1 Response to The New York Times redraws borders in the Arabian peninsula

1. lenrosen4 says:

   October 6, 2013 at 8:02 pm

   This is rather interesting. Considering the current boundaries and political entities were carved out by colonial powers and oil interests there is a certain logic to rethinking what would the natural, native boundaries be for the region. The blank where Jordan exists appears to be an oversight born of bias. If national boundaries were to be redrawn I believe Jordan would cease to exist. Its Hashemite rulers were parachuted in by the British from the Hijaz. So the dynasty has little to do with the natives of this extension of the Arabian desert into the Fertile Crescent. I think the Sunnistan of Syria and Iraq would extend south into Jordan and further into the north Arabian desert. Parts of Jordan would combine with the West Bank to form a Palestinian state (that is if Palestinians were to become a homogeneous group, because even they splinter into sects). The existence of an independent Kurdistan nation on the borders of Turkey and Iran with their large Kurdistani populations would be destabilizing to the latter two. So the map seems limited in that respect because of its scope.

   As for the Maghrib, the reconfiguring of Libya is only a beginning. Almost all of Saharan Africa with the exception of the Atlas Mountain region and the Egyptian Nile valley could physically be redrawn to reflect ethnic and tribal identities.

   LikeLike

   Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.