Sources of Conflict in the Middle East: Borders or Stratified Identities?

Abstract

Abstract Since the end of Ottoman control, Middle
 East has experienced a large number of conflicts. The arrangements made at the
 end of World War I are often blamed for these conflicts. Arbitrarily drawn
 borders and the creation of influence zones between Great Britain and France
 without paying attention to religious and ethnic divisions present in the
 region are seen at the source of today’s conflicts. Arangements such as the
 Bunsen Committee report, Sykes-Picot agreement, and Hussein-McMahon
 correspondence shaped the region after the war, but none of these were
 successfully implemented due to changing circumstances, and their contradicting
 nature. This study argues that even though these constituted the first step in
 the creation of the modern Middle East, the real cause of today’s conflicts lie
 in the creation of a stratified politicized identity system that emerged
 through stages over the past century. These stages were marked by the conflicts
 between Arab nationalism and nation state identities; the politicization of
 sectarianism; and finally the emergence of ethnicity in politics. Keywords: Middle East, conflict, Sykes-Picot agreement, Arab nationalism,
 sectarianism, ethnicity.