Sunni and Shia - Research Paper Example

 Sunni and Shi'a The Middle East Asia is the cradle of world famous civilizations and rich in natural resources. Earlier, conflict was strictly limited to the sphere of invasion and spread of Islam. The Geographical discoveries originated from renaissance spirit in Europe initiated colonial history of Middle East Asia. When the rich natural resources of Middle East Asia was discovered, the western nations which lacked the same began to fight with each other for monopolize this region. Later, after gaining independence from colonial powers, conflict in the Middle East Asia became internal, i.e. among the national states in this region. So, one can see the reason behind the conflict in the Middle East Asia was based on the monopoly of natural resources. Besides, the geographical setting of this region, near to Europe and political setting as a number of nation states with fighting spirit made the conflict fiercer and long-lasting. Thesis statement: An attempt to unearth how conflict on natural resources in the Middle East is affecting the region as a whole. Factors of conflict in the Middle East There are a number of factors behind the conflict in the Middle East. Some are: Geopolitical setting of the Middle East, conflict over the control of natural resources, Sunni - Shia conflict and religious factors. Geopolitical setting of the Middle East Earlier, geopolitics was significant for affairs and foreign policies in international level. But globalization and rapid growth in communication facilities reduced the scope of the same to an extent. At the same time, Middle East Asia is still at primary stages of economic growth and industrial development. Beverley Milton-Edwards makes clear that terrorist plots like 9/11 attack planned in the Middle East increased the scope of military invasion and further conflict (Edwards 104). A number of factors hinder the rapid progress of this area. First of all, the Middle East is the gateway to other parts of Asian continent. Due to domestic and regional conflict, the Middle East states are incapable of exploiting this crucial status. On the other side, the militant groups among different tribes in this region consider western influence is against religious supremacy and sovereignty. But still, western influence is crucial in this region and conflict over the control of natural resources is an unending phenomenon. Lack of unity among the Middle East states reduce the scope of a unified foreign policy and trade relations with the West. Conflict over the control of natural resources One can see that the most important source of revenue of Middle East Asia is oil export. Almost all the developed nations depend upon Middle East Asian nations for petroleum products essential for industrialization. As pointed out earlier, lion’s share of natural resources in the Middle East consists of non-renewable resources like coal, natural gas and petroleum products. Besides, the Middle East nations solely depend upon revenue from oil export. So, the main reason behind the conflict in the Middle East Asia is based on gaining monopoly over natural resources. Besides, the monopoly of excavation and exploitation of natural resources (non-renewable) is under the control of US, and European nations. This limits the scope of large scale industrialization of this region. Charles Philip Issawi makes clear that relation with the West helped the Middle Eastern nations to develop their natural resources but it hindered the improvement in human resource development and eventually led to conflict (Issawi 24). When any economy solely depends upon non-renewable natural resources for economic development, scope for further development from industrialization become limited. Generally saying, this is the root cause of conflict in the Middle East Asia. Besides, maintenance of ultimate control over natural resources in the Middle East is vital for the US and Europe. Sunni - Shia conflict The Sunni - Shia conflict in the Middle East contributed more to domestic and regional conflict. For instance, the Sunnis (majority) in almost all Middle East Nations consider the Shias (minority) as enemies against the sovereignty of their states. At the same time, Bahrain and Iraq are Shia majority states. This ignites hatred in Sunni majority states like Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. This causes regional conflict in the Middle East. Generally saying, the conflict between Sunnis and Shias cause domestic and regional conflict. One can see that domestic and regional conflict leads to political instability and related problems. But Sunni - Shia conflict cannot be considered as mere conflict based on gaining supremacy because it leads to further problems like militant nationalism, religious fundamentalism and unending conflict among warlords in the Middle East. Religious factors The conflict in the Middle East is interconnected with religious factors. For instance, one can see that the Middle Eastern nations are the most important source of global spread of terrorism and religious fundamentalism. Angelo M Venardos makes clear that revenue from oil export positively influenced Islamic revival in the Middle East Asia (Venardos 20). Historically, hatred between the Middle East and the West is based