Will there be peace in the Middle East?

PanARMENIAN.Net - Considering the fact that Ottoman Porte was an ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary, Britain’s involvement was more than apparent. Control over the Middle East became a focal point in the superpowers’ policy after oil was discovered in the region. The Arab tribes used gold and weapon as tools in convincing of the necessity of having independent statehood, which in turn, brought about the emergence of Iraq and Gulf monarchies on the world map. Acknowledging that oil may shift the balance of power, the U.S. and the Soviet Union unleashed a war.

In 1916, a confidential agreement was reached between France and Great Britain on distribution of spheres of influence in the Middle East, with Britain getting a territory in present-day Jordan, Iraq and Palestine, and France getting south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Supporting the Arab revolt in the Ottoman Turkey, Britain assured the Arabs that it will foster the establishment of independent Arab states. Along with these pledges, one of the most controversial documents of modern history, Balfour Declaration, was inked in 1917, envisaging British support in establishment of “national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine.

Things were relatively calm in the Middle East until 2011. “The Arab Spring” yielded no success; some of the countries, including Libya, Iraq and Egypt to some extent are on the verge of collapse, with a severe war ongoingbetween Sunnis and Shiites in other counties, and no end in sight for the Syrian conflict.

George W. Bush administration may be blamed for releasing the Islamic genie out of the bottle with his “promotion of democracy in Kuwait. The Arab tribes ran out of control after Obama election, with the outcomes currently apparent. Democracy fits in Western policy-making; it’s impossible in the East due to the differences in mentality, traditions and, finally, religion. The West seems to have yielded no lessons from the Soviet war in Afghanistan. The USSR armed the Mujahideen for the sake of war for independence. The same may await the Arab world. Such an end to the Arab Spring is not rued out. It’s also unknown when it will end.