You are mistaken to assume the west is the reason for the present instability in the Middle East. You can argue it plays a large part, but it's part is no bigger than Russia, China and Turkey (I am intentionally leaving out Iran and Saudi Arabia, although both countries are presently creating havoc in the middle east) who are all busy propping up dictatorships in the middle east.
For a counterpoint I am going to argue the opposite. The west and the other major powers are possibly one of the reasons the middle east is relatively stable today (all things considered) and without them the Middle East would actually be in a much worse place. If we were to assume that if the west and others never propped up the current set of dictators and we would have instead ended up with some type of democracies or at the very least relatively stable regimes than you would probably be right. But who is to say we wouldn't have ended up with an endless cycle of civil wars or regimes that are much worse than the ones we have right now?
The middle east is a very religious and tribal place in which the borders were badly demarcated (thank you France, Great Britain, Italy and Russia). The poorly planned division of the middle east + the sunni/shia divide have been the main driver of the current conflicts and instability in the Middle east. Oil has been the curse that has brought in the world powers and has provided funding for most of these conflicts. Oil has also prevented these countries from seeking alternative, modern industries.
I do agree if oil revenue dries up and major powers pull their support for the current dictatorships, it will be a disaster, at least in the short to medium term. You will get civil wars in one of the most militarized places on earth.
I would also argue that contrary to popular belief Israel has been a stabilizing factor in the middle east. There are two main reasons for this.
1. Hatred of Israel is the one thing that unites the arab world.
2. Dictatorships need a way to distract their population. There is no greater distraction than a mortal enemy.
In fact if you compare the arab-israeli conflict to other modern conflicts in the middle east, it has been pretty minor in terms of costs, damage and casualties.
The middle east is an interesting place, a place I call home and a place I love, but extremely complicated.
And last point: with regards to Bibbi and his plan to annex parts of the west bank. What he is planning is really not that popular here in Israel. For the right wing, he isn't annexing enough and the annexation will still allow for a palestinian state. For the center and left wing it's not really going to change anything on the ground but will cause a lot of damage to how we are perceived internationally. Even if the annexation does go through it does not mean that the "annexed" territory can't and won't be given up in the framework of a peace agreement.
IMO Bibbi is trying to do it for internal political reasons and he knows he won't be able to do it once Trump is gone so this is his chance (another possibility is he wants to make it look like he tried to annex parts of the west bank, without the intention of actually doing so. He will blame someone like Gantz saying they stopped him, which will get him some more right wing votes while not antagonizing the center voters - it would be very Bibbi like).
For a counterpoint I am going to argue the opposite. The west and the other major powers are possibly one of the reasons the middle east is relatively stable today (all things considered) and without them the Middle East would actually be in a much worse place. If we were to assume that if the west and others never propped up the current set of dictators and we would have instead ended up with some type of democracies or at the very least relatively stable regimes than you would probably be right. But who is to say we wouldn't have ended up with an endless cycle of civil wars or regimes that are much worse than the ones we have right now?
The middle east is a very religious and tribal place in which the borders were badly demarcated (thank you France, Great Britain, Italy and Russia). The poorly planned division of the middle east + the sunni/shia divide have been the main driver of the current conflicts and instability in the Middle east. Oil has been the curse that has brought in the world powers and has provided funding for most of these conflicts. Oil has also prevented these countries from seeking alternative, modern industries.
I do agree if oil revenue dries up and major powers pull their support for the current dictatorships, it will be a disaster, at least in the short to medium term. You will get civil wars in one of the most militarized places on earth.
I would also argue that contrary to popular belief Israel has been a stabilizing factor in the middle east. There are two main reasons for this. 1. Hatred of Israel is the one thing that unites the arab world. 2. Dictatorships need a way to distract their population. There is no greater distraction than a mortal enemy.
In fact if you compare the arab-israeli conflict to other modern conflicts in the middle east, it has been pretty minor in terms of costs, damage and casualties.
The middle east is an interesting place, a place I call home and a place I love, but extremely complicated.
And last point: with regards to Bibbi and his plan to annex parts of the west bank. What he is planning is really not that popular here in Israel. For the right wing, he isn't annexing enough and the annexation will still allow for a palestinian state. For the center and left wing it's not really going to change anything on the ground but will cause a lot of damage to how we are perceived internationally. Even if the annexation does go through it does not mean that the "annexed" territory can't and won't be given up in the framework of a peace agreement. IMO Bibbi is trying to do it for internal political reasons and he knows he won't be able to do it once Trump is gone so this is his chance (another possibility is he wants to make it look like he tried to annex parts of the west bank, without the intention of actually doing so. He will blame someone like Gantz saying they stopped him, which will get him some more right wing votes while not antagonizing the center voters - it would be very Bibbi like).