Root Causes of Conflict and Terrorism in the Middle East

Abstract

Without political, socio-economic, territorial or ethnic and sectarian conflict and problems, it is hard to find even one nation-state. Conflict and terrorism has always existed throughout the world. But, no place is nowadays more appropriate for the emergence of terrorist activities than the Middle East. The current global wave of terrorist violence, in many ways, was fuelled by conflicts and events in the Middle East, particularly the enduring Arab-Israeli conflict and issue of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Addressing the motives and factors that give rise to terrorism and sustain it is often more effective than trying to combat its symptoms and effects. This chapter examines the root causes of conflicts and terrorism in the Middle East.