Superpowers: Middle Eastern Tensions Flashcards
key facts
The Middle East contains 60% of proven oil reserves, so no superpower or emerging power can ignore it.
causes of tension
Most Muslim countries are hostile to the Jewish state of Israel: Iran has vowed to destroy it, but the USA is a key ally of Israel.
Religious differences between Sunni (Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey) and Shia (Iran, Iraq, Lebanon) branches of Islam are a source of conflict between and within countries.
Since 2011, the rise of the extremist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has created wars, terrorism and a refugee crisis.
The Kurdish people (in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey) are demanding their own state.
Since 2015 a civil war has raged in Yemen, which has involved Saudi Arabia directly and the USA indirectly
stability
The complex web of alliances and geopolitical relations within Middle Eastern countries is a major ongoing challenge to stability. Russia, and to a lesser extent, China, tend to support Iran within the region. The USA and EU lean towards Saudi Arabia. The Saudis and Iranians both see themselves as regional leaders, but relations between them are poor.
political tensions
The state of Israel is contentious for many Arab states, who wish to see a state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel.
The creation of the Jewish homeland state (Israel) in 1948 politically unified the Muslim Middle East in opposition to it.
As a major supporter of Israel, the USA struggles to maintain a positive influence in the Arab world. Int the wider Middle East region, Afghanistan has been unstable since the Soviet invasion of 1979, and has been viewed suspiciously by the USA and its allies for hiding Islamist militant groups responsible for terror attacks.
Russia views any destabilisation in the Middle East caused by Islamist uprisings as a threat which might spread to its own territories in regions such as Chechnya.
Economic tensions
Despite conflict the wider Middle East region has been an essential supplier of oil from key states such as Libya, Saudi Arabia and UAE.
The rise of ISIS in Iraq asince the invasion of Allied forces has focussed Western interests in defencing the country’s oil reserves.
Turkey, a long-standing critic fo Israeli government policies, nonetheless sell it much-needed water resources.
Cultural tensions
Countries of the Middle East have historical religions divisions between Shia Iran and Sunni Iraq. These include tensions caused by the Islamist uprisings, within countries such as Syria and Iraq
Environmental tensions
Past conflicts have often resulted in economic damage to il installations, particularly in Kuwait following the first Gulf War in 1991 and the invasion of Allied forces in Iraq in 2003
summary of Syria
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