Modern Politics of the Middle East Border - Paper Example

Introduction

It is impossible to narrow down political issues that are currently taking over the Middle East. For countries like Syria and Yemen, territorial disputes and civil wars continue to pose the biggest threat. Even when other countries are hoping to initiate peaceful political coexistence, these two countries among others are nowhere near such accomplishments. They continue to experience rampant war even with the modern political settings. These continuous wars have seen citizens escape to other countries in search of refuge and asylum leaving their native homelands deserted. Without people to contribute towards countries economic, social and political developments, the Middle East is experiencing poor growth compared to other nations internationally. Due to its rampant wars, other international communities like the United Nations have cut ties with some Middle East countries like Iraq. The international community through the UN campaigns for peace hence when nations don't comply they are met with military sanctions.

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Internal Political Conditions in the Middle East

Nations in the Middle East are striving for peace after years of civil war. These nations like Syria's, Israel, Iran, and Lebanon are ready to have peaceful conversations for the sake of their country people. The war is not yet over but the anticipated future can be seen as the current political atmosphere is focused on ending any disputes and ensure a peaceful existence for everyone. The natives of countries like Palestine and Iraq are focused on protecting their natural resources from exploitation. They hence find themselves entangled in territorial, ideological, ethnic and political disputes (Halpern, 2015). To defend their interests, they form radical non-state movements. In these nations, the largest population is dominated by Muslims hence an aspect of religious conflict is bound to emerge. These Islamic unrest have led to lots of political disputes in the Middle East as they are not about to give up their quest. It is becoming hard to ensure peace in these countries given that radical groups are being funded by some political influencers.

Most of the individuals who had run away from their homes and sought refuge in other nations are still to make their return. Some Syrian citizens began to return home in 2017 although by a small number which should increase by the coming years. Individuals still fear for the political tension back at home hence prefers their lives as refugees. The local government also requires adequate reconstruction as a lot has been destroyed during civil wars. The Palestine government is still causing public pressure in the Middle East forcing Jerusalem to take up the role of reshaping political arena of this area. These countries like Iraq hope that through elections, changes will be achieved. However, the regime remains as those who are politically influential continues to have their way making it hard to achieve the desired changes.

External Political Conditions of the Middle East

The international community cannot take civil wars lightly as they have their way of corrupting peaceful coexistence with other nations. The Middle East has therefore received various attentions from nations like the United States. The international community is flooding with refugees and other individuals seeking asylum. They, however, hope to reduce this number by ensuring peace in the Middle East. Internationally, refugees in countries like Australia have been viewed by natives as political threats. These refugees are associated with terrorism hence they face discrimination and stereotyping in other countries. Such tensions could lead to further political problems for these refugees. The United States through President Donald Trump's leadership has tried to ensure that these Middle East nations acquire peace. Military troops have been deployed as well as sanctions used (Milton-Edwards, 2018). These troops have had a long encounter with the Middle East radical groups and conquered them in nations like Syria.

The Syrian Islamic radical groups are being suppressed hence peace is restored slowly. These groups forced the hands of international political movements by targeting foreign individuals by mostly attacking embassies. Such actions angered the international community into taking actions against such behaviors. Radical groups from Syria, Iraq, and Palestine among others also attempted terrorism in other countries like the US. These terror attacks claimed the lives of many individuals calling for sanctions against the Middle East. Nuclear weapons have been used as sanctions against these nations leading to a drop in civil wars of Syria (Halpern, 2015). The united state has also identified political leaders who fund these radical groups and worked hard to ensure they are not in government. Any individual who does not act towards national interests is currently facing political heat from the international community. Peace is being restored to Middle East nations through international interventions where necessary. By weakening radical group's financial base, the international community hopes to eradicate their influence and support.

