Context
The regional dynamics of West Asia is rapidly changing. Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey are contending each other’s views and are divided on the basis of their deep vested interests. Recently, United States announced its pull-out from Syria. The complicated and multifaceted nature of West Asia politics and conflict has roots in the region’s history, which warrants an in-depth assessment.
Background:
Analysis
Political history of the region – A time line
Hezbollah Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist political party and militant group based in Lebanon. It was founded in the early 1980s as part of an Iranian effort to aggregate a variety of militant Lebanese Shia groups into a unified organization. Hezbollah acts as a proxy for Iran in the on-going Iran–Israel proxy conflict. Iran also supported Hezbollah during the South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000). |
Arab Spring – Arab Spring 2.0
Houthi Rebels |
Yazidis Yazidis are an endogamous, mostly Kurmanji-speaking group of predominantly Kurdish ethnicity, indigenous to Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Yazidi practices have roots tracing back to the ancient Mesopotamian religions, but it has mixed elements of Christianity (baptism), Islam (circumcision) and Zoroastrianism (reverence of fire as a manifestation from God). Yazidis have been denounced as infidels by fundamentalists like Al-Qaida and ISIS. Despite many years of oppression and attempts to exterminate them, Yazidis have kept alive their syncretic religion for centuries. |
Proxy wars between regional heavyweights
The Israel Factor
Conclusion
West Asia politics and conflicts is a complicated and multifaceted affair. The dynamics of West Asia politics keep changing and must be viewed through an appropriate historical lens. It cannot be viewed independent of the international players in the region. Presently, the Syrian conflict is the hotspot of West Asia politics. It can be best understood only after a thorough understanding of the many other facets of the region and its history (Refer to mains article “Syrian civil war”).
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