Importance of middle east

Q Discuss the importance of middle east from every sphere.

Ans Middle East or more recently 'West Asia' includes the Arab countries of the eastern Arab world , Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel but excludes Afghanistan and Pakistan. Sometimes Afghanistan is included in Middle east.
     The Middle eastern states have their claims to antiquity. The three major religions-Christianity, Judaism and Islam originated in the Middle east. The modern history of the region is dated from french occupation of Egypt in 1798.  However, most of the Middle Eastern states with different cultures, religions and languages are the creation as a collapse of Ottoman Empire at the end of the 1st world war. The Ottoman empire ruled Arab side of Middle East almost from 1535 to 1914. Side by side Ottomans Safavis( later Qajars) existed in Persia. The immediate cause of collapse of Ottoman empire was their decision to join world war-1 on the side of European powers, Germany-Austria. Britain and France also played a great role in raising the Arab nationalism against Turks. Balkanisation of Middle East led to separate Arab states.
Geo-strategic importance of Middle east :-  Middle east is both strategically and politically important because it is the meeting place of Asian, European and African continents.
      Middle east possesses the greatest oil reserves in the world. The world relies on the region for over a third of its energy supplies. A cartel of Middle Eastern oil  producing countries with a few other countries have been formed, called OPEC. OPEC has been used as a powerful weapon in international diplomacy. In 1973 oil producing Arab countries used oil as a weapon against western countries and Israel. Oil remains the most important source of foreign exchange of Arab oil countries.
     Since 1945 i.e just before the existence of Israel, there have been five Arab-Israeli wars. Jerusalem which is of religious importance to Christians, Muslims and Jews has been a bone of contention. In 1956 Suez war started when Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt. From 1975 to 1990 there was civil war in Lebanon.
      From 1980-88 thetre was Iran-Iraq war with high level of casualities of over one million people.In 1990-1991, Iraq occupied Kuwait but was evicted by U.S and allied forces. In 2003 U.S and British forces attacked Iraq and removed Saddam Hussein. But the civil war is still continuing in Iraq.
Salient Features of Middle east in today's world::-
(1)The Middle Eastern oil has been and will remain a major source of concern for strategic, commercial and now environmental reasons.
(2) Iran's nuclear program will be a great concern for U.S, Israel and others in near future.
(3) Until Palestinian issue is settled there will be continuous strife in Middle east.  There is a dire need of Palestinian state according to the aspirations of Palestinians.
(4) Foreign forces have to leave Iraq and Kurdish issue has to be resolved.
(5) Cyprus issue between Greeks and Turks have to be settled amicably.
(6) Oil producing Arab countries are lagging behind in science and technology, human development and democratisation. These require serious efforts and heavy investments.
(7) Arab league shoiuld be made more effective and assertive.