Middle east turbulance

The Middle East is a region that encompasses western asia and all of or part of northern africa
The Middle East lies at the juncture of eurasia and africa and of the Mediterranean Sea and the indian ocean.

Middle East has been a major center of world affairs; a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive area.

major isssues

1 us and iran confrontation on iran's nuclear programme

2 Syrian domestic armed confrontation or Syrian Civil War( core of the Syrian crisis are the deep strategic convergences between Syria and Iran. The aim of the US and the West is to prise away Syria from its Iran linkages by an engineered civil war which has yet not succeeded)

3The Israel-Palestine conflict is a festering sore in the Middle East and promises to continue as such for a long time

4 intense power struggle for  regional supremacy between Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey

5 In terms of global power-play in the Middle East between the United States and russia and now chinaUnited States pursues a strategy of balance of artificially weak powers. Arabia has to be both immune from domination by Iraq or Iran and also weak enough not to threaten Israel

iran vs saudi arabia

Saudi Arabia and Iran lie squarely on both sides of the Persian Gulf, not only geographically opposite but also strategically opposite and confronting each other. In terms of power-potential, Iran enjoys a lead over Saudi Arabia. Religiously also both these Gulf Region rivals are diametrically opposite in that Saudi Arabia is Sunni Muslim whereas Iran is the largest and most powerful Shia Muslim nation in the world.

root cause

Prior to the discovery of oil, the region had been a hotbed for religious conflict and wars over other rich resources and land. The declining Ottoman Empire paved way for the rising European imperial and colonial powers interested in securing various territories and controlling access to Asia.

To maintain superiority, control and influence over the region, the West has placed corrupt Arab leaders into positions of power and supported the overthrow of those that are not seen as favorable. This has also served to keep their populations at bay, in return for militarization, power and personal wealth of the elite. Sometimes this has been done in the name of fighting communism. The common theme underlying it though has been the struggle to control access to important resources such as oil.

The Middle East is the most militarized region in the world and most arms sales head there. A suppressed people that sees US influence as a major root cause of the current problems in the Middle East has led to a rise in Islamic militancy, acts of terrorism and anti-west sentiment, anti-US in particular.

Why Is the Middle East So Important

The Middle East so important to the rest of the world because it contains most of the world’s known oil reserves and is the world’s top oil-producing region.
The Middle East is a strategically and economically important region because of the large quantities of crude oil reserves