Oil Lust and European Cartography
Habibi! Welcome to the Middle East! The Burj Khalifa of the UAE, the magnificent Airways of Qatar, the Palestinians wearing the kaffiyeh in Ramallah. The birthplace of the fastest growing religion, Islam, where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) took his first breath. Spectacular nature, massive deserts with camels roaming all around, rich and divine culture. Mashallah!
But how can we forget that a lot of these countries, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have a very significant natural non renewable source of energy: the oil! The oil either booms your economy... or your entire country, thanks to the mercy of Uncle Sam.
History of the Region: The Ottoman Empire
In the late 13th century, the Christian Byzantine Empire, which once controlled Balkan Europe, Italy, Southern Spain, the Northern African coast, Levant, Cyprus, and most importantly the Anatolian peninsula (a major part of Türkiye) was weakening. In 1299, Turkoman Chieftain Osman I carved out a small beylik in Northwestern Anatolia, founding the Ottoman Empire just south of the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, which is modern day Istanbul. In 1326, the Turks conquered the city of Bursa to cut off Anatolia from Byzantine control. In 1352, they first entered the continent of Europe with settlement at Çimpe Castle on the Dardanelles in 1354. The capital was moved to Edirne, also known as Adrianople, in 1369. During this period, other Turkic states merged and assimilated with the Ottoman Empire, leading to the formation of the Ottoman Sultanate.
In 1453, Sultan Mehmed II captured Constantinople. The event known as "the fall of Constantinople" resulted in the collapse of the Byzantine Empire marking the beginning of deep expansion inside Europe. Under Sultan Selim I, who assumed the "Caliphate" title in 1517, the Ottomans reached the pinnacle of their power. By the mid 16th century, Balkan Europe was under Ottoman control. Western Arabia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Levant were occupied. The Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf in the east to Algeria in the west, and from Yemen in the south to Hungary and parts of Ukraine in the north.
Decline of the Empire and WW1
In the 18th century, during the colonial era, the empire began to fall as African countries became victims of Western European colonialism. Ethnic revolts within the empire became common too. The rise of the "Eastern Question" began, which was the issue of the political and economic instability in the Ottoman Empire from the late 18th to early 20th centuries, creating strategic concerns for the European powers.
In 1912, the Balkan League, consisting of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bulgaria, waged war against the Ottomans and declared independence in 1913. This event came to be known as the First Balkan War. The next year, on July 28, 1914, Europe was pushed into World War I. Britain, France and Russia formed the Triple Entente, while Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire formed the Central Powers. The Ottomans, eager to regain lost territories, invaded the Sinai Peninsula in January 1915, which was under the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, to gain control over the important trade route of the Suez Canal.
Eventually, on November 11, 1918, World War I ended with the victory of the Triple Entente. The Ottomans succumbed to the military might of the Entente with US support. The Empire collapsed, and the region was divided between Britain, France and Greece through the treaty of Sèvres initially and finally through the treaty of Lausanne in 1923. In 1919, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk led the first war of Turkish independence by nationalizing support against the allies and in late 1923, declared Turkey an independent country and seized the territory of Constantinople (Istanbul) from Greece.
The Broken Promises
The 20th century was the time when oil began to be discovered in the Middle East: Iran in 1908, Iraq in 1927, Saudi Arabia Kuwait in 1938 and others. European powers were interested in the oil and other resources in these lands. France colonized Syria and Lebanon, while Britain took Iraq, the mandate of Palestine, and Transjordan, which was a protectorate and not a colony. Britain also had protectorate control over areas like Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Aden, and what became South Yemen. The borders were arbitrary, drawn without consideration of ethnic diversity in the Arab world, which was devastating for the Kurdish people, a population of about 10 to 15 million back then.
The British and French had made false promises to both Arabs and Jews. The British High Commissioner to Egypt promised the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali, a unified Arab state. But the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 was secret within which Britain and France agreed on the division of Ottoman territories between them.
For the Jews, who had been historically persecuted in Europe, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 saw Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour announcing British support for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people," provided that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities." But the declaration was inherently ambiguous and overlapped with the promises made to the Arabs, so the promise was not fulfilled for either party.
