Daily Times

The Middle East has been the chrysalis of three of the world’s great religions. A profusion of prophetic absolutism has been the hallmark of a region suspended between a dream of its former glory and its contemporary inability to unify around common principles of domestic or international legitimacy.

The Middle East has a vast and complicated history. The majority of people in this region are Muslims. Islamic history states that the Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is the final prophet who was sent to reveal the word of Allah Al Mighty to all Muslims. After the departure of Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H) in 632 A.D, two branches of Islam formed: Sunni and Shiite. Both sects have theological differences. Over the centuries, each sect began to develop their own cultures and doctrines to follow. The argument on who is the dominant sect continues to this day. The winds of instability and destruction in the Middle East have been caused by major insurgencies and the militant incident between Saudi Arabia and Iran. They have not declared war directly against each other but they have destroyed the socio-political fabric of the whole region indirectly through “proxy warfare.”

The doctrine of Proxy Warfare is backed by the United States of America, by supporting anti-groups. Supplying terrorism and destruction has been the twilight of American policy. Yugoslavia, Soviet Union, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the Middle East are the depiction of this policy. For reasons politico-economic as well as sectarian, the Middle East was fated to become a trouble spot.

The doctrine of Proxy Warfare is backed by the United States of America, by supporting anti-groups. Supplying terrorism and destruction has been the twilight of American policy

When states are not governed in their entirety, the international or regional order itself begins to disintegrate. Blank spaces denoting lawlessness come to dominate parts of the map. The collapse of a state turns its territories into a base for terrorism, arms supply, or sectarian agitation against neighbours. Zones of non-governance have been stretched across the Muslim world; affecting Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan. A signification portion of the world territory and population is on the verge of effectively falling out of the international state system altogether. In wars of religion, domestic and international conflicts have reinforced against each other. Political, sectarian, tribal, territorial, ideological and traditional national- interest disputes have been merged. Religion is “weaponised” in the vice of geopolitical objectives. Civilians are marked for extermination based on their sectarian affiliation.

The conflict that is now unfolding is both religious and geopolitical. A Sunni bloc consisting of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and, to some extent, Egypt and Turkey confronts a bloc led by Shia Iran, which backs Bashar al- Assad’s portion of Syria, Nuri al- Maliki’s central and southern Iraq, and the militias of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. The Sunni bloc supports uprisings in Syria against Assad and in Iraq against Maliki. Iran aims for regional dominance by employing non-state actors tied to Tehran ideologically to undermine the domestic legitimacy of its regional rivals. Participants in the contests search for outside support, particularly from Russia and the United States, in turn shaping the relations between them. Russia’s goal is largely strategic, at a minimum to prevent Syrian and Iraqi jihadists from spreading into its Muslim territories and, on the larger global scale, to enhance its position vis-à-vis the United States. Neither Russia nor the United States has been able to decide whether to cooperate or to manoeuvre against each other, though events in Ukraine may resolve this ambivalence in the direction of Cold War attitudes. Iraq is contested between multiple camps this time Iran, the West, and a variety of revanchist Sunni factions as it has been many times in its history, with the same script played by different actors. After America’s bitter experience and under conditions so inhospitable to pluralism, it is tempting to let those upheavals run their course and concentrate on dealing with the successor states. But several of the potential successors have declared America as the principal enemies.

If Pakistan takes sides in the current Saudi-Iran conflict, this move will most likely give rise to violent sectarian strife in the already troubled and sectarian-hit country. Therefore, Pakistan’s paramount national interests demand the maintenance of close and cordial relations with both Middle Eastern giants.

Pakistan has made it quite clear that it will not allow any country to exploit its military strength to the disadvantage of another country in the Middle East. No Arab state should expect any moral or military support from Pakistan while articulating and advancing its narrow selfish interests in the region.

The war that now looms largest is a war nobody apparently wants!

In the absence of any effective conflict resolution forum, the mutual conflicts between the states are tending to be a full-fledged confrontation in the Middle East. In the past, the OIC was “the collective voice of the Muslim world;” an effective forum to debate and discuss the issues confronted by the Muslim countries. Regrettably, owing to multiple reasons, this forum has become quite inactive and ineffective. Therefore, Pakistan’s current diplomatic efforts directed towards seeking the peaceful solution of the Middle East crisis should also be appreciated and supported by the other Muslim countries. Presently, the so-called D8 countries possess considerable economic and military muscles in the Muslim world. Besides Pakistan, these countries should also play their respective role in easing the conflict between two Muslim states. China has also announced similar peace initiatives to help resolve the current crisis in the Middle East. Therefore, Pakistan should launch a concerted diplomatic campaign in a systematic and synchronised manner in collaboration with China and other D8 countries to ease tension in the world’s most volatile and troubled part.

At present, in the face of the current Middle East crisis, the “erstwhile” so-called Middle East Peace Process is just in the middle of nowhere. The hapless Palestinians are feeling more insure. Now, nobody is championing their rights against Israel. Nobody is talking about their miseries and sufferings. Both Middle Eastern arch rivals must now realise that their mutual confrontation will get them nowhere. Instead, it will badly damage the collective state and societal fabric of the entire Muslim Ummah beyond repair. They should put an end to the ongoing zero-sum game by halting their proxy war in the region.

The writer is a legal practitioner and columnist. He tweets @legal_bias and can be reached at shahrukhmehboob4@gmail.com.