A lot of the political turmoil in the Middle East really can be laid at the feet of the men running the Ottoman Empire. It began as raiders, as so many others, but it never really progressed beyond the smash-and-grab mentality. To the Turks, anyone not Turkish (I know, it never was a race) could be oppressed and robbed. Keep in mind that the empire didn’t end until after WWI, although some areas were taken over by European countries before then. So the experience was that “government” was little besides a blood-thirsty and completely arbitrary kleptocracy. Once those former provinces were put out on their own, the rulers saw it as little more than an opportunity to kill shi’ites/kaffar/sunni/jews (and especially armenians) and steal their possessions. So since government is a matter of culture and experience, what’s wrong there is not going to be fixed by a few decades of wars or disapproval by the UN.
A lot of the political turmoil in the Middle East really can be laid at the feet of the men running the Ottoman Empire. It began as raiders, as so many others, but it never really progressed beyond the smash-and-grab mentality. To the Turks, anyone not Turkish (I know, it never was a race) could be oppressed and robbed. Keep in mind that the empire didn’t end until after WWI, although some areas were taken over by European countries before then. So the experience was that “government” was little besides a blood-thirsty and completely arbitrary kleptocracy. Once those former provinces were put out on their own, the rulers saw it as little more than an opportunity to kill shi’ites/kaffar/sunni/jews (and especially armenians) and steal their possessions. So since government is a matter of culture and experience, what’s wrong there is not going to be fixed by a few decades of wars or disapproval by the UN.