Power, War & Competition in Middle East Geopolitics
Middle Eastern geopolitics are inflamed by a number of different competing interests and powers: the Sunni and Shiite divide, exemplified by the competition for regional hegemony between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with their respective allies on either side; the internal divides between Qatar and Turkey on one side – supportive of Islamic movements like the Muslim Brotherhood – and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait on the other, supporting the status quo of secular dictators like el-Sisi in Egypt and Arab monarchs like Abdullah II in Jordan; the increased caution, contempt and anger of the Arab powers toward their traditional imperial patron, the United States, due to the US response to the Arab Spring, Syrian civil war and talks with Iran. The American Empire is attempting to manage these relationships individually and collectively in an unprecedented situation in which the stakes are high and America’s leverage is lower than ever before. Welcome to the complex and potentially disastrous world of Middle East geopolitics.
Listen to the full episode here: