60 years ago the British Empire had crumbled to a few colonies. Europe was still trying to recover from WWII. America, Russia, and China were maneuvering to split up the world. Africa and the Middle East were largely ignored.
Since then The Middle East has hosted between 75 and 85 wars. Some were small, some were large, and some are still going on. America was directly involved in a few, indirectly in about half. So what the hell is going on over there? Freedom, oil, and ignorance.
Oil was struck in Persia, later Iran, in 1908. Further commercial discoveries came from 1938 onward. Oil became the predominant factor in the Mid-East after WWII, fueling European and American expansion. Massive wealth poured into power-hungry pockets.
At the same time an unprecedented wave of independence swept the region, throwing power into the hands of local leaders. Cold War participants eagerly courted these conflicts, propping up tyrants, sowing civil war, and stirring up old emnities. King making and regime toppling were the politics de jour.
America, Europe, Russia, and China displayed great ignorance in their collective handling of the Middle East. America in particular left a stain of mistrust and hatred, with a little help from Cold War opponents. It is an onus we aren't trying hard enough to erase.
Hardly surprising that unrest and conflict have continued for over half a century or that Mid-Eastern opinion of America is so bad. So what's going on now?
Backlash, or more Biblically, as ye sow, so shall ye reap. We in the West, America included, helped hold these people back from their potential. They've been stuck in the Middle Ages, beaten down by rulers wielding weapons we gave them. Hardly surprising that people so abused by war and oppression might finally say "Enough" and throw a revolution or three.
I just hope the present administration has the good sense to sow a few seeds of friendship and helpfulness while we can.
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