Influence of the Superpowers on the Middle Eastern Conflict

The Middle East has been one of the world’s most volatile and unstable regions since the conclusion of World War 2. Religious and territorial clashes between the Muslims and Israelis have led to knife edge tension and many skirmishes in the region. This conflict, although not instigated by the Superpowers, may have been sustained and even intensified by the involvement of the Superpowers due to their interests in the region during the Cold War. The Superpowers gave the Middle Eastern Nations the weaponry and additional funding they needed to sustain and escalate the conflict, although this did not lead to the inception of the war. The Geographical position of the Middle East has always made it an area of high strategic importance. This is due to factors such as access to the Suez canal which is a vital route of trade for access to Eastern nations, the land bridge between Africa and Asia and perhaps most importantly, its close proximity to the Middle Eastern oil fields. This geographical significance may account for the interests displayed by the superpowers in the Middle East during the cold war. World War 2 had put extreme pressures on all the involved nations to have a reliable source of oil. After the war, the United States especially, had realized that there might be a possibility of an oil shortage emerging in the country due to the enormous amounts used during the World War, and therefore had to secure access to foreign oil supplies. This is when the United StatesShow MoreRelatedThe Super Powers Role in Fueling the Dispute in the Middle East1282 Words   |  5 PagesThe Middle East is a region to which the superpowers attached great significance and in which they evidenced great attention. The United States and the Soviet Union became the main external powers of significance in the Middle East in the period since the end of World War II but mostly since the mid-1950s and the withdrawal of British and French influence from the region. 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