Middle Eastern Studies, Richards and Waterbury
The last century, particularly after World War 2, has witnessed high levels of conflict and warfare within the Middle East(Richards and Waterbury 345). The most predominant and extended conflict is that of the Arab-Israeli conflict which has born five major wars and is still at play even unto now. Others include the bloody civil wars of Lebanon of 1976-1989; Sudan's civil war 1959-1971 and 1983-2010 of which the drums of war are once again being sounded between Sudan and the newly independent Southern Sudan over the vast oil of the south. Common characteristics of these conflicts were the conventional use of large armies and the high levels of firepower and destruction.
This basic enumeration of the conflicts within the region betrays the inherent causes and motives by speaking only of the volume and frequency, and the extent of both human and financial resources (mis)directed towards the defense and invasions within the Middle East as contrasted to other sections of the world. These connect between wars and the military has been the largest barrier to adoption of more "liberal political practices" that are favored by Western states like the U.S. and Britain. Therefore, what are the geneses of such conflicts? What roles do the military serve herein?
[...] Web May Gelvin, J. L. The Current Middle east: A History. Canary Oxford: Oxford University Press Print. Masood, Azhar. Nishan-e-Imtiaz for Saudi Air Force Commander July 2006. Web May Richards, A. and J. Waterbury. A Political Economy of the Middle East. Westview Press Print. [...]
[...] What roles have Western nations played in this collapse? Most social theorists are unable to agree as to the number of true revolutions and their exact causes (Gelvin). A most appropriate amongst the numerous approaches would be the multi-causal theory which postulates that revolutions occur due to the convergent of various factors; none of which is strong enough to cause and sustain the revolt on its own. A fundamental aspect of Middle East's military-industrial complex is the tendency to become powerful economic enclaves unaccountable to either auditors or national assemblies(Richards and Waterbury 345).The Israeli, Turkish and Saudi-Arabia form 60% of all military expenditure in the region. [...]
[...] These connect between wars and the military has been the largest barrier to adoption of more “liberal political practices” that are favored by Western states like the U.S. and Britain. Therefore, what are the geneses of such conflicts? What roles do the military serve herein? In Western Europe, the perceived desires to create powerful military forces pushed central authorities to tighten their grip on societies and acquire resources through the imposition of taxes which was used to pay military effort. Consequently, strong centralized states emerged around militaries; the inherent nature of war therein led to protonationalism. [...]
[...] Soon after, Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. This prompted a UN force led by the United States under the now famous operation “desert storm” to successfully come to the aid of Kuwait. The unmistakable presence of the United States in the Arabian affairs would once again be witnessed in 2003 when the combined force of US and Britain invaded Iraq overthrowing the Ba'athist regime under Sadam Hussein. They additionally unilaterally ‘engineered' a successor under Ahmed Kharzai. Arabs detest this form of secular nationalism as it originates primarily from the West; with which they associate with for the economic disaster of 1975-1977(Gelvin 278- 280).Most recently was their alleged involvement in the ousting of the late Libyan leader Gaddafi. [...]
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