A study of the Middle East
Middle Eastern political processes defy observations, discourage generalization and resist explanation.
The political systems in the Middle East can not be easily explained. The study of the Middle East political processes is a complex subject matter. This has led to political scientists making minimal progress in understanding as well as making explanations on the political systems in the Middle East. The political processes of the Middle East are very resistant and especially towards comprehension by the western communities. The Middle East is among the few parts in the world that have been bang by war and conflicts. Though many people and scientists have tried to debate and write much about the Middle East, it still remains subject to stereotype and misunderstanding. This phrase “Middle Eastern political processes defy observations, discourage generalization and resist explanation,” was written in reflection to the fifty years legacy of the region’s academic study. Despite this study, the political systems of the region still remain misunderstood.
To try to get an understanding of the Middle East, one can study its international relations. It is no doubt that the Middle East politics and international relations are interdependent. External forces have greatly shaped the development of the politics of the region. Other than the politics, its societies and economies have also been shaped by external forces. However, studies of the Middle East have led to development of different concepts and theories regarding the contributions of external forces towards the development of the region’s politics. Despite various advances in study, the studies have yielded very little results in bringing these concepts and theories together or even close. Other regions in the world have proved to be more liable to study. However, the studies carried out in the Middle East on international relations are still far apart (Garnham & Tessler, 1995)
The Middle East is a region that has been widely hit by conflicts. However, a move to understand the reasons for these conflicts yield various results which make the process of identification even more difficult. For instance, some people argue that this has something to do with the global as well as regional system structures and the relationships that exist between them. Further, these conflicts can be related to economic interests and thus making them purely domestic coalitions. In addition, there is the transnational identities power which may have affected the international relations of the Middle East. For example in the 1950s and 1960s, the Middle East was faced by numerous wars. There was the Arab-Israeli war but within the same time, civil wars were also eminent as well as inter-Arab conflicts.
Political process can also be characterized by an understanding of the religious processes. It is the religious processes that determine the transnational identities of a nation. However, in the Middle East, the power of the transnational identities is fluctuating. This also involves the region’s ideologies. Following this, it is difficult to study its political processes. These fluctuating transnational ideologies and identities include Arab nationalism, Muslim identities and Islamism, sectarian identities and Zionism. The development of regional political ideologies has also affected the international politics in the Middle East.
The political changes in the Middle East have been affected by many factors including the oil revolution. This oil revolution led to the development of different politics. This shows that the regional politics are frequently changing due to influences from internal factors. For instance, when changes occurred in the power relations within the oil markets of the world, the regional politics also changed (Halliday, 2005). The Middle East region is one of the prominent oil producers for example countries like Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia. These oil producing countries extorted production control from the oil companies that were recognized nationally. This production control also included making of the pricing decisions. Following this, the prices of oil rose drastically and thus meant the emergence of prominence as well as of new power for these oil producing companies. With the changes in power and politics, it became difficult to observe the political systems in the region because of the fluctuations.
The Iranian revolution also gave rise to transnational political ideology thus complicating more the politics of the Middle East region. For a long time, Islamism had been dominant and this meant that it was a strong political force. However, this Iranian revolution greatly impacted on Islam in terms of the international politics of the region. Following this revolution, the identity of Islam was greatly lashed out and this meant changes in the regional political processes. This revolution changed the status quo as well. This is the status quo from the perspective of regional alliances and the American policy. Being characterized by conflicts, the region has suffered several wars. Examples of the major wars are the gulf war and the Iran-Iraq war. These wars brought various consequences and by the end, there were observable changes in ideologies.
As Fawcett (2009) writes, the political processes of the Middle East resist explanation and this can also be seen from the perspective of the United States war on terror. In the Middle East, Al-Qaeda manifests the way in which ideologies can be changed. During the 9/11 attacks, the united states associated these attacks with the Al-Qaeda group. This then led to the American administration fighting the Middle East and also during the Iraq war. With such terror attacks and wars, the international relations are greatly affected and this affects their political systems as well. Further, the Al-Qaeda have experienced set backs and especially in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Regionalism is evident in the Middle East. The international affairs in the Middle East has been dominated by other nations rule and assault. The inter-state politics in the Middle East are taken from the point of view of security and defense. Thus, with the frequent conflicts in the region, it is often difficult to understand these politics. Corporation can be seen as a better way towards the approach of state politics. However, in the Middle East region, this is something that has been difficult to attain. Though the Middle East is a region that has great opportunity because of the existence of natural resources and diversity, it is infected by wars and conflicts.
The international relations and politics of the Middle East have been affected by various factors. That is why even for a long time, the political processes in the region have remained resistant to understanding. To gain an understanding of a region, there has to be stability in its political processes and corporation should be existed between the region’s regimes. However, in the Middle East, the different regimes for instance Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria are not cooperated. Therefore the political processes of the Middle East defy observations, discourage generalization and resist explanation.
References
Fawcett, L.L. (2009). International relations of the Middle East. 2nd Ed. Oxford University Press.
Garnham, D. & Tessler, M.A. (1995). Democracy, war, and peace in the Middle East. Indiana University Press.
Halliday, F. (2005). The Middle East in international relations: power, politics and ideology. USA: Cambridge University Press.
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