The Middle East Still Possible
The Middle East is where continents meet. It can become where humanity meets.
Our
previous article proposed a European Civil Power Initiative for the Middle
East
[A European Civil Power Initiative for the Middle East]. Initiatives, however, are only as meaningful as the destination they
serve. Before discussing institutions, coalitions or diplomacy, it is worth
asking a simpler question:
What kind of Middle East are we ultimately trying to build?
A Region Unlike Any Other
Stand on the
eastern shore of the Mediterranean and look outward.
To the north lies Europe. To the south lies Africa. To the east lies Asia.
Few regions sit so naturally at the meeting point of continents.
For thousands
of years people moved through this landscape carrying goods, ideas, beliefs and
knowledge. Traders crossed deserts. Pilgrims followed ancient routes. Scholars
translated texts. Merchants linked distant worlds. Empires rose and fell, while
cities flourished, declined and flourished again.
Jerusalem. Damascus. Baghdad. Cairo. Istanbul.
Few regions
contain such a concentration of human history.
The Middle East
is often described through its conflicts. Yet conflict is only part of its
story. Long before modern disputes emerged, this region connected worlds. Long
after today’s disputes are resolved, its geography, cultures and people will
remain.
The conditions
that once made the Middle East one of humanity’s great crossroads never
disappeared. The continents remain where they have always been. The trade
routes have not vanished. The cities remain. The people remain. And with them
remains an opportunity that has accompanied this region throughout its history.
What Remains Unfinished
The modern
history of the Middle East is frequently told as a history of struggle.
There is truth in that.
Wars shaped borders. Conflict shaped politics. Security concerns shaped
national identities. Enormous energy was invested in defending positions,
maintaining balances, confronting adversaries and managing crises.
Yet this is not a
story of complete failure.
Israelis built a
sovereign state and one of the world’s most innovative economies. Palestinians
preserved a national identity despite extraordinary pressures. Arab states
transformed themselves from newly independent countries into influential
regional actors. Regional powers expanded their reach and influence.
Achievements
accumulated. Yet much remained unfinished.
Israel achieved
sovereignty but continues to search for a security that military strength alone
cannot provide. Palestinians preserved nationhood but still seek the state that
nationhood was meant to build. The region gained influence, wealth and capability,
while a shared regional future remained elusive.
Perhaps this is
the best way to understand the modern Middle East.
Not as a region that failed. As a region that awaits completion.
The Middle East Still Possible
What
might completion look like?
Not
perfection. No region achieves perfection.
The
Middle East has always been diverse. Its religions, cultures, languages and
histories are part of its richness. Completion would mean something simpler: a
region increasingly able to invest its energies in building rather than
defending.
Imagine
Jerusalem.
A city
visited by Jews, Christians and Muslims from every continent. A city where
history remains visible in every street and every stone. A city that continues
to mean different things to different people.
Its
significance does not diminish. Its role expands.
People
arrive not only because of what happened there centuries ago, but because it
has become one of the world’s great meeting places. A city of dialogue,
scholarship, pilgrimage and exchange. History remains present. The future
becomes equally visible.
From
Jerusalem, the wider region begins to look different.
Mediterranean
ports connect Europe, Africa and Asia. Gulf investment supports innovation
across the region. Universities exchange students and researchers. Pilgrimage
routes evolve into cultural routes. Ancient heritage attracts visitors from
every corner of the world.
The
Middle East possesses one of the richest collections of historical, cultural
and religious sites on Earth. Millions already visit them. Millions more could.
Cities
such as Beirut and Baghdad become known as much for universities, technology,
culture and entrepreneurship as for their difficult histories. Their past
remains visible, but it no longer defines them.
The same
region that today is frequently associated with instability could become one of
the world’s most remarkable destinations for learning, travel and discovery.
Solar
fields stretch across landscapes that have harvested sunlight for millennia.
Water cooperation transforms scarcity into shared responsibility. Regional
projects connect cities, economies and communities in ways that make
cooperation increasingly ordinary.
The
region’s strategic importance comes not only from where it is located, but
increasingly from what it creates.
Imagine
Gaza.
Imagine
it first as a city rather than a symbol.
A
Mediterranean city with beaches, ports, universities, businesses and
neighborhoods filled with ordinary life. A city connected to the region rather
than isolated from it. A city whose young people are known primarily for what
they build.
The
image may seem distant today. Yet every thriving city in the world begins as an
act of imagination before it becomes reality.
A Generation With A Wider Horizon
The
opportunities of the Middle East are not limited to geography, resources or
history.
Its
greatest resource may ultimately be its people.
Across
the region, millions of young people are entering universities, starting
businesses, developing technologies, creating art and imagining futures
different from those inherited from previous generations.
A
peaceful Middle East would not create this talent. It already exists.
Peace would simply allow it to flourish more fully.
The
Middle East still possible does not require the region to become something new.
It requires the region to become more fully itself.
Imagine
a generation that still learns history but is not imprisoned by it.
A generation that knows neighboring societies through travel, study, commerce
and culture.
A generation that sees opportunity where previous generations often saw danger.
A generation confident enough to inherit the region without inheriting all of
its conflicts.
Where Humanity Meets
The purpose of a Civil
Power Coalition is not merely to reduce violence. Nor is it simply to
support negotiations. Its purpose is to help create the conditions under which
a different Middle East becomes possible.
A Middle East where
cities become known more for universities than militias.
Where regional influence increasingly comes from what societies build rather
than what they can destroy.
Where historical, cultural and religious diversity becomes a source of
strength.
Where the region once again serves as one of humanity’s great crossroads.
Peace is not an
end state. It is an enabling condition. It allows
people to build, travel, study, invest, create and cooperate. It allows
societies to spend more energy shaping the future than defending the past.
For too long, the
Middle East has been defined primarily by what divides it. Yet beneath those
divisions remains something larger. A crossroads of civilizations. A repository
of human history. A meeting place of cultures, religions and peoples.
The Middle East is where continents meet.
It can become where humanity meets.
