Dear Lexi,

The article you referred to left out several big sources of conflict in the Middle East. The Muslim world is not united. It is separated into a number of sects and ethnicities. Sunni vs. Shiite, Alawite vs. Sunni, Christian vs. Muslim, Kurd vs. Arab, etc. Not only is there a multiplicity of ethnicities and sects, but there is also a conflict between traditional and modernising elements. That was referred to in "The ongoing challenges posed by the Arab revolutions in countries as diverse as Egypt and Syria." In addition to those sources of conflict there is also a military establishment which has its own independent power bases.

http://i.imgur.com/n7Kh7qu.jpg

Yes csteele, a sentiment that goes all the way back back to the United Fruit Company.

Dear David F.,

Thank you for the extra information.
The link I cited earlier - I had just discovered
and thought it worth a read. However if you can
supply a better one, I'd be most eager to read it.

This is a peoples revolution against the introduction of shari'ah law.
Shari'ah and Western freedoms cannot coexist. Under shari'ah minorities are supressed and hated as lesser people. Western democracy accomodates the equality of all people.

This is a people's revolution against legal supression. The election appeared democratically as the Muslim population are in the majority but the tribal view of shari'ah means a ruling political class. Islam will seek to implement this agenda in all democratic countries as Muslim populations increase. Our view of democracy is not majority rule, but equality of all. Tribal rule is the problem in the Middle East.

Dear Lexi,

I doubt that there is one link that cites all the causes of conflict in the Arab and Muslim world. Your link was a good one, and I just cited some additional causes of conflict. One source of conflict that I didn't mention was water. Turkey's consideration of dams along the headquarters of the Tigris and Euphrates puts it an a collision course with Iraq and Syria as does Ethiopia's prospective dam building on the Nile put it on a collision course with Egypt. When oil supplies dwindle and Saudi Arabia and other oil producing states don't have the wherewithal to import food to feed their people what will happen? Another source of conflict is the high birth-rate. Where can they export all the surplus population? Possibly the combined air forces of the technically advanced powers could drop an edible and tasty combination of dietary supplement, aphrodisiac and contraceptive packets in the area.

Dear David F.,

I'm going to have to read more on this topic.
It's so complex. I've placed several books on
reserve at my regional library. Several caught
my eye. Amongst them was Noam Chomsky's ,
"Middle East illusions," and Dan Smith's
"The State of the Middle East: An Atlas of conflict
and resolution." Hopefully I'll get a better
understanding on what's occurring over there and why.