Relevant Events in Peripheral and International Regions

The border of the Middle East is comprised of peripheral countries such as turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia among others. Their territorial disputes have crippled any political and economic development that they can enjoy. Apart from suffering from civil wars, these countries of Middle East border experience disputes with their neighbors making it hard for them to achieve any political, social or economic development. Countries developments are achieved through citizen's devotion and efforts as well as collaborations with nearby states. In the Middle East, residents are engaged in constant wars hence there is no stability. These individuals are constantly on the run for their lives hence lack time to make any economic or political impact. In a gesture to improve political conditions, there was an Iraqi Kurds' independence referendum on September 2017. The event was to trigger a change in the political environment of Iraq. However, this initiative was highly unsuccessful due to poor timing as the country's political conditions were not favorable (Fawcett, 2016). The Kurd is a non-state nation and this referendum hopped to change that. However, border disputes could not let this initiative succeed. For a country experiencing constant political downfalls due to territorial disputes, any initiative towards peaceful coexistence is highly opposed. Not having political stability leads to delayed developments since individuals who should watch out for a countries future operate under a corrupt institution.

There was also an Arab uprising that broke out in 2011 where protesters were against corruption in the country. They complained that the governing arrangement was filled with border injustice where cronyism and nepotism were exercised rampantly. The citizens felt that they did not have any representation politically by their governments. These political dissatisfactions are the reason as to why Middle East borders are constantly at war with each other. These countries cannot find common ground and ensure economic and political development. They hence lag behind in all advancements as any developmental initiative will always be destroyed during wars or by malicious groups (Milton-Edwards, 2018). The government settings as witnessed by Arab uprising is one of the most corrupt institutions hence does not act on behalf of national interest. Such political shortcomings lead to Middle East countries being peripherals.

The international community has shown its power through various interventions in peripheral countries. In events like when Russia invaded Syria through military interventions in 2015, these powerful nations have managed to curb civil wars in the Middle East. In 2003 both Libya and Iraq also received international interventions due to political dysfunctionality. When citizens express their dissatisfaction with local political setups through forums like 2011 Arab uprising, they send a message to the international community. They then receive military sanctions as feedback which in most cases doesn't help solve the problem. In the Middle East, these sanctions have been exercised by the United Nations over a long period of years and not much has been achieved (Fawcett, 2016). Only peace talks in the Middle East border can help these nations solve their problems. Force by the international community's has fueled terrorism both locally and globally.

Third Party Interventions

During interventions, the third party nations involved have a responsibility to curb threats as well as ensure native people are secure. These efforts in the Middle East border countries have been exercised for a long time and still, most have proven unsuccessful. There have been numerous international missions triggered to separate Hezbollah fighters who had invaded the Northern Israeli frontier in Lebanon but all have failed. Since the Jewish and Arab were given separate states by the UN, it has been difficult to exercise any authority over them during their constant Middle East border conflicts. The lack of authority in these states has outweighed their mandates of delivering peace. Middle East political conflicts continue to receive various interventions from UN and European nations. Most of these interventions are exercised through aggressive means like military deployments or other sanctions (Laqueur, 2016). Nuclear bombs have been used in nations like Syria and Iraq leading to catastrophic losses.

Recently, peacekeeping interventions led by European nations in Lebanon have been highly embraced with the United States in support. There is a low advocate for UN in these Arab nations hence the United States involvement will not be highly welcomed. However, the US has its hands full with Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan among other commitments. The German, Italian and French officials also feel that in Lebanon, UN-sanctioned forces will contribute minimally in warning the two conflicting parties. The Middle East experts are of the opinion that before any sanction is made by the UN, they should take time to understand dynamics escalating conflicts. The UN cannot go making forceful sanctions into these nations since that may lead to more chaos (Cammett, 2018). Therefore, it was suggested by experts like Danielle Pletka that in the Middle East, peaceful negotiations will come in handy. Such interventions further weaken the need for UN military force.

Since the 1940s till today in modern political arenas, UN peacekeeping missions have been placed in the Middle East to observe, monitor and control various conflicts. UN as the third party intervening organization in these countries has not given up on peaceful coexistence. The organization believes that if these countries are left to continue with their terrorism and civil wars, the effect may not only be felt locally but internationally. These conflicts have to be curbed due to their social, economic and political impact. They are a danger to local people's lives and have led to economic drawbacks. In the Middle East countries, troops are always on the ground to mitigate any arising conflict. Due to political instability experienced, every time there is new disputes emerging. Sanctions are therefore constantly dealing with one conflict after the other. In some countries like Egypt, the Multinational Force, and Observers has been placed in the Sinai Desert to maintain peace between Egyptian-Israel border conflicts. Other interventions include Operation Blue Bat and Evacuating the PLO among others in Lebanon. The French and British governments have also joined pea...