Middle East must be re-designed

By Payraw Anwar:

There has been no stability in the Middle East from the First World War until now; nothing has happened to remedy this. The Middle East, and the Arabian countries in particular, were divided and designed according to the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement by which three states (Britain, French and Russia) planned the division of the Ottoman Empire’s property.

Since creating this new political map, four issues emerged  – relating to religion, sectarianism, nationality and geography – and none has been solved yet, due to many reasons and, above all, because there was no real integration within those countries that were created according to the interests of the colonial powers.

Some countries have been multi-national, multi-sectarian and multi-religious, and this phenomenon has had an extraordinary impact in the domestic, regional and international arena, creating political dilemmas and continued unrest.  The diversity of political symbols and signs in the area has always been a cause of contradictions.

If we consider the political situation in Iraq in an historical context, we will realize that the invaders made a huge mistake in establishing such a state with its inherent tendency to paralysis. They did not consider any equations except their own interests; they wanted to organize their goals without reflecting and imagining would happen afterwards or what comes next politically. Drawing Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan etc… were outcomes of their mistakes.

Things will no longer stay according to this agreement and political map. This political marriage is done, it’s time is over, it does not work anymore. The Middle East should be re-designed; a new political map will be born soon; Iraq and Syria get divorces from their obligatory marriages.

The absence of key concepts – real democracy, tolerance, coexistence, handing over of power, freedom and fundamental rights – stymie the Middle East, with its lack of transparency and social justice, broad corruption and nepotism. Good governance and  reasonable livelihood standards must be part of the new political equation; additionally, not coercing nations and religions to live together if there is no real prospect of coexistence.

New states will appear based on nations, especially Shias and Sunnis. There is no choice except this option to provide stability. The Middle East must be redesigned once again, but correctly this time.

Payraw Anwar was born in Hawler, capital of the Kurdistan region, in 1989. He is a political writer and journalist. 

2 Responses to Middle East must be re-designed
  1. Nema
    July 22, 2014 | 17:07

    What a fantastic (in its original sense) vision of the Middle East to come. What is to stop separate nations coveting the territory of their neighbours and using arguments based on religious and ethnic differences to support aggression? How many tin pot dictators (men of corruption and power legitimised by presidency) would it take to stabilise the Middle East?

  2. Sharaz
    July 22, 2014 | 21:07
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