THE OLD AND NEW MIDDLE EAST: AN OVERVIEW (original) (raw)

The Middle East has been a cauldron of conflict and war; peace has often been a function of battlefield victory of the powerful. All events going on in the region today is reminiscent of the past, with difference only in scale. The region, ironically, is presumed as the genesis of creation and civilization, but whose history is written in war. This study takes a panoramic view of the Middle East from the past to the present into which numerous issues are embedded, which require some delineations. Appraisals will take cognizance of the fact that both the old and new Middle East has myriads of issues to contend with, from divergent perspectives. In the new, for instance, there is a global focus on the Israel-Palestine conflict, of the broader Arab-Israeli conflict, Iran's nuclear program, the Syrian war, the emergence of the Islamic State (or ISI, ISIS, ISIL), the intervention of the world powers, the refugee crisis, among others. The situation is complex and, apparently spiraling out of control, without a credible power to bring order out of the chaos. Indeed, can order come out of the chaos? Who is the diplomatic genius to bring about a relative peace out of abysmal chaos?