A region where every war breeds another.
The wars in the Middle East never end: they morph into new conflicts. Every time the United States, Israel, or any Arab country launches a military campaign, instigates a coup, or finances a guerrilla movement supposedly aligned with its interests, it plants the seeds of a future crisis.
It's possible to examine how these events are linked. Let's take a look.
May 14, 1948David Ben-Gurion, then chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, proclaims the country's independence. The United States and the Soviet Union recognize Israel's existence. The Arab League creates an army with the participation of Transjordan (now Jordan), Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen and attacks Israel. The war ends in 1949 with an Israeli victory.
The humiliation suffered by the Arab armies fosters the emergence of nationalist and pan-Arab movements in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, which seize power within a few years. In Egypt, the Free Officers Movement ends the pro-British monarchy in 1952. In 1954, one of the movement's leaders, Gamal Abdel Nasser, assumes the presidency and outlaws the Muslim Brotherhood (a cultural and social association founded in 1928), which until then had been an ally of nationalism. The Muslim Brotherhood is becoming more radicalized underground.
June 2, 1964Nasser supported the creation in Jerusalem of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), whose initial mission was to serve as the unofficial government for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees expelled from Israel. Following the Six-Day War (1967), the PLO became radicalized. Yasser Arafat assumed leadership.
September 15, 1967King Hussein attacks PLO bases in Jordan, fearing that the Palestinians will take control of his kingdom. This is known as "Black September." The PLO relocates its bases to Lebanon, a fragile, multi-confessional country hosting more than 400,000 Palestinian refugees.
July 1, 1976Syria sends troops to Lebanon to fight the PLO, funded by Libyan Muammar Gaddafi. This marks the beginning of a civil war that lasts 15 years. In 1981, Israel begins a gradual invasion of southern Lebanon. On September 15, 1982, the Israeli army allows Christian militias to enter the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps and unleash a three-day massacre, leaving thousands dead. That same year, a group of Shiite clerics, sponsored by Iran, creates a paramilitary group called Hezbollah (Party of God) to fight the Israeli occupation.
December 27, 1979The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan to overthrow the pro-US government of Hafizullah Amin. The United States responds by providing weapons, money, and training to Islamist guerrillas (see Rambo IIOne of the guerrillas is the Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden, who establishes a clandestine base in Afghan territory. That base (Al-Qaeda in Arabic) will give its name to his future organization.
December 11, 1987The PLO launches the first Intifada, a civil movement (demonstrations, strikes, and the throwing of stones and Molotov cocktails at soldiers) against the Israeli occupation. The Israeli government attempts to divide the Palestinian resistance by fostering the creation of an Islamist and conservative organization called Hamas (Fervor), which opposes the secular leftism of the PLO and enjoys the patronage of the Muslim Brotherhood. In a short time, Hamas, financed primarily by the oil-rich emirate of Qatar, becomes Israel's fiercest enemy.
January 15, 1991A multinational force led by the United States launches a war against Iraq, which in August 1990 invaded Kuwait. The massive allied army establishes bases in Saudi Arabia, and this foreign presence infuriates the most fundamentalist sectors of the country. Among them is Al-Qaeda, whose leader, Osama bin Laden, vows revenge.
September 11, 2001Al-Qaeda, back in Afghanistan, launches a massive attack against the United States. The Twin Towers in New York City fall. A month later, the United States invades Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban Islamist regime and Al-Qaeda.
March 20, 2003The United States and several allies (including Spain) invaded Iraq, citing the supposed threat posed by Saddam Hussein's arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. It turned out the weapons didn't exist, but Saddam Hussein was hanged, and all the structures of his Ba'athist regime were dissolved. In the ensuing power vacuum, a small Al-Qaeda affiliate, initially known as al-Tawhid, assumed control of an ever-increasing territory. Later called Daesh or the Islamic State, it expanded into Syrian territory and launched a brutal campaign of beheadings, massacres, and kidnappings.
September 10, 2014The United States is leading a new international coalition attacking Islamic State bases in Syria, where the "Arab Spring" has descended into civil war. The regime of President Bashar al-Assad, supported by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, is also fighting the Islamic State. The war, as bloody (at least 300,000 dead) as it is chaotic, ends on January 29, 2025, with the fall of Assad, who flees to Moscow, and the appointment of Ahmed al-Sharaa as president. Al-Sharaa is a former emir of the jihadist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which for years was affiliated with al-Qaeda.