Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Live By the Scimitar

Iran has worked hard to destabilize their region. Is the Persian imperial state as vulnerable to this disorder as Arab states have been?

If it is true that the era of Sykes-Picot is coming to an end in the Middle East and that states like Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq are going to have their boundaries redrawn, it is hard to see how this process can be stopped at the Iran-Iraq border. The Iranian Kurds want independence, and many of Iran’s Arabs would gladly join with their Shi’a Arab brethren (and fellow tribesmen in many cases) across the boundary. Iran’s own meddling has played a major role in the breakdown of order across the region and the enflamed identity politics now plunging country after country into terrible wars. Can the mullahs play with fire and not be burned?

I've mentioned that Iran is really a multi-ethnic empire with subject people not happy about Persian rule.

Strategypage has more on Iran that is relevant.

Iran could well die by the scimitar they so eagerly wield against their Arab neighbors.