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Crisis in the Middle East: layout your solution to bring peace to the region.

soman2006's profile pic

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pohnpei397's profile pic

Posted (Answer #2)

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It is not clear which crisis in the Middle East you are referring to in this question.  I will answer this based on the assumption that you are asking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and not to the rebellions that are spreading across the region.

I would argue that the only way to bring peace to the Israeli-Palestinian situation is to implement a two-state solution immediately.  It simply is not possible to have peace in a situation where the Israelis continue to have the right to occupy or invade the Palestinian territories and to determine so much of what happens in those territories.  The situation where, for example, Israel can control what goes into and out of Gaza is not tenable.

This would not, of course, be easy.  Both sides would have to make concessions.  Those concessions may have to be imposed from outside because it seems that the two sides themselves cannot agree on what concessions they will make on issues like Jerusalem and the settlements on the West Bank.

I think what has to happen is that some neutral third party must be an arbitrator.  They can try to get the Israelis and Palestinians to agree, but when agreement is impossible, they must have the power to impose a settlement that they believe is fair.

justaguide's profile pic

Posted (Answer #3)

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If you are referring to issues other than the conflict between Israel and Palestine, I think that can be attributed largely to the lack of democratic forms of government in the Middle East.

Most nations in the Middle East are ruled by either dictators or monarchies. When the colonial nations powers of Europe had occupied the Middle East, to make things easier for themselves the region was divided into smaller parts which usually had people of the same faith and followed the same religious practices. A ruler was appointed for each of these parts, this only led to the building of new monarchies.

It continued after the nations of the Middle East had gained independence. Though some were successful in adopting democracy, most either continued with the monarchial system or adopted forms of radical Islamic law. The independent rulers have also been tacitly supported both European countries as well as the US, to ensure a steadily supply of crude oil. This has led to an accumulation of large amounts of weaponry in various nations of the Middle East.

The only way in which the turmoil going on in the Middle East can be resolved is by allowing democracy to spread; reduce political interference and aid in the formation of stable states that are not divided into factions constantly in a state of civil war.

accessteacher's profile pic

Posted (Answer #4)

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What makes this situation so complicated is the position of Israel and the belief of some orthodox Jews that they are divinely entitled to large swathes of land that Arabs have possessed for a very long time. This situation is not helped by American support of the Israeli state. I don't personally think there is any short term solution to this problem and the longer it goes on the harder it appears to find any peaceful outcome. However, as others have suggested above, the situation would be helped by the spread of democracy in all states.

litteacher8's profile pic

Posted (Answer #5)

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This is an extremely complex situation that has been simmering for a long time. Every recent president has attempted to do something about it. Personally, I feel that until this longstanding conflict erupts into an actual war, there is not going to be any resolution. The lines are not going to be redrawn through negotiation. They will only be redrawn through war.

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