eng
competition

Text Practice Mode

Complete this text if u can

created May 23rd 2018, 07:19 by DebojitChakraborty


2


Rating

1476 words
0 completed
00:00
    Middle-East is an area comprising the countries of Asia and Africa. There are two definitions of Middle0East: Traditional Middle-East and the modern Middle-East. The traditional Middle-East comprises of sixteen countries: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, Syria, Jordan. Middle-East witht the modern classification includes: traditional Middle-East plus Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania,. These are the North African Arab states sometimes also referred as the Middle East North Africa (MENA) countries. The folllowing countries are not recognised as Arab States: Israel, Turkey and Iran.
    Middle-East since mid-f194 s has been involved in wars, civil strife, in recent time Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. Theturbulence Middle-East can be attributed to various factors: ; Arab Spring; Crude oil interestof West and US in particular; strategic innterest of the region and the associated gopolitics; proximity of Russia and the spread of communism by erstwhile Soviet state; on destruction of Israel the entire Middle-East stand united; on the issue of terrorism there are explicit and implicit support and opposition to various warring and violent groups. All these issues can be analysed with their historical perspective and the current scenario in the region.
    Arab Spring started in 2011. The first nation which started the Domino effect was Tunsia, where dueto an authoritarian regime, the subjects rose in protest. Instances of self-immolation underlined how deep the discontent was. It eventually spread like a wildfire in the region. The Syrian Civil War which has lingered for over five years was as a result of the same. Arab Spring was a call for granting proportionate rights to the common public and remove the highhandedness of the state authorities. It toppled many governments including those in Egypt, Libya, Yemen etc. The most prolonged war which is still continuing has been in Syria. Syria has been under the rule of Bassar Al-Assad a Baathist. The Baath regime in the area has been for a long time, Iraq under Saddam Hussaein was also under Baath party.
    The support to Baath regime comes from the Shia block and Iran in particular. As the West has tacit support for the Sunni block led by Saudi, therefore, it was a natural choice for Russia to support Shia block. This balancing of power by the two world powers has resulted in a war which has stretched for a long time. Moreover, US had bloodied its nose after Iraq and Iran misadventure. Therefore, it mended its modalities and did not commit any ground troops.
    However, because of innumerable splinter groups in the region with diverse interests, it was difficult to stop the war. Meanwhile, Islamic state also entered the scene and degraded the situation beyond repair. The swift entry and exit by Russia ressurrected the position of Assad regime and gave them an edge over Islamic state and rebel groups.
    Recapture of Palymyra by Assad army is a case in point tere. However, in other countries it was stifled with an iron hand at the behest of the West and the existing regime. Arab Spring gave a glimmer of hope, but it did more harm than good. It embroiled the entire region in an unending war. Loss of life and property was incessant and has harmed the region beyond repair.
    The area of Middle-East is a vast repository of crude oil and natural gas. The depost in this area is a result of marine-transgression towards the land and consequent inundation of the land for a very long period, geologically speaking. In the twentieth century due to the two World Wars the economise of the world were shattered to ground. In order to resurrect these economies there was need for fast paced growth of economy, manufacturing sector in particular.
    During the sametime, crude oil deposits were discovered in this area. Subsequent world powers were interested in this area from UK to USA to USSR. Moreover, the Cold War escalated the situation as both the blocks led bby USA and USSR scrambled for taking the region under their own military blocks. Joining of NAM aby Iran vindicates the above point. However, the centre-stage was always hogged by the greed of crude oil. They, at one point or the other were somehow entangled in the Middle-East question.
    The foreign policy of US in present times has made this area as a fertile groundfor terrortrism, the root can be traced to its greed of crude oil. Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was established in 1960, to coordinate and unify petroleum policy regarding its production, price stabilisation, regular and efficient supply to its consumers and to appropriate fair return on capital investment. OPEC is led by Saudi Arabia as it is the largest producer. In the recent times we have seen the crude oil price plummet to almost 40 USD per barrel.
    Despite this, the productionby Saudi was not cut do9wn, notwithsranding the daily limit prescribed by OPEC. The two Gulf wars in the past were responsible for he rising crude oil price at that time. But, in spite o the fact that the region haas been embroiled in war for almost five years, the prices have remained stable. The main reasons for this are the increase in production by USA and the production of Shale gas by fracking. US has therefore, less interest in the region now and is therefore, trying to get itself dissociated with the region.
    The region is very strategically placed on the world map. The associated geopolitics of the region has made this a volatile ground. This has resulted in natons other than Middle-East moving its naval infrastructure in the area. Also, the movement of oil tankers required security and protection from pirates and otehr violent groups. The Persian Gulf (Strait of Hormuz) has a very strategic position in the area, therefore, US navy is anchored in Bahrain in this area to protect their assets.
    Similarly, Russia also has its interest in the Middle-East. Its only warm water port outside Russia is in Syria in Tartus. Therefore, the interest of Russia in securing the regime in Syria in the recent times fits the puzzle of prolonged Syrian Civil War. Gulf of Aden is another area which has very high strategic significance. As large numberof trade takes place through this area, therefore it is important to secure the area. In 2012, there was a rise in piracy in the area. Pirates from Somalia and the other countries from the horn of Africa were involved in piracy.
    Recently, in 205, hte civil strife in Yemen made this area more volatile. Guldf of Aden lies in Yemen and is strategically located. Therefore, in order to secure this trade route the benefactor states were considering shifting their naval assets to this area. The Yemen Civil War would have made this area more susceptible to scuffles. Similarly, other choke point in the area is the Suez Canal.
    It has witnessed large scale war in the past. UK and France had interests in the area during the World War. However, during the reign of Gamal Abdel Nasser the Canal was nationalised and UK and France lost control. In order to restore control, Suez War took place in 1956. The Bristish influence ended, Israle captured Sinai Peninsula, ceasefire was mediated by US and USSr and the influence of USSR increased in the area. Also, the significance o the area is important as we can see the high influx of regugees from the strife torn area to Europe. They are migrating to Europe for two major reasons i.e. because of its proximity and the other because of the lure for a better lifestyle.
    Almost all these chaos Turkey is being grinded, as refugees are either moving to Turkey or taking Turkey as the transit route to go to Europe. European Union has struck a deal with Turkey to compensate it monetarily for handling regugees and exedite Turkey's dmand for European Union membership. In a similar case, after the Arab Spring the civilans swan across or ferried in dinghy boats across the Mediterranean. The loss of lives in the process created a humanitarian crisis in the region.
    Middle-East has been turbulent zone because of various aggravating factos. The only binding factor has been their culture. In order to preserve the region, the role of gulf Cooperation Council, United Nations and Amnesty International are of importance. The region has immense scope for development, but its full potential can only be actualised when they are allowed to grow on their own terms without external interference. Artificial imposition of democracy to realise the human rights will do no good, unless it comes from the residents of the area. Morever India has vital role to play for establishment of peace and harmony in Middle-East, as this region supplies two -third of India's oil-imprrt, home t millions of native Indians and is a rising partner in bilateral trade.

saving score / loading statistics ...