Post WW2 Era
World War II was a fight between the Allies, consisting of Britain, France, the USA, and the Soviet Union, and the Axis, consisting of Germany, Italy, and Japan. It ended with the surrender of Imperial Japan and an Allied victory. Europe was war torn and financially crumbled, and the USSR and USA emerged as superpowers, providing financial aid to Eastern and Western Europe respectively. Slowly, control over colonies was lost one by one. Iraq was already independent before World War II began in 1932. Syria gained independence in 1946, and Lebanon in 1943 during World War II. Oil fields were discovered in these countries too.
The Birth of Israel
Jews had faced persecution for ages in Europe. Therefore, the Zionist movement had begun in 1897 and demanded a Jewish state in the area of Palestine claiming that the land was promised to them by God.
When Hitler came to power, he spewed anti-Semitic venom in his speeches, creating a hostile environment for ordinary Jews. During World War II, under Nazi Germany, a horrific industrial genocide, known as the holocaust, of 6 million Jews occurred in concentration camps. When the allied soldiers invaded German territories, they saw the brutal torture of Jews and other political opponents taking place in concentration camps like the Auschwitz camp in German occupied Poland. Images of the Holocaust survivors frightened the wits out of the public. The world had never seen this scale of cruelty before this. The slogan of "never again" became popular, but it reinforced the Zionist movement accompanied by sympathies with Jews. Moreover, the British mandate of Palestine became increasingly difficult to control. A UN partition plan was adopted on November 29, 1947. The plan was so well organized that the Palestinians or Arabs were not even invited. British Mandatory Palestine was divided into two separate states, one Arab and one Jewish, with Jerusalem placed under international control. Jewish leaders accepted, but Arabs obviously rejected, viewing Israel as a symbol of Western imperialism.
On May 14, 1948, Israel gained independence. The next day, May 15, the first Arab-Israeli war began. Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, with support from other Arab contingents, invaded Israel. On March 10, 1949, Israel won and has since then received immense support from the US via weapons. The Israeli government has reportedly committed various human rights violations against Palestinians, not sparing children and women either. The torture of Palestinians and the mass killings in the Gaza Strip, what is being referred to as a genocide by many, following the Israel-Hamas war in 2023 are open to all. It is ironic that the country whose existence was tied to the slogan of "never again" repeats similar patterns of genocide perpetuated by the Nazis now. The West, primarily the USA, supports Israel because it is the sole country with culture similar to the west, to keep a check on the rest of the Middle East and oil and gas production. In fact in 1973, the Arab nations imposed an embargo on oil on Israel's supporters which made the USA and the west various shifts in its foreign policy, showcasing the collective power of the Arabs.
The Enmity Between Iran and USA-Israel
Today, Iran is thirsty for Israel's and the USA's blood, constantly funding militants and proxies like Hamas, Houthi rebels, and Hezbollah around Israel. But once, Iran used to be a close and valuable Western ally with strong ties with Israel. Flashback to the 20th century!
The oil discovered in Iran was of deep interest to the West. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company had a monopoly over Iranian oil. In 1951, the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddegh, nationalized the Iranian oil. A paranoid CIA and the UK's MI6 toppled him in a coup called Operation Ajax. A pro-West Shah of Iran was installed, and control over oil was reaffirmed. Many of the Shah's policies resonated with western culture. Anti-American sentiments grew in Iran as the pro west Shah regime was viewed as un-Islamic by many. In 1979, the so-called Islamic Revolution occurred and the Shah was toppled, replaced by the religious leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Sharia law was imposed, particularly affecting the clothing and mobility of women and Iran turned into a theocracy. A bitter rivalry with the USA and Israel emerged. The USA sanctioned Iran, citing concerns over its nuclear program, which "might" be as real as the "weapons of mass destruction" found in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
9/11 and War on Terror
On September 11, 2001, a huge terrorist attack occurred in the USA. Two airplanes were made to crash into the iconic Twin Towers of New York City. One crashed into the Pentagon building, Virginia, while the fourth one crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. This was a tragedy that changed the world forever. Osama bin Laden from the terror outfit Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for orchestrating this attack on America (It was not the Jews, anti-Semites). Article 5 of NATO was invoked on September 12, and the "War on Terror" begun. Operation Enduring Freedom began on October 7, and Afghanistan was invaded to hunt down Osama.
