Xinhuanet Beijing, January 19th When it comes to the Middle East, your first reaction is … chaos? Indeed, the Middle East gives people the impression that it is chaotic: there are many wars, many problems and many concepts … These tangled chaos in the Middle East are really the "news spots" that the media like to report, but is "chaos" really the whole of the Middle East? Of course not!
What you see and hear may be true, but it may not be comprehensive. Besides, American and western media are still dominant in the world, and what they tell you may not be true.
So, what is the real Middle East like? Ordinary foreigners who have worked and lived in the Middle East will tell you this: a long history, splendid civilization, rich products, simple people … The mosque in Saudi Mecca is solemn and sacred, the Egyptian pyramids and the Nile River shine brightly, the bazaar in Tehran, Iran is busy and lively, street vendors, mysterious robes, exotic music and dances, lush date palm groves … where tranquility and noise are intertwined, and tradition and modernity are combined.
The picture shows tourists riding camels to visit the pyramids in Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
The Middle East is "chaotic", but the disputes and conflicts between Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Palestine and Israel are only partial and few. Most parts of the Middle East are not chaotic, where there is a basic production and living order in a normal country, and ordinary people should eat, drink and lead a normal life …
Understand the "chaos" and "no chaos" in the Middle East. Under this basic understanding, let’s discuss what is the correct way to understand the Middle East. First of all, we must understand some concepts.
Middle East
First of all, the Middle East is a generalized geographical concept, specifically referring to most parts of West Asia and North Africa.
Most of the Middle East is Islamic countries, except Israel and Cyprus. The Middle East is mostly Arab countries, except Turkey, Iran, Israel and Cyprus. Therefore, the words Middle East, Arab countries and Islamic countries cannot be equated.
Next, the conceptual misunderstandings that are easy to get around are popular.
[Islamic countries and Arab countries]
Islamic countries, also known as Muslim countries, refer to countries and regions where Islam is the national religion and most residents believe in Islam. Muslims are people who believe in Islam. Both Islam and Muslims are transliterated in Arabic with the same root.
Arab countries refer to countries dominated by Arab peoples. The people mainly speak Arabic and believe in Islam, and have similar cultures and customs. Arab countries are mainly distributed in West Asia and North Africa, that is, the Middle East.
The picture shows the Babel of the Great Mosque in Samarra, Iraq.
To put it simply, Middle Eastern countries are divided by geography, Islamic countries are divided by religion, and Arab countries are divided by ethnicity. The Middle East is mainly Arab countries, and the Arab nation mainly believes in Islam, and Islam spreads in the world, not only in the Middle East and Arab nations, so Islamic countries are more widely distributed.
Understand the above concepts, you can immediately understand what is the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States. The former is an international organization composed of Islamic countries, and the latter is a regional international organization composed of Arab countries.
The picture shows the scene of the GCC summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 10th, 2015.
There is also the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), which, as its name implies, is the main organization of Arab countries in the Gulf region. The Gulf here refers to the Na Pianhai between Iran and Arabian Peninsula. The "Gulf" of the Gulf War refers to it. Iran calls it Persian Gulf, and Arabs call it Arabian Gulf. It can be seen that there are many stories about the Gulf.
Ethnic group
In all the concepts mentioned above, ethnic and religious issues can’t be avoided. Let’s increase our knowledge immediately.
The main ethnic groups in the Middle East are Arabs, Persians, Jews and Turks. They all have their own countries, namely Arab countries, Iran, Israel and Turkey. There is also a relatively large ethnic group, Kurds, but they do not have their own country, mainly scattered in many countries in the Middle East.
From history to reality, the harmonious coexistence of these major ethnic groups is the mainstream, and there are different degrees of grievances in different periods, so ethnic contradictions are one of the reasons for the chaos in the Middle East.
[Islam]
People in the Middle East mainly believe in Islam, Judaism and Christianity, and Jerusalem is the holy land of the three major religions in the world. Religious issues have always hampered the history and present of the Middle East, both within and outside the region.
We mainly talk about Islam, the main religion in the Middle East.
Islam means "obedience" and "peace", and its meaning shows that Islam advocates peace, which can also be seen from the green color in the national flags of many Islamic countries.
The picture shows pilgrims praying at Mount Arafat in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on September 23, 2015.
Islam obeys and believes in Allah, while the Prophet Muhammad is said to have accepted "enlightenment" and "been ordained to be holy" to carry out the "mission" given by Allah, spreading Islam and making it the dominant position in the Arabian Peninsula at that time. Muhammad is actually equivalent to a great missionary.
While preaching, Muhammad was also a politician. At the end of 631 AD, he completed the political unification of Arabian Peninsula, and all tribes converted to Islam one after another, and also recognized his leadership. He established a political power that combines politics and religion. Therefore, Muhammad is both a religious leader and a political leader.
[Shiites and Sunnis]
Speaking of which, it’s time to explain the sectarian problem. After Muhammad’s death, there have been two major factions of Islam, Sunni and Shia. The main difference between them lies in who is the legal heir of Muhammad. This is both a religious issue and a political issue. Simply put, who should inherit power.
Shiites believe that only Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin Ali and his direct descendants (that is, Muhammad Hashemite family) are the legal heirs, while Sunnis believe that the caliph (meaning heir) is the legal heir and the leader of Islamic politics and religion.
The picture shows a mosque in southern Tehran, Iran.
Over the past 1000 years, these two factions have met each other at war and lived in harmony for a long time. It was not until modern times that the sectarian problem became prominent and sharp because of the intervention of western powers in the Middle East.
Sunnis are the largest, accounting for more than 80% of Muslims in the world. Shiites are mainly distributed in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Bahrain and other countries. Iran, Iraq and Syria are the only Shia countries in the world.
There are so many differences between countries in the Middle East, and the most basic difference is the political system. Some are monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, and some are constitutional monarchies such as Kuwait and Jordan. Some are parliamentary republics, such as Turkey and Israel. Some are presidential republics, such as Egypt and Lebanon.
Petroleum
There is another important reason for the turmoil in the Middle East, besides the geopolitical game of external forces and the internal ethnic, sectarian and institutional factors, and that is oil. It took about a hundred years for the Middle East to be rich in oil, which not only produced great wealth, but also made the West covet it, which brought great troubles to the Middle East’s politics and economy.
It is true that the Middle East is called the "world oil depot". Among the top ten countries in the world in terms of crude oil reserves, five countries are recognized as coming from the Middle East, of which Saudi Arabia accounts for about 20%, ranking first in the world, and Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates each account for about 10%.
Two-thirds of the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) come from the Middle East. The changes in the output and export volume of these countries have a great impact on the world market and oil prices, which can be called the "wind vane" for observing the world oil market.
Any trouble in the major oil producing countries in the Middle East immediately affects the nerves of the world oil market. This can explain why any policy actions taken by the West towards the Middle East will make a huge noise in the oil market, such as the Iraq war, sanctions against Iran, and the turmoil in West Asia and North Africa, which have all triggered violent reactions in the world oil market. (Reporter Yan Xiuyan, editor Jiang Yiqiao, Ma Xiaoyan, Xinhua International Client Report)
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