The Modern Middle East, Explained

Quick Overview

The modern Middle East's current borders largely stem from arbitrary divisions drawn by European powers after the decline of previous empires, setting the stage for subsequent conflicts driven by the discovery of oil, the Cold War rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union, and the rise of figures like Osama bin Laden, whose family built infrastructure for the initial American oil presence in Saudi Arabia. The Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) further fractured the region by solidifying the rivalry between Shia Iran and Sunni Arab states like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, while US involvement in supporting Iraq with intelligence and—critically—turning a blind eye to chemical weapon use against Kurds and Iranians, shaped decades of subsequent policy and conflict, including the justifications later used for the Iraq War.

Key Points: The current Middle East borders are the skeleton left behind after European powers like the British and French carved up the region without regard for language or ethnicity. The US presence began in the 1930s driven by the hunt for oil, starting with a California company striking oil in Saudi Arabia in 1938, leading to American-style enclaves and the first military base stipulated by the Saudis with no visible US flag. Osama bin Laden's father, Muhammad, was the construction magnate who built infrastructure for the initial US oil city and military base in Saudi Arabia, making his son deeply uncomfortable with the American presence. The US involvement escalated in the 1950s and 60s due to the Cold War rivalry with the Soviet Union and intense support for the newly declared state of Israel, which caused backlash from oil-producing Arab neighbors. During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, the US provided intelligence to Saddam Hussein to weaken Iran, and both the US and Soviet Union backed Iraq, while the US also engaged in the Iran-Contra scandal by secretly selling missiles to Iran. Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons, including mustard gas, against the Kurds in Halabja in 1988, killing over 5,000 civilians, a war crime which the US government officially blamed on Iran at the time. The Downing Street memo revealed that by 2002, US officials were privately certain that an invasion of Iraq was inevitable, regardless of UN approval or hard evidence, fixing intelligence around the pre-made decision to remove Saddam Hussein.