptian people to. Most of this was due to a naïve belief that the system would change in an unprepared social outrage demonstration of civil disobedience that turned into chaos, which produced desperation in the population due to the lack of unemployment, especially in the youth. The military took over and the same results seen in other countries with similar scenarios, and Egypt found itself in a worse situation from which very little was achieved. More control and repression were exercised, leaving the international community not wanting to intervene, even though it was clear where the state was heading to. This was an example for other states in the region to learn from.
I chose the case studies of Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt because in the last decade, these group of nations have attempted to reform a political system that has survived for thousands of years and it is now that the people have started to rebel against it. They are looking for other options, and better qualities of life, especially the young people who are following the steps of other countries who already have freedom.
The authors make concluding statements about what has led to the region’s instability. They discuss the Arab civil wars and how they are the most pressing issue facing the global community. For example, they discuss the Syrian conflict which has been devastating, and has been destroying the foundations of the post–World War II global order. The authors also mention that these conflicts will continue to go on until regional leaders start to come up with a plan for the Middle East. They go on to discuss how this “will require new forms of governance within states as well as new norms of acceptable behavior between states.” The authors also believe that external factors are at great play here and need to step up to support the region. Since most of the regions in the Middle East are dependent on oil, this dependency has hindered political and economic development. In order for there to be economic growth, this dependency needs to be broken and there needs to be an outlet to bring in competition and advancement. However, since regional leaders do not see their citizens as being sources of economic development, then they will most likely not put their well-being first unless they feel there is no alternative.