We are providing many paragraphs, long essay in very simple language with the boundaries of different words here. Here you can find Essay on Middle-East: A Zone of Turbulence in English language for students in 2300 words. In this article cover Topic : Definition of traditional Middle-East and modern Middle-East. Various factors responsible for the turbulence ot this area. The effects of Arab Spring Two world power support two blocks,viz. Shia and Sunni. Difficult to stop the war due to innumerable splinter groups. Became a ground of terrorism due to foreign policy of US. Describe the recent developments in Syria.Yemen, Turkey, Iran, Israel etc. Rise of IS and its activities & Middle-East has immense scope for development.
Middle-East is an area comprising the countries of Asia and Africa There are two definitions of Middle-East Traditional Middle-East and the modern
Middle-East. The traditional Middle-East comprises of sixteen countries: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain. Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, Syria, Jordan. Middle-East with the modern classification includes: traditional Middle-East plu Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania These are the North African Ara b states sometimes also referred as the Middle East North Afnca (MENA) countries. The following countries are not recognised as Arab States: Israel, Turkey and Iran.
Middle-East since mid-1940s has been involved in wars, evil strife, in recent time Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. The rurbulence Middle-East can be attributed to various factors: ; Arab Spring; Crude oil interest of West and US in particular; strategic interest of the region and the associated geopolitics; proximity of Russia and the spread of communism by erstwhile Soviet state; on destruction of Israel the entire Middle-East stand united; on the issue of terrorism there are explicit and implicit support and opposition to various warring and violent groups. All these issues can be analysed with their historical perspective and the current scenario in the region.
Arab Spring started in 2011 The first nation which started the Domino effect was Tunisia, where due to an authoritarian regime, the subjects rose in protest.Instances of self-immolation underlined how deep the discontent was. It eventually spread like a wildfire in the region The Syrian Civil War which has lingered for over five years was as a result of the same. Arab Spring was a call for granting proportionate rights to the common public and remove the highhandedness of the state authorities. It toppled many governments including those in Egypt, Libya, Yemen etc. The most prolonged war which is still continuing has been in Syria Syria has been under the rule of Bassar Al-Assad a Baathist. The Baath regime in the area has been for a long time, Iraq under Saddam Hussaein was also under Baath party.
The support to Baath regime comes from the Sbia block and Iran in particular. As the West has tacit support for the Sunni block led by Saudi therefore, it was a natural choice for Russia to support Shia block. This balancing of power by the two world powers has resulted in a war which has stretched for a long time. Moreover, US had bloodied tts nose after Iraq and Iran misadYenture. Therefore, it mended iL modalities and did not commit any ground troops.
However, because of innumerable splinter groups in the region with diverse interests, it was difficult to stop the war. Meanwhile, Islamic state also entered the scene and degraded the situation beyond repair. The swift entry and exit by RUSSUl resurrected the position of Assad regime and gave them an edge over Islamic state and rebel groups.
Recapture of Palymyra by Assad army is a case in point here. However, in other countries it was stifled with an iron hand at the behest of the West and the existing regime. Arab Spring ga\'e a glimmer of hope, but it did more harm than good. It embroiled the entire region in an unending war. Loss of life and property was mcessanr and has banned the region beyond repair.
The area of Middle-East is a vast repository of crude oil and natural gas. The deposit in this area is a resulr of marine-transgress10n towards the land and consequent inundation of the land for a very long penod, geologically speaking. In the twentieth century due to the two World Wars the economies of the world were shattered to ground. In order to resurrect these economies there was need for fast paced growth of economy, manufacturing sector in particular.
During the sametime. crude oil deposits were discovered in this area. Subsequent world powers were interested in this area from UK to USA to USSR. Moreover, the Cold War escalated the situation as both the blocks led by USA and USSR scrambled fur taking the region under their own military blocks. Joining of NAM by Iran vindicates the above point However, the centre-stage was always hogged by the greed of crude oil They, at one point or the other were somehow entangled in the Middle-East question.
The foreign policy of US in present times has made this area as a fertile ground for terrorism, the root can be rraced to its greed of crude oil Organisation of Petroleum Ex-porting Countries (OPEC) was established in 1960, to coordinate and unify petroleum policy regarding its production, price stabilisation, regular and efficient supply to its consumers and to appropriate fair return on capital investment OPEC is led by Saudi Arabia as it is the largest producer. ln the recent tunes we have seen the crude oil price plummet to almost 40 USO per barrel.
Despite this, the production by Saudi was not cut down, notwithstanding the daily limit prescribed by OPEC. The two Gulf wars in the pasr were responsible for the rising crude oil price at that time. But, in spite of the fact that the region has been embroiled in war for almost five years, the prices have remained stable. The main reasons for this are the increase in production by USA and the production of Shale gas by fracking. US has therefore, less interest in the region now and is therefore, trying to get itself dissociated with the region.
The region is very strategically plac1>.. d on the world map. The associated geopolitics of the region has made this a \'Olatile ground. This has resulted in nations other than Middle East moving its naval infrastructure in the area. Also, the movement of oil tankers required security and protection from pirates and other Yiolent groups. The Persian Gulf (Strait of Hormuz) has a very strategic position in the area, therefore, US navy is anchored in Bakain in this area to protect their assets.
Similarly, RuSSla :ilso has its interest in the Middle-East. lts only warm water port outside Russia is in STia in Tartus. Therefore, the interest of Russia in securing the regime m Syria in the recent times fits the puzzle of prolonged Syrian Civil War. Gulf of Aden is another area which has very high strategic significance. As large number of trade rakes place through this area, therefore it 1s important to secure the area. In 2012, there was a rise in piracy in the area. Pirates from Somalia and the other countries from the horn of Africa were inV'olved in piracy.
