The persistent conflicts across Gaza, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Sudan, with stalled ceasefires and renewed escalations. In Syria, post-Assad transitions face Turkish-backed advances and Israeli strikes occupying over 350 sq km, while Damascus-SDF talks falter amid autonomy disputes.
Yemen sees Saudi-UAE clashes over separatists, Houthi threats to Red Sea shipping, and high civilian tolls; Gaza risks Israeli re-entry if Hamas delays disarmament under Trump’s peace plans, and Lebanon endures Israeli strikes on Hezbollah post-2024 truce.
While the never-ending fire in the Middle East is not merely fueled by Oil reserves, power dominance, and the Shia-Sunni rivalry, it dates back to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and colonial rule.
The Western lines, without considering the tribal Middle East, have resulted in the never-ending conflict and the Sectarian rivalry.
Historical Background
The Ottoman Empire’s 1918 collapse after World War I dissolved multi-ethnic provinces into a vacuum, exploited by Britain and Russia, whose ‘Great Game’ ambitions predated formal mandates.
Tribal demarcations ignored nomadic migrations across deserts, while the 7th-century Sunni-Shiite split, under caliphate disputes, was amplified by modern state-building.
Tribes roamed freely across deserts for centuries, with no fixed borders. The Ottoman Empire ruled a huge area of mixed Muslims, Arabs, Kurds, and others from the 1500s until it collapsed in 1918 after World War I.
The West And Sykes-Picot Agreement
Russia and Britain competed for power in the ‘Great Game’ before World War I. After the war, Britain and France signed the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916.
They drew straight lines on maps to grab land, build oil pipelines, and create new countries.
Iraq was born in 1920 by joining Sunni Arabs in the center, Shiite Arabs in the south, and Kurds in the north, who often fight each other.
Syria got split from Lebanon, and Jordan and Palestine got fake borders that ignored real communities. British ‘divide-and-rule’ tricks fueled early revolts, like in Iraq in 1920.
The Never-Ending Conflict
These straight colonial borders lock rival groups inside one country, like Sunnis vs. Shiites in Iraq, which helped ISIS rise.
The Alawites on Syria’s coast vs the Sunnis inland, who power the civil war. Proxy militias fight for outsiders, Iran arms groups like Hezbollah and Houthis, while Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the US back Sunnis or Kurds.
Oil riches fund the weapons, and sectarian grudges keep it burning. In 2026, this map turns small sparks into big fires, from Gaza blockades to Yemen shipping chaos and Syrian land grabs.
Iran’s Nuclear Push
Countries in the Middle East are racing for nuclear power to fuel growing energy demands and gain strategic advantages, intensifying regional tensions amid longstanding rivalries.
Iran leads with its advanced program, including the Bushehr reactor operational since 2011 and ongoing uranium enrichment nearing weapons-grade levels despite international scrutiny and recent 2025 strikes on its facilities, prompting fresh US-Iran talks in Oman.
The colonial-era borders, along with the nuclear power fight, religious conflicts, trade chokepoints, and Oil hegemony trap hostile groups, risk escalation, which could ignite broader wars.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
