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"The Political System of the Middle East, 23 years after 9/11

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(Translation of my Urdu article)

Twenty-three years have passed since the September 11, 2001 attacks. These unfortunate attacks resulted in the loss of nearly 3,000 lives and gave the American eagles a free hand to fulfill their desire for Pax Americana. After these attacks, the global war on terrorism began, and the US administration clearly told the international community that either they were with the US or against it.

Since all the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks were Muslims, the first phase of the attack was on Afghanistan, and within a few weeks, the Taliban government was toppled, and a US-backed government was established. In 2003, a false intelligence report on weapons of mass destruction was used as a pretext to attack Iraq, and the Saddam government was overthrown.

The Iraq war changed the political landscape of the Middle East. After World War II, the political system of the Middle East was divided into two camps: US-backed monarchies and emirates on one side and Arab nationalist governments supported by the Soviet Union on the other.

After the US occupation of Iraq, sectarian and ethnic divisions became apparent in Iraq and the wider Middle East. On one side were the Kurds, who had been supported by Israel since the late 1990s and had provided intelligence to the US for the attack on Iraq. On the other side were the Shiites and then the Sunnis. Additionally, the Arab-Kurdish conflict intensified and spread to Syria, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Similarly, after the collapse of Russia, the US attitude towards Saudi Arabia changed, and especially during the Clinton administration, the Saudi government was under pressure. After the 9/11 attacks, although the Bush administration politically supported Saudi Arabia, the US media and Democratic Party openly criticized Saudi Arabia, forcing it to implement reforms.

After Bush, the Obama administration came to power, and during his tenure, Saudi Arabia was again pressured in the name of human rights. Then, during the Arab Spring, the US administration supported the revolutionaries against Saudi wishes. In 2015, after the death of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Salman bin Abdulaziz became the king of Saudi Arabia, and his son Mohammed bin Salman brought about a clear change in Saudi policy by establishing relations with major powers, especially China and then Russia, for the first time in history, apart from the US, and forced US President Biden to reconsider the importance of Saudi Arabia and his attitude towards it.

In Syria, which was ruled by the Arab nationalist Ba'ath Party, Bashar al-Assad had taken over the government after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad before 9/11. In the early 2000s, an intellectual movement for reforms, known as the Damascus Spring, emerged, which could have brought about a positive change in Syria and the post-Cold War global landscape. However, unfortunately, the Bashar al-Assad administration cracked down on the activists, and the movement was suppressed. The effects of this were seen in the Arab Spring and the civil war that began in 2011, from which the Syrian government has not yet fully recovered.

Iran, which had been under US pressure since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, focused on its peaceful nuclear program after 9/11. As a result, it faced further sanctions from the US, and after the US occupation of Iraq, sectarian tensions rose, and Iran's relations with GCC countries deteriorated, especially during the Arab Spring, when the issue reached Kuwait and Bahrain, and Iran-Arab international relations became bitter.

In my analysis, the US was following a policy of divide and rule. Its policies created Kurdish, Shia, and Sunni poles so that they would remain entangled with each other, and Israel would play the role of balancer and become stronger. During this period, extremist organizations like ISIS emerged.

Similarly, in my analysis, the support for the Arab Spring was not out of love for the Arab people but to relieve the pressure building up in  Arab world due to dictators and US policies which they towed , with potential to bring end to status qou. In the end the order that emerged after Arab spring was in the interest of the US... change of faces...status quo , people like Qaddafi gone and threats of change eliminated.

US policies exposed US intentions to Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia, and we saw that Saudi Arabia and other important Arab countries began to establish relations with China and other countries so that they would not be dependent solely on the US, which was proving dangerous for their interests. Therefore, we saw that Saudi Arabia, through the UAE and Egypt, started supporting Syria's Bashar al-Assad in 2018, and now Syria has returned to the Arab League. Similarly, relations have resumed between Saudi Arabia and Iran with China's help, with mutual respect evident. The GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia, have joined BRICS, which is being called an anti-Western alliance or platform."

 

 

About the Author

Strategic Analysis Group is an online forum of Pakistani journalists, who are contributing to provide a better understanding of strategic and international developments. It is done with objectivity without sensationalism that is prevalent in our so…

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