As part of the broader "War on Terror," on March 20, 2003, the invasion of Iraq began over allegations that the Saddam Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction. A US led coalition captured Baghdad on April 9. By May, the Coalition Provisional Authority was established. L. Paul Bremer issued a key order dissolving the Iraqi Army and other Ba'athist state entities. In June, "Operation Desert Scorpion" began with raids to find arms and resistance fighters. By December 13, Saddam was captured by the American forces.
The invasion, however, led to instability and insurgency from 2003 to 2011, with a civil war occurring between 2006 and 2008. This period saw bloodshed and the targeted Anfal genocide of the Kurds, intensified by the rise of the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Meanwhile, the US left Iraq in this state. What about Osama? On May 2, 2011, he was discovered by US forces hiding in Pakistan and was killed. And what about the weapons of mass destruction? Error 404. The intentions behind this invasion were likely laid in Iraq's oil reserves and Saddam's aggression towards Israel.
The Arab Spring
Political and economic conditions in the Arab world were poor, and anger grew among the people. High unemployment rates existed along with a growing population. Food prices skyrocketed and authoritarian regimes showed high levels of corruption. The Arabs were dissatisfied. The protests of the Arab Spring were sparked by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia on December 17, 2010, in response to the seizure of his goods as a fruit vendor and subsequent humiliation by police. This act became a symbol of public frustration, leading to the toppling of the long-standing authoritarian government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 and initiating a democratic transition. Other dictators were subsequently toppled too, including those in Egypt, where Hosni Mubarak fell, and Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi was found hiding in a drainage pipe and killed, leading to the phrase "died like a dog in the gutter". These were some of the successful examples. But sadly, not everyone was lucky.
Syrian Civil War
The Ba'ath Party in Syria had the goal to unite Arabic countries into one. Bashar al-Assad, a tyrant and dictator from the same party, ruled over Syria with an iron fist from 2000 to 2024. People in Syria were inspired by the Arab Spring, and pro democracy protests began. In the city of Daraa, 15 teenage boys wrote graffiti on their school wall, "It's your turn, Doctor," a reference to the dictator. The boys were arrested, tortured, and murdered in March 2011. This became the immediate trigger of widespread protests, turning into a civil war that is still ongoing. There are a lot of factions, including Assad's forces, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is the current ruling faction, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Other groups include the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The ISIL saw this as an opportunity and caused an insurgency in Syria; the group came to be known as ISIS. Horrendous atrocities were committed against non-Muslims, especially Kurds. ISIS was designated as a terror outfit by many countries. Saudi Arabia supported the rebels. Iran and Russia supported the Assad government. The USA joined in to fight ISIS and Assad's brutal regime. Türkiye attacked the Kurds out of fear of a Kurdish independent state being carved out of the parts of Türkiye. Syria became a battleground for many regional and superpowers. And again, oil plays a major role here! The US has extracted oil from Syrian territories under complex circumstances.
Yemen Civil War
The Arab Spring reached Yemen in 2011, and an uprising led to a political transition, but political instability persisted leading to power vacuums. The capital city of Sanaa was captured by the Iranian proxy and an Islamist group, the Houthi rebels in 2014, and another civil war in the Middle East ignited. This created one of the worst humanitarian crises, with high starvation rates.
A Saudi-led coalition with the UAE and the USA, UK, France, Germany, and Canada backed the legitimate Yemeni government. Now, Yemen does not have any major oil resources, and this conflict is not even directly linked with British drawn borders. So what is the exact issue? The Bab al-Mandab Strait is under Houthi control, and this is a major problem for the West. This point is important for oil trade and thus needs to be preserved. During the Red Sea crisis which started on October 19, 2023, Houthis bombed any ship related to Israel going through the Red Sea, demanding Israel withdraw its troops from Gaza. This pushed the USA and UK to fight the rebels. So Yemen really is important for the oil companies!
Final Thoughts
The Middle East has been carved up, promised to multiple parties, and fought over not for the freedom of its people but for the resources beneath its soil. Every border drawn by European powers ignored ethnic realities and sowed seeds of conflict that continue to this day. From the broken promises to Arabs and Jews, to the CIA coups in Iran, to the invasion of Iraq based on lies, to the ongoing civil wars in Syria and Yemen, the pattern is clear: oil dictates foreign policy, and human life comes second. The slogan "never again" has been repeatedly violated, from the Holocaust survivors to Palestinian children in Gaza. Until we dismantle the systems that prioritize profit over people and resource extraction over human dignity, the Middle East will continue to bleed.
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