The barbaric military operations carried out by Israel in Gaza, amidst the worst-ever conditions experienced throughout the Middle East, have allowed it to continue its war without aiming to solve the Palestinian question. And despite all the concessions made by the Arab side and the international community, Tel Aviv remains adamant to continue with its deadly war.
Israel — in an unprecedented manner — has destroyed Palestinian towns and killed its people randomly, treating all those in the region and abroad with contempt and completely disregarding the international public opinion while implementing its special regional system because of its complete confidence that the atrocities against Palestinians in general and Hamas in Gaza in particular will never expand nor proliferate to other areas. The Middle East, in recent times, has witnessed conflicts not experienced by the current generation or the previous ones. These internal conflicts have left millions of people vulnerable to intimidation in their own countries or have been displaced from their places of residence. There are a number of Arab countries that have been undergoing exceptional circumstances for the past few years. These circumstances have nothing to do with serious disagreements with neighbouring countries. Rather, these conditions are related to the fate of these countries and the future of their people and the regional system as a whole.
The current situations in different parts of the Middle East are not isolated issues. Moreover, many countries in the Middle East have failed to find a way to form agendas or take comprehensive stands on issues within their borders. The Syrians were unsuccessful in settling their differences after the failure of the Geneva 1 and Geneva 2 conferences. As a result, there is no longer any need to go to Geneva 3, because the battleground is much closer and very attractive.
Today, we are witnessing how the conflicts in Iraq have entered a new phase after the government lost control over large parts of the country. Libya, on the other hand, has drowned in devastating chaos and there does not seem to be an easy way out of the current situation. In Yemen, the armed struggle has become a chronic phenomenon and the whole country has become an arena where many parties play a part that leads to additional fractures in the community. Lebanon, meanwhile, lives in constant tension, fuelled by the various political entities in the country. Moreover, the country is still without a president because of its inability to vote for a new president amidst the deep social divide regarding the Syrian situation. Egypt was able to pick up the pieces with great difficulty and no one can predict whether it will be able to regain its status as a leading country in the region.
It is very clear that these struggles indicate a regression in the collective national identity, national affiliation, and the spirit of living together in one’s homeland, thereby opening ways to sectarianism, ethnic clashes and tribal or regional differences. The distinctive features of these struggles are seen in violence, expansion of differences and the elimination of any sort of a common ground that can bring people together rather than make them come to blows. Thus, we can confidently say that these struggles are not political ones that are open for compromise or negotiations.
Another feature of these struggles, that has emerged after the fall of many of the victims, is that none of the warring factions have been able to bring the current crises to an end. Moreover, the delicate international situation and the fear of returning to the Cold War-era stand as obstacles in the way of any interference by other countries to play the role of mediators and help put an end to the struggles and their bloody repercussions.
No doubt that negotiations and comprehensive dialogues are good ways to contain the clashes and devastating wars. Talks and mutual understandings are expected to open ways to the possibility of finding a war and conflict free realm. But the chances of that happening are almost nonexistent in the absence of a strong third party that is able to take all the stake holders on board and even use force if the need arises. International organisations and the United Nations have proved their inability to play this role because the member states of the UN Security Council — who are the decision-makers on issues of conflict resolution and arbitration — consider these conflicts as manoeuvring tools with which to implement some of their policies and agendas, thereby severely paralysing these international bodies.
In the Middle East, there is a new regional system in the making, where the re-demarcation of geographical borders is well expected along new foundations to be decided by religious, sectarian and ethnic affiliations.
The battle of one-upmanship between the US and Russia on the one hand and strong presence of countries like Turkey, Iran and Israel on the other, will continue to shape the socio-political landscape of this region.
Dr Mohammad Akef Jamal is an Iraqi writer based in Dubai.
