Any observer understands that the Middle East is a perpetual vortex of war. The condition arises not from purely cultural or religious factors, but from a web of geopolitical interests and resource struggles, alongside the methodical weaponization of faith by extremist groups who find both regional and international support.
This composite calculus makes continued conflict a near certainty, a state made permanent by a vacuum of political will to dismantle the architecture of terror and drain its wellsprings.
From my perspective, the world has failed to learn from the lessons of Afghanistan and Iraq. It has not realized that ignoring the roots of a crisis only begets more violent, protracted struggles.
Today’s events are a continuation of past cycles of failure in building a just framework for stability. History teaches us that whenever a vacuum of power is left unfilled, extremist groups rush to occupy it, turning exhausted territories into hatcheries of terror for a new generation.
To be sure, the struggle for power among the region’s numerous players compounds the predicament. Each state seeks to expand its dominion using various tools, including support for terrorist groups and political factions that champion sectarian banners. The entire region thus becomes a proxy battleground, for which its people pay the ultimate price.
Against this charged backdrop, the role of those who exploit faith emerges as a linchpin in perpetuating conflict. Organizations like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas are not isolated ideological movements; they are geopolitical instruments using religious appeals to achieve political ends.
I believe their most dangerous aspect is the ability to reproduce themselves through smokescreens of doctrine for purely political ambitions. These groups have perfected the art of converting political disputes into wars of faith, ensuring a cycle of intergenerational violence.
Even more perilous is the coordination and support these groups receive, from regional states or through the negligence of Western powers, where certain countries provide incubators allowing group reorganization, planning, and resupply.
We must recognize that terrorism is expanding to include the migration of terror. Extremist organizations are no longer confined to the Middle East; they have found more suitable environments for growth in the West and America. We can see that loopholes in asylum systems, coupled with the selective abuse of liberties, provide cover for infiltration by extremist elements feigning a search for new lives.
Violence in Western cities offshoots of Middle Eastern conflicts
WE UNDERSTAND the violence in Western cities over the last decade, from Paris and Manchester to Berlin and San Bernardino, are not isolated incidents. They are offshoots of the strife in the Middle East, and the sleeper cells established in the West are a new countenance for the cycle of violence.
Terror is re-exported from East to West and back again. The intricate process has so far eluded sufficient security or political controls, sending the roots of terror back to the Middle East in a loop of perpetual vengeance.
In this convoluted equation, the experiences of certain states in combating terror stand out, most notably Israel at present. It has played a central role in eliminating terrorist leaders and has repeatedly succeeded with precise strikes against the symbols and leadership of extremist organizations.
Such a security effort, however potent, remains limited without regional cooperation and sustained pressure from the United States, the global superpower that knows its national security is inextricably linked to Middle Eastern events.
The reality is that the actual eradication of terrorism demands a total strategy. Such a strategy must include severing its funding, the relentless culling of its leadership and operatives, and demanding accountability from state sponsors.
While a social and ideological confrontation is indispensable, it cannot be relied upon alone for the disruption of the violence cycle. Therefore, I see that a practical strategy must include the periodic and methodical liquidation of terrorist leadership and elements. These would be precise operations targeting their command and ideological structure, not merely symptomatic outbursts, ensuring a reduction in the threat and the shattering of their capacity for planning and finance.
Concurrently, a harsh regime of sanctions must be imposed and maintained on the states and entities that fund and harbor terror organizations; penalties not to be lifted so long as their funding networks operate and grant these groups a logistical sanctuary.
Furthermore, the West and the United States must refuse to surrender to the calculus of blackmail that connects their interests to security matters. They should rather activate mechanisms of international justice and banking prohibitions for freezes on assets and the pursuit of support chains with absolute severity.
As I see it, the world stands at a decisive point. There can be no compromise with terrorism, and the states that sow its seeds will, sooner or later, be forced to pay the price in full, and in a currency they understand very well: unyielding deterrence.
The writer is a UAE political analyst and former Federal National Council candidate.