Could someone explain the first couple of principal components of this conflict to a historically illiterate like me?
The Middle East Friendship Chart
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Re: The Middle East Friendship Chart
#32The chart highlights one big problem - how on earth do you label each faction? On the one hand, it includes whole countries, yet many have powerful factions within them that have vastly different views. On the other hand, some countries are ignored entirely (where is Lebanon? There are more factions there than just the included Hezbollah).
Since they added the US, it might be helpful to stick Russia (and perhaps China) in there too.
Re: The Middle East Friendship Chart
#33Could someone explain the first couple of principal components of this conflict to a historically illiterate like me?
It all comes down to 'Whose land is it anyway?'
Re: The Middle East Friendship Chart
#34[deleted]
Atheists often bring up religion as a source of conflict, and there is some truth to this. But it isn't the whole picture. Religion is often just another expression of cultural differences, which along with conflicts for resources is the biggest driver for conflict. Religion is just part of the package. A non-religious example which often shows up among atheists is feminism, which is really just an expression for dif…
i agree, at least to a point, with you, but (non-rhetorical question): what are some examples of groups with purely cultural, that is non-religious, differences who fight with same violence we see in the Middle East and other places of ethnic/religious conflict?
Re: The Middle East Friendship Chart
#35Countries don't have friends or enemies, they have interests - which (at the moment) may happen to align or cross each other.
Re: The Middle East Friendship Chart
#36Since when did Iran and Turkey become enemies?
Different religions. Turkey is "sunni"/secular. Iran is Shi'a/secular. (but the other way round, Turkey's population is "moderately" sunni muslim, the state is aggresively secular. Iran, the population, I think is fair to say, is secular, the state is aggresively Shi'a muslim). The sunnis are the ones that are organising things like ISIS, and the religious cleansings ISIS is doing. Problem is that one of the values o…
Iran is Shi'a/secular
Islamic Republic of Iran is a theocracy.
Re: The Middle East Friendship Chart
#37Countries don't have friends or enemies, they have interests - which (at the moment) may happen to align or cross each other.
When the conflict of interests is too fundumental, they consider themselves enemies :)
And of course there are countries which are enemies due to ideology.
Re: The Middle East Friendship Chart
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Atheists often bring up religion as a source of conflict, and there is some truth to this. But it isn't the whole picture. Religion is often just another expression of cultural differences, which along with conflicts for resources is the biggest driver for conflict. Religion is just part of the package. A non-religious example which often shows up among atheists is feminism, which is really just an expression for dif…
i agree, at least to a point, with you, but (non-rhetorical question): what are some examples of groups with purely cultural, that is non-religious, differences who fight with same violence we see in the Middle East and other places of ethnic/religious conflict?
Well, all you have to do is look back a few years in Europe. Until the US enforced peace in Europe, almost every country has been at war at some point or the other. WW2, WW1, 7 years war, 100 years war etc...
Now you could argue that some of it was religious (Catholic vs Protestant), but in general it would be political. What you see in the Middle East isn't a phenomena that's tied to that region but it just so happens to be volatile. Since most of the Western world is peaceful currently, we then to think of everywhere else are violent.
Re: The Middle East Friendship Chart
#39Countries don't have friends or enemies, they have interests - which (at the moment) may happen to align or cross each other.
When the conflict of interests is too fundumental, they consider themselves enemies :) And of course there are countries which are enemies due to ideology.
Either way, congratulations to Slate for reducing politics in the Middle East to three types of smileys. Their readers must love that kind of stuff.
Re: The Middle East Friendship Chart
#40The chart is over simplification and lacks any depth for such relationships, for example, Jordan and Saudi, both friendly with Israel and have been funding ISIS, yet there is no mention of Jordan, Qatar too, too tiny yet playing a very big role in this mess, not there at all. The main player in all relationship in the middle east is the US and Israel, the rest is not much.