Most experts of the geopolitical scene in the Middle-East agree by now , that the establishment of the modern Middle-Eastern political boundaries , and the establishment of its different countries , started during world war I , and came about to its final shape in the few years after ; 1919 - 1922 , when winners allied countries headed by Britain and France , introduced an artificial state system into the M-E , that transformed the whole region into countries that have not become real nations even today .
Imperialism , very quickly turning into colonialism , created borders and artificial states , extending from the southern Russian frontiers to the Indian ocean in the south , and from the Caspian sea in the east to the Mediterranean in the west . All to divide , conquer and annex lands ruled until then by the looser in war , the Ottoman empire .
In fact , Arabs from the Hijaz and Egyptians , Syrians and Iraqis , Yemenis and North Africans , were all peoples of different histories , ethnic backgrounds and outlooks . The fictitious mosaic of peoples , all in abeyance and dormant for more than 500 years under Ottoman rule , never managed to mix well , except for Islamic affiliation and connectedness to a certain majority.
Islam had always a semblance of unification , as the nation and its peoples believed , aspired and obeyed the reigning Musslem theocracy rather than a national Turkish or Ottoman state . The Caliph was a symbol of Islam , and accepted strictly and only as a successor to the prophet Mohammad . All this changed in a matter of some very short years , 1919 to 22 of our last century .
It took Europe more than 1600 years to come to terms with its social and political identity after the Roman era ended , and not until recently could they determine which nations were entitled to be states . In the modern M-E , it is far from being settled , whether it's religion or statehood , dynastic family rule , national states or little enclaves and city states . Whether it is Sunni or Shi'a , Christians , Alawite , Druz or Jewish Israelites .Who would command who , and rule ? or possibly all would , each within his little fief .
States all over the Middle-East were created , and boundaries were mapped to suit British and French interests , and Israeli Jewish aspirations , rather than those of the real local populations . The outcome of this paradoxical puzzle throughout the modern M-E , are entities that managed to come together , while others came apart , some countries learned to accept their borders and imposed frontiers , while others do not . Some grew into accepting their neighbors as independent states , others did not .
Mostly , countries of British and French creation , under the famous " Sykes-Picot-Sazonov " arrangements and agreements , as in Saudi Arabia , all the Gulf Emirates , Iraq , Syria , Jordan ,Israel and Lebanon , even Egypt , the Sudan and north African states , all of these provide extensive and sufficient examples of political immaturity , incompetence , brutality and hegemony .
No comments:
Post a Comment