Nationalism in the Middle East

Just three months ago if you asked any one about the Middle East’s issues. Many of the answers you could get, would relate that part of the world to terrorism, poverty, lack of women rights… but no one could ever guessed the turnover the late wave of protests. Citizens of Middle Eastern countries are, however, often brought together by genuine feelings of brotherhood with their fellow citizens, other Arabs, and/or other Muslims, and often feel strongly about regional political matters, such as the Gulf War or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Lately this sense of brother hood and common faith among Middle Easterns led them to rebel against their own governments. Many subjugated people are clamoring for political reforms, new constitutions, freedom of speech and change. In a quest to find the causes of that conflict many questions rises such as what are the motives of the protests? Was the cause of the conflict fueled by nationalism or Greed? The domino effect of the revolutions? brought to the Middle East.

Through history nationalism has been a major cause of conflict in the Middle East. The right of national self determination and sense of belonging have motivated numerous nations to partake in many of the disputes seen in the Middle East.One significant conflict caused by nationalism in the Middle East is the Israeli/Palestinian dispute. In this specific conflict both nations fight for the right of national self determination. Their hunger for independence coupled with their hatred for one another can be seen in wars such as the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. These feuds act as microcosms to the whole conflict and are caused by the two nations' goal of being nationally self determined. Yet with the waves of revolutions and protests going on from Morocco to Kuwait, the conflict shifted from state versus state to people versus the authority. So how did that happen and what is the cause that started it?

For years Middle Easterns have suffered from...