Politics of the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Politics of the Middle East - Essay Example The intermediate power in the society such as the landed gentry, the city merchants, the tribal chiefs and others has effectively reduced the power of the state and negatively impacted the modernization (Lewis, p.225) As per the Muslim belief any fight against the belief of their religion is considered as a sacred war (jihad) (The making of a modern terrorist, p.5) Osama bin Laden's dislike against the US started from the occupation of US troops in Saudi Arabia, the holy country of Muslims, to fight against the Iraqis. Occupation of a Muslim country by an infidel superpower, led Osama in declaring holy war against US (Global Studies, 228). Terrorism in the name of Holy war started by Muslim fundamentalists prevented the Muslim community in the gulf region from concentrating in economic growth or modernization processes. The hostility of Muslim world against the US is mainly because of the US foreign policies against the Muslim countries rather than any cultural or religious differences. (Munson, p. 227) A reorientation of American policy in the Palestine-Israeli conflict can definitely bring down the violent forms of anti-American hatred. (Stanley Hoffman, 186) The advancement in communications has forced the Middle East Muslims to reassess their beliefs. The lack of communication with the external world prevented Muslims from identifying the differences between their world and the rest. (Lewis, p.227) The internet technologies provided them an opportunity for self assessment. Most of the youths who studies in western countries have contributed immensely to the changing attitudes of Muslims regarding their fundamentalism. Today's challenges for most developing countries are economic in nature. (Mediterranean Quarterly: p.124) Economic power is as important as military power. The economic power and natural resources of Middle East community has to be streamlined for the growth of their countries rather than developing fundamentalism. In short the Middle East community has immense potential for growth and modernization. But the question is how the international community can make the Muslim community aware of the dangers of terrorism in the name of holy war. Politics of the Middle East 3 Influence of developmental changes in Iraq on my life The changes, whether it is political, economical, cultural or social, happened at one country will affect peoples of other countries as well because of the global nature of the world. The implementation of globalization policies by most of the countries made it absolutely impossible for the people to stay away from developments in other countries. "In Baghdad, Iraqi Ali Rahim told CNN's John Roberts: "If the Democrats win then the American forces will withdraw from Iraq because the Democrats believe they have had a great loss in Iraq and they see it as a second Vietnam "(Simon Hooper). I know very well that the military expenses of the American troops in Iraq is been collected from the tax payers. For the reconstruction activities in Iraq, the U.S. needs to spend billions of dollars, which again should be collected from the US citizens. I think such feelings led the average American citizen vote against the republicans in the recent elections. "In a Gulf War study, the