Recently, in 2015, the civil strife in Yemen made this area more volatile. Gulf of Aden lies m Yemen and 1s strategically located Therefore, in order to secure this trade route the benefactor states were considering shifting their naval assets to this area. The Yemen Civil War would have made this area more susceptible to scuffies. Similarly, other choke point in the area is the Suez Canal.
It has witnessed large scale war in the past. U K and France had interests in the area during the World War. However, during the reign of Gamal Abdel Nasser the Canal was nationalised and UK and France lost control. In order to restore control, Suez War rook place in 1956. The British influence ended, Israel captured Sinai Peninsula, ceasefire was mediated by US and USSR and the influence of USSR increased in the area. Also, the significance of the area is important as we can see the high influx of refugees from the strife torn area to Europe. They are migrating to Europe for two major reasons i.e. becaw:e of its proximity and the other because of the lure for a better lifestyle.
Amidst all these chaos Turkey is being grinded, as refugees are either moving to Turkey or takmg Turkey as the transit route to go to Europe. European Union has struck a deal with Turkey to compensate it monetarily for handling refugees and expedite Turkey's demand for European Umon membership. In a similar case after the Arab Spring the civilians swan across or ferried m dinghy boats across the Mediterranean.The loss of lives in the process created a humanitarian criSIS in the region.
Russia or the erstwhile USSR has territorial proximity to the region. During the entire Cold War US was paranoid about the spread of communism in the region. Therefore, in order to contain communism it established military alliances with the region. Iran was to be maintained under the influence of USSR in the North and Britain in the South. However, USSR tried to install a commumst government in Iran.
A puppet government was installed with the support of US. The control of crude oil was tacitly taken by US. In 1953, a coup took place at the behest of US and oil was sold to US at an accepted discounted rate.
In 1955, Baghdad Pact was signed which formalised the military agreement among UK, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Iran. US signed individual treaties with these nations. The main idea was to contain communism. In 1979, Iranian revolution took place and Khomeini became the supreme leader and ties with US were severed Iran became part of NAM and opposed any foreign interference.
Israel has been a contentious issue for the whole of Middle-East The question of Jerusalem as a holy place has bound the Arab state with the same string. The root of this conflict can traced to AD 71 when the Jews were driven out by Romans from their homeland In 1897 the Zionist movement started , which called for return of the Jews to their homeland US pressure allowed the Jews to settle in the area The proposal of two state solution in 1948 was rejected by Arabs. Meanwhile, UN recognised Israel
A brief war in 1948 resulted in, Israel capturing three-fourth of Palestine. Again in 1967, Arab countries ordered troop mobilization, but Israel launched preemptive strikes and repealed the Arabs.
Israel occupied West Bank, Gaza and Golan Heights and pushed the Arabs further away. ln 1973, propelled by the supply of anns, Arabs attacked Israel on the day of their festival, Yom IGppur. The result was, oil supply glut; Suez Canal was blocked by Israel. With the signing of the Camp David Accord, Israel withdrew from the Suez Canal and swore not to give back the hitherto occupied territories. Oslo Accord was signed between Israel and Palestine Liberation Organisation, but, was kept on the backbumer and the solution seemed far fetched
The flare-ups by Hezbollah, Hamas in the region has resulted in disproportionate response by the Israel and large casualties on the side of Palestine. In the recent times there has been violent attacks by both sides, this has resulted in loss of life on both sides with Palestine suffering more than Israel. The right wing government in Israel has made rapprochement difficult to attain. Any solution to the lingering conflict should involve all the stakeholders of the region.
Terrorism has been associated with Middle-East for the last few decades. Although the definition of terrorism is not appropriate for the different violent groups active in the area, as the history of their violence in almost every case is related to extraneous factors. The violence of groups in these areas is retaliation of the unsolicited unilateral interference of West in the region. Rise of Islamic State (IS) is as a result of US led NATO interference in the area and the vacuumm left after its withdrawal from Iraq. Similarly, Al Qaeda was a result of the Western interference. Terrorism as defined by West 1s heavily biased In the Western discourse the debate on terrorism has blurred the line between Islam and terrorism
Also the region has fault line, where Shia and Sunni factions are at loggerheads with each ocher. In this chaos West is taking the advantage. Sunni faction led by Saudi 1s backed by West implicitly; similarly, Shia faction led by Iran is backed by Russia implicitly. In the recent times this fault line was conspicuous m Yemen Civil War 2015, continuing Syrian Civil War, the rise of IS and its pledge to exterminate all Shias and establish a Caliphate with Sharia law. IS rose from the splinter groups of different factions that were involved in the Iraq war. They are the first terrorist organisation which has large swathes of land under its control from Syria to Iraq
Large scale reporting of beheading of innocents, journalists have taken place at the hands of IS IS led by Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi, has recruited large number of people from across the world by its propaganda and outreach through social networking sites. Paris attack. 2015 and the Brussels attack, 2016 w1s the hnddiwork of IS H:lmas and Hezbo11ah have also been involved in terrorist activities, against Israel. In the Syrian Civil war Al-Nusra front and the ocher factions have been involved. The ironical thing in the war is that, US as per its convemence declared the Assad regime as illegitimate and has supported the warring factions with warfare equipments secretly.
Middle-East has been a turbulent zone because of various aggravating factors. The only binding factor has been their culture. In order to preserve the region, the role of Gulf Cooperation Council, United Nations and Amnesty International are of importance. The region has immense scope for development, but its full potential can only be actualised when they are allowed tO grow on their own terms without external interference. Artificial imposition of democracy to realise the human rights will do no good, unless it comes from the residents of the area. Moreover India has vital role to play for establishment of peace and harmony in Middle-East, as this region supplies two-third of India's oil-import, home to millions of native Indians and 1s a rising partner in bilateral trade.
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