President Barack Obama’s comments about the Middle East facing trouble from within have invited a multitude of opinions. Some are in favour of his observations while others are strongly opposed to it. It is a fact that the geopolitical equations have been going through major changes since the Syrian crisis. In the beginning, the political upheavals in such regimes generated an impression that things were changing for the better. However, it was only post-revolution that the socio-political dynamics came to light, with hardliners taking control of power, which created a sense of insecurity in the minds of minority religious groups. The fringe groups primarily focused on demolishing social and religious harmony within the state by taking up arms, besides destroying ancient and culturally invaluable monuments and museums and historical architecture, with their skewed ideology that had no backing from the masses.

Later, insidious influence from Iran in neighbouring countries became all the more visible when reports on sectarian clashes began to emerge. It looked like a subtle operation, but many feared that this situation has been a long time coming. The most recent Yemeni crisis has every hallmark of the meddling of Iran and amounted to a proxy war being waged against the Gulf states. The US’ overtures to Iran, which resulted in reaching preliminary agreements on developing nuclear technology is likely to have long-term consequences.

A lack of comprehensive political strategy is the root cause of the recent crisis in the region. It appears that the era of the US and other Western nations, with their political and strategic interests in the region, is coming to an end. The oil diplomacy is set to change in the future, mainly because technological innovations in the energy sector, including the prominence of shale oil, is beginning to influence the decisions of Western powers towards the Middle East. So, it is only a matter of time before Arab-Islamic states would start to take matters into their own hands.

— The reader is an Indian business development coordinator based in Dubai.