buy custom Steven Kinzer essay

buy custom Steven Kinzer essay The kind of terror that is witnessed in the Middle East is more or less a direct result of some of the actions of the Western countries. The terrorist events as witnessed in parts of the Middle East are not necessarily the result of hatred for the West (Kinzer xxvi). In as much as Western governments sponsor coup d'tats, upheavals and armed incursions, they do this to their detriment. They do such things with the hope that they will emerge victorious. In most cases, they win; however, these victories come back to rile them in destructive and catastrophic ways. This happens to be true even as todays composite and hot-blooded Middle East reels from political and military intrusion from the West (Kinzer xxvi). The Arguments Used by the Author to Support the Thesis Ever since the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States, terrorism and terrorists has become the monomania of Washington, which has guided both the foreign and military policies of the United States (Kinzer 65-7). Over the past, major decisions have typically twisted public opinion in the Middle East in opposition to the United States and its allies (Kinzer 56-8). It is the result of these decisions that fundamentally spawned the conditions that have led to the development of terrorist groups in the Middle East. Some of these are such as jihadists, Al-Qaeda, and suicide bombers (Kinzer 78). One of the decisions made by the United States took place immediately after the end of the Second World War in 1945. Leaders of the United States decided to extend their dominion all over the Middle East (Kinzer 45-7). This was done with the aim of knocking out their wartime partner, the Soviet Union, in having a grip of the region. Since that time, the goal of Washington has been to establish some form of dominion over the rich oil region. This would go a long way to insure Americas global economic supremacy (Kinzer 47-9). For the sake of accomplishing this objective, the United States decided to make agreements with the ultra-conservative kingdoms in the region (Kinzer 52-6). The US did this by offering these nations armed fortification and protected dynastic elongation in return for allegiance and concessions on the supply of oil (Kinzer 47-9). Otherwise, the royal houses in nations like Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other places would have been history. As a result, the prolongation of monarchical rule in these nations has impeded democracy and instead led to the rise of Muslim extremists who perpetuate terrorism (Kinzer 54-6). A good example is the case of Iran, which was a young democracy. When the elected democratic government took the reigns of power and nationalized Irans substantial petroleum reserves, Washington had other intentions (Kinzer 7-8). With the help of the CIA, the United States in conjunction with Britain launched a propaganda campaign against the then Prime Minister Mossadegh (Kinzer 1-2). Even though many Iranians thought of Americans as of friends who were in support of their delicate democracy, the situation changed drastically (Kinzer 1-2). To most Iranians, America was a great country, perfect country that protected them from countries that browbeat them. All the trouble began with the overthrow of Mossadegh in 1953 (Kinzer xxvi). Consequently, this led to the crush of democracy and reinstallation of the atrocious Shah of Iran to power (Kinzer 1-2). In the process of establishing a foothold over the region and gaining dominance in the Middle East, the majority of the Middle East has largely remained undemocratic resulting in the alienation of the masses all over the region (Kinzer 86). In a rejoinder, since the United States demanded a lot from the Arab monarchies, the opinionated left and developing secular forces led to the administrative deterioration of the region (Kinzer 78-9). As a result, there has been an Islamic struggle which has in turn occupied the vacuum and taken up the national resistance against American dominance. This has then led to formation of extremist fundamentalist ideologies with others joining terrorist elements like Al-Qaeda (Kinzer 109). In the case of Afghanistan, having spent colossal amounts of money in the war against the Soviet Union, the United States took the chance to harvest the fruits of combat (Kinzer 206). With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States needed to establish a foothold for the sake of establishing an oil pipeline from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to the Indian Ocean. The two nations were previous oil fields of the former Soviet Union (Kinzer 49-51). For the whole undertaking to succeed, the United States decided to replace the Islamic State with more radical Islamic forces (Kinzer 56-9). This prompted the US to mobilize fundamentalist Islamic forces of Afghanistan and other Middle East countries (Kinzer 78-83). As a result, clergymen with radical Islam beliefs together with their followers were organized and armed by the CIA. This in turn led to the formation of Taliban since other Arab countries joined them in the crusade (Kinzer 93-6).