Adam Mast Middle East Class Blog

Before this class, my knowledge was lacking in understanding the nuances of the relationships between MENA states, political tendencies, and the overall history of the MENA region.  While I had a basic understanding of all of these, I lacked a cohesive understanding of the region.  While I have only scratched the surface within the region, I feel that I have a more cohesive picture of the Middle East, understanding the greater complexities of what makes this region unique.  I also better understand the creation of the region and how that has resulted in the prolonged issues of the region.   It may sound simple, but looking at this region through the traditional paradigms of international relations theory is most important.  Many people view the states of this region as unique, often behaving differently than other states in the international community.  However, by the end of this class, it has become clearer that this region can be at least mostly described using a variety of inte

  The Consequences of the Demise of Iraq By: Adam Mast The 2003 American invasion of Iraq turned the Middle East region on its head, introduced new regional players and competitions, and cemented the presence of the American military within the region. A Brief History The modern story of Iraq began in 1990, when current Iraqi President Saddam Hussein launched a full-scale invasion into the neighboring state, Kuwait, in order to place himself atop the Arab world hierarchy.    After the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Iraq was left weakened and did not fully recover from the war.  Hussein yearned to wield the Arab community to form a quasi-military bloc. This was not successful.  This left Iraq isolated within its region, alone in its mission of conquest to expand Iraq’s influence within the region.   Saddam Hussein Image Source: https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/17/world/meast/saddam-hussein-fast-facts/index.html This invasion prompted an extremely rare international political response; a Uni