Part 6/14:

The post-colonial project of constructing nation-states in the Middle East has largely been unsuccessful. The borders imposed by Europeans lacked legitimacy in the eyes of many, and the desire for a cohesive national identity was compromised from the outset. This resulted in cycles of coups, civil war, and dictatorship.

Key points:

• Arab nationalist experiments, like Nasser's Egypt or Ba'athist Syria, often led to authoritarian regimes that relied on violence, suppressing Islam and minority groups alike.

• The Israeli conflict further destabilized the region, with Arab states attempting to assert ‘honor’ by confronting Israel militarily — often in disastrous wars from 1948 through the 2006 Lebanon conflict.