on the Muslim invasion and related issues. The wars to gain supremacy over Jerusalem and ultimate defeat of Muslim invaders ignited hatred towards Western nations and Western culture. Later, the Western nations gained monopoly over the natural resources of the Middle East. Besides, lack of ‘technical know-how’ on exploiting natural resources forced the Middle Eastern nations to seek help from US and European companies. This created economical imbalance in Middle Eastern nations and people turned against this injustice. Besides, revenue from oil export is misused to spread terrorism and internal conflicts. How the conflict is affecting the Middle East? Domestic level conflicts curbs social, political, economical and industrial development of states in the Middle East. For instance, domestic conflicts based on religion and sharing natural resources leads to division in the society. At the same time, domestic level conflicts leads to political instability at administrative level. Political instability leads to further problems like political supremacy based on autocracy. For instance, political instability in Iraq helped Saddam Hussein to be victorious as an autocrat. Furthermore, domestic conflicts lead to imbalance in economical development. As pointed out earlier, almost all the Middle East nations depend upon oil revenue. This leads to over dependence upon foreign companies and eventually to underdevelopment. But Randall Price points out that there exists some misunderstanding that the ultimate aim behind the US government’s interest in Iraq and other parts of Middle East is solely based upon oil deposit in that region (Price 180). On the other side, domestic conflicts or insurgencies in the Middle East hinders the scope of rapid industrialization. Regional level conflicts curbs social, political, economical and industrial development of Middle Eastern region as a whole. For instance, regional conflict between Iran and Iraq, Iraq and Kuwait based on regional supremacy/ supremacy on natural resources curbed the development process in the Middle East. When conflict among states within a region fights each other, there exists high possibility for political instability. One can see that regional level conflicts curbed economic development in the Middle East Asia. When the whole region is under conflict, infrastructural development aiming industrial development gets limited scope. One can see that regional level conflict in the Middle East curbs the scope of industrialization. So, domestic and regional conflict badly affects the Middle East Asia. The far-reaching consequences of conflict in the Middle East Asia lead the whole region to underdevelopment, underemployment, poverty, economic imbalance, political instability, domestic and regional insurgencies, and religious fundamentalism. Findings The main findings are: 1. The history of conflict is in the Middle East Asia interconnected with socio-political, religious and economic factors. 2. The geopolitical importance of the Middle East as the gateway to East is another important factor of conflict. 3. Almost all the states in the Middle East face the problem of inadequate infrastructural development, which leads to overdependence upon industrial nations. 4. Conflict among developed nations which possess commercial tie-up with the Middle East states adds fuel to the conflict. 5. Conflict over sharing natural resources leads to economic disparity in the Middle East. 6. Domestic level conflicts leads to economic disparity among the people. 7. Regional level conflicts leads to underdevelopment and related problems. 8. Revenue from oil export is misused for spreading religious fundamentalism and terrorism. 9. The Sunni- Shia conflict divides the people into majority with unlimited rights on natural resources and minorities with no rights on the same. 10. The dependence upon non-renewable resources will ultimately lead to scarcity of resources in future. The findings make clear that regional co-operation can solve the conflict on sharing natural (renewable/ non-renewable) resources. Summing, the far-reaching consequences of conflict in the Middle East Asia based on gaining supremacy on natural resources leads the whole area towards underdevelopment. The Factors of conflict proves that political stability can solve the problem to an extent. But history of domestic and regional factors of conflict limits the scope of political stability in this region. Still there exists hope because some Middle Eastern nations like Saudi Arabia initiates certain measures like common currency for the Gulf nations. The best possible way to solve the conflict is to share revenue from natural resources among the nations in the Middle East Asia. Besides, this measure can solve issues based on economical imbalance, i.e. the root cause of conflict. References Edwards, Beverley Milton. Contemporary politics in the Middle East. USA: Polity, 2006. Issawi, Charles Philip. The Middle East economy: decline and recovery: selected essays. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1995. Price, Randall. Fast Facts on the Middle East Conflict. USA: Harvest House Publishers, 2003. Venardos, Angelo M. Islamic Banking and finance in South- East Asia: its development and future. Singapore: World Scientific, 2005. Read More