How geopolitics in the Arab World are changing
Egyptian based journalist, Ahmad Abdul-Rahman, explains how geopolitics in the Arab world are changing and what this may mean for the rest of the world.
The Arab world, with an area extending from the Persian Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean (about 14 million square kilometers), has witnessed important changes over the last century in its geography and politics. These changes are mainly due to its strategic and vital location, especially as a link between the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia. With these strong links, the Arab world has always been the target for major powers, that have the power and ability to change the nature of the relationship between geography and politics in their favour. These actions started with the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916 and the Balfour Declaration in 1917, and includes implanting the Zionist entity in the heart of the Arab world.
Geopolitics means the nature of the relationship between geography and politics in terms of their influence and effect on each other. This means the influence of geography on politics, and the way in which space, terrain, climate, and natural wealth affect the conditions of people and states and the nature of international relations matters. This article will discuss these issues.
The Middle East is now in a phase of a continuous attack by foreign powers that aim to change the geopolitics of the Arab world. In recent times, this includes the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, when American forces crept from thousands of kilometres away to the region, and became a "neighbour" to Syria and most of the Arab Mashreq countries.
This was followed by a change in the political relations between the Arab countries, and the devastating attacks launched by terrorist groups that struck the core of the Arab world, especially Syria and Iraq, and destroyed the concept of national sovereignty. This led to making the Arab land and its wealth less desirable, especially oil, as it became a target for those who aspire to control the Arab region.
Armies from countries in the East and West are now in the Arab world, with ambitions to change its foreign policies and ambitions. These foreign invaders aim to draw new maps of the Arab world which are based on microscopic entities, based on such elements as regional, religious, sectarian, ethnic and racism. The latter is exemplified by Israel, and its reluctance to embrace the Arab world. However, this country is the strongest in Arabia and is the most connected to the foreign powers present there.
Turkey too has violated the sovereignty of two Arab states; Syria and Iraq. The Turkish army is carrying out its plans to establish military bases in the territories of these two countries by force, and uses armies of mercenaries to fight the war on its behalf. The only objective that Turkey seeks to achieve through its military presence in Syria and Iraq is to restore an Ottoman caliphate, that has become extinct and no longer has any existence except in the mind of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Recently, his imperial dreams have expanded to Libya, where Erdogan is trying to recover some of his losses, after his plans to support the Muslim Brotherhood failed.
The political geography in the Arab world is witnessing a remarkable change that is not always in the best interest of the region. Moreover, many Arab countries have often preferred to focus on their domestic security instead of their national security, leaving the land to be plundered by every foreign force seeking to exploit the wealth of the Arab region.
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