What events could happen to make the mid-East a stable and fairly peaceful region?

Question

Only serious, thought out answers please guys. I am looking for politcal, social, religious, or governmental changes that would alter the mid-East landscape in a positive way.

PANTERA -- I support our mission in the region, but I agree with you. As long as the USA can be seen as a boogeyman and scapegoat for all the imagined troubles in the mid-east, there will be no change. Your idea of trying to "teambuild" something using moderate Sunni/Shiia woudl be a good step, but I think your idea of it being offensive to no one is a bit naive. Someone (more than like MANY someones) will be offended. The entire mid-East is basically a land peppered with tribal wars that have been continuously fought for more than 1000 years. If you offer one tribe an invitation to speak, 5 other tribes will see this as a slight against them. Basically helping one tribe gains you five new enemies. You are guaranteed to offend someone. But your idea is still a good one.

Nice touch in trying to find a common symbol of somethign sacred on which to start building an agreement between people. But I have no idea what that could be.

BS in criminology, grad-student in sociology

SAINT TOAD -- I agree with your assessment, there will be no significant chance for peace in our lifetime.

Answer 1

I think the people in the region who aren't 'involved' in what's happening need to get to a point where they are simply fed up with what is happening enough to self-police. I'm not sure if this can happen with the US presence as a scapegoat for blame but I think it can. I was reading about the market explosion today and how the people were so upset because their whole livlihoods just been blown away and they are left with nothing. My first thought was "well, now what are you going to do about it?" How far does it have to go before enough of their own people on both sides say that enough is enough?

In business, one technique they use in teambuilding and to help bring together people who don't like one another is to force them to work together to create something bigger than themselves, something that puts them working together towards a common goal long enough for them to forget they hate each other.

Can we take peaceful members of the community who are both shiite and sunni and bring them together to build something significant, something to capture attention, that is created together but offending to none; something both groups can be proud of and has nothing to do with war or their differences? What is that something?

What is sacred to all of them? What would they not destroy, not be willing to bomb? Somehow we need to incite even in those most radical an honor to be bigger than themselves. To look not at themselves but through the eyes of the other side. To reach them on a level of value and meaning and root out the real root cause of the battles. What is the fundamental underlying cause of their pain? I have to personally guarantee that whatever it is, it is not religion.

As it is said - insane is looking for different results when you keep doing the same things. Perhaps the reason the war is not ending is that we are fighting the wrong war.

Answer 2

Oh God, the State Department has given up to Yahoo Answers? We're in bigger trouble than we thought.
Easiest Answer: a miracle
Easier Answer: Hell freezing over
Easy Answer: Bird Flu outbreak
Harder Answer: Education and understanding

The thing is, you can't touch the religion thing. Think of fundamentalits Christians only with a knowledge of explosives. It took us almost a century to root the KKK out of the mainstream, but they still exist. How can we even begin to tackle problems in the Middle East when we have hate groups, inner city gangs, and drug problems on our own soil. If you find the answer on how to fix violence in the Middle East, would you be so kind as to tell Los Angeles?

You need to figure out WHY violent groups are becoming more popular than moderate groups. Is it poverty, revenge, boredom? You can't find an answer if you don't know the cause of the problem. (people have been trying to explain this since sept 11, and the conservatives called them puss!es)

Answer 3

I think it's hopeless. The levels of poverty, oppression (both real and perceived), and the social polarization is just too great for any peace there in our life-time.

Answer 4

Seriously.... The coming of the Messiah. Because until then, there won't be peace.

Answer 5

Only the return of Jesus could accomplish this.

Answer 6

Blot out religion over there, and boom, instant "cure". More specifically, blot out Islam. Islam is trying to "bully" it's way into other countries through intimidation.