The geopolitical situation in the Middle East is tense and complex with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict roughly at the center. With a long history of conflict between Jews and Arabs in the region, it doesn’t seem like an end to the conflict is in sight. However, conflict in the Middle East is not exclusive to topics regarding Israel. Between the United States failure in Afghanistan, the civil wars raging in Syria and Yemen, and the proxy conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia, tensions in the region continue to escalate to dangerous proportions.
The United States involvement in Middle East affairs, though necessary, appear to have done more harm than good. The failure of U.S. policy in Iraq led to ISIS seizing powerful American military equipment in the country such as tanks and rockets. Additionally, the twenty-year long war against the Taliban ended with a disastrous withdrawal and an immediate seizure of power by the Taliban against the Afghan government trained and supplied by the U.S. This led to serious human rights concerns regarding the Taliban’s governance of Afghanistan. Finally, the United State’s mediation of the Israel-Palestine conflict coupled with the problems revolving the Iran nuclear deal seem to be stagnate, lacking significant results.
However, without at least some sort of involvement, the Middle East would descend into an even worse state of chaos. Some may say that U.S. involvement in the region make matters worse and I believe their concerns are valid because the U.S. is very bias when it comes to protecting the interests of their allies. For example, Khaled’s article articulates how U.S. mediation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict heavily favors Israel. This is true, but the author fails to mention that Palestinian leaders refuse to allow Israel to exist in proximity to them. The United States should give Palestinian officials more say in their peace processes, but Palestinian leaders need to make concessions as well to support coexistence instead of unrealistic demands.
One reply on “Week 9”
Benjamin,
Some wag stated when Yasir Arafat walked away from the land-for-peace deal during the Clinton administration, thereby assuring many decades of additional and pointless conflict, that “the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Unfortunately, this appears to be the case. While there is blame on both sides, the Israelis do have a point that they cannot negotiate with themselves. On the other hand, it is now fairly apparent the Netanyahu has never had–nor does he have–any sincere interest in a two-state solution. But the current conflict, which began with the bloody Hamas surprise attack, is really without precedent in its scope and in the number of casualties it is producing. –Professor Wallerstein