Redrawing Borders in the Middle East -Mordechai Kedar
The fundamental problem characterizing Middle Eastern states is that they have no legitimacy in the eyes of their citizenry because their borders were marked by European colonial interests. Included within these borders were ethnic, religious, denominational and tribal groups who, throughout history, were often unable to live together in peace. Every one of the Arab states, except the Gulf Emirates, is a conglomeration of these traditional groups.
If the world wishes to bring stability to the Middle East, there is no choice but to let the modern Arab countries - whose boundaries were set by colonialism - collapse and break up into small states, each based on one homogeneous group. It is time to re-think colonialism and the problematic legacy it bequeathed the Arab world. The Kurds in Iraq are already implementing this idea, having formed their own state in the north.
(Bar-Ilan University-IMRA)
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