UPSC Interview prep feed Vol.13

Topic: Changing Equations in the Middle East

In association with His Majesty Yogesh Unde  

So what all are the problems in the Middle East - Islamic Extremism, Political Turnover, Oil Price fluctuations, age old sectarian tensions, Yemen in political shambles, Egypt witnessing human rights crisis, Syria still at war, Turkey facing the impact of that war at it's border. So overall, chaos!

Lets have some quick pointers on some of the major places there....

Yemen 

We have already covered this under a separate article, Click Me!

Saudi Arabia

There has been this coronation of the new King recently but he has apparently shown signs of continuing with the same old patterns.

The events in Yemen has attracted the wrath of Saudi Forces as well due to the sectarian connections.

The big roll back of oil prices has had a huge impact on the Saudi Economy.

Syria

Upheaval began in 2011. The govt. responded heavily and since then the turmoil is on.

It since then has become a full-fledged civil war.

A large number of people have died and there are more than a million refugees.

Thing is there is no one United Opposition against the govt. forces. 

Plus there are various other outfits like Al-Nusra, ISIS that are looking to take some advantage of this vulnerable condition in Syria.

Neighboring nations like Turkey and Jordon are facing the problem of refugees big time.

Iraq

Iraq had been at war with Iran, then the Gulf war and then the US invasion. But the scariest of them all is happening now, ISIS.

It has been far more influential than other outfits as it has made wide usage of the electronic media. 

It has been constantly spreading videos of mutilation and assassinations.

It has now control over various oil fields in Iraq and the city of Mosul.

Iran

Post the Islamic revolution, things have been more or less politically stable.

Always maintained a hard line stance against Israel.

The issue of their Nuclear Program is still in shambles.

Israel

Hamas and Fateh are still battling it out but lately it has been relatively quiet.

Meanwhile PM Benjamin Netanyahu is contending to stay in office in the upcoming elections.

Now lets deal with the most important one perhaps.

ISIS THE terrorist group Islamic State of Syria and Levanant(ISIS) has managed to attract Islamist fighters not just from the middle east but all across the world.The leader of the group is Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and controls the landmass greater than United Kingdom. He was recently critically wounded and ISIS have further strengthened their resolve to avenge this loss.These events changed the equations in the middle east.

CHALLENGES

 (1) Political instability in this region.(no legitimate authority in this /rule of law)

 (2) sectarian violence increased(between Shia and Sunni) .

 (3) capture and control over oil resources of this region.( may lead to energy crisis in the world)

  (4) spread of terrorist activities across the world.
 (5) violation of human rights by committing atrocities and human massacre .(due to civil war)

(6) Spread of extremist and radical Islamist ideology across the world( threat to 'secular' fabric of many countries)

IMPACT ON INDIA AND CHALLENGES IN FRONT OF INDIA

(1) Energy security of india (indias near about 80% oil comes from this region)

(2) India's 7 million diaspora spread in this middle east region.

(3) spread of radical ideology in India because some youths (ARIF EJAJ MAJEED) from kalyan joined ISIS in IRAQ(The ISIS has highlighted  INDIA as a target in its grand plans) 

(4) May be increase in the terrorist activities (Organisations like SIMI joined hands with ISIS ,according NIA REPORT ,more than 300 INDIAN youths had been recruited by the tehreek -e -taliban pakistan and the ISIS which works together)

(5)  Propaganda videos calling for fighters with subtitles in languages such as tamil,telugu,and other languages.

(6) local agencies have a vast region to cover both geographically and population wise to gather information to know as to whether INDIANS have actually gone and joined ISIS in any capacity.(no data available)

(7) The possibility of returning jihadist poses a grave challenge for the indian security establishment.

SOLUTIONS

(1) Increase crude oil reserve capacity from 90 days to 180 days

(2)India has strategic ties with Riyadh (SAUDI ARABIA) and DOHA (QUATAR).so  India has established a solid intelligence relationship for gathering intelligence and information to tackle the issue of jihadist who have fought for the ISIS and are  now trying to return home. 

(3) the fact remains that the number of indians involved in global jihad is negligible.(according to international centre for the study of radicalisation and political violence (ICSR) and America.s CIA very few people joined from SOUTH ASIA)

(4) Indian muslim scholars have come together to condemn ISIS and the recent announcement by al qaeda chief ayman al zawahiri that al qaeda is setting up "branch" in India was widely ridiculed ,with many calling it a PR stunt to counter the global attention that the ISIS is getting.

(5) even Indian PM said that "if anyone thinks that Indian muslims will dance to their tunes ,they are delusional "

(6) shoring up intellegince efforts with its GULF allies

(7) legally ban such radical groups as countries such as INDONESIA AND GERMANY have done.