Middle East Wars: Power struggles, rulers’ interests at peoples’ expense

From Gaza to Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, international and regional interests intersect with local power struggles, while peoples pay the price of wars with their lives, wealth and future. Who starts these wars, who benefits from their continuation, and how can they be brought to an end?

The Middle East is witnessing conflicts that transcend national borders, driven by calculations involving influence, control, security and resources. While international and regional powers seek to consolidate their positions, governments and armed groups work to strengthen their domestic influence, leaving people trapped in wars they have no power to start or stop but whose consequences they bear through deaths, displacement, poverty and the collapse of essential services.

The Struggle for Influence and the Interests of Major Powers

The Middle East's importance stems from its strategic location, natural resources, and trade and maritime routes. The United States seeks to protect its interests and military presence, while Israel works to maintain its military superiority.

Iran, meanwhile, seeks to protect its regime, strengthen its deterrent capabilities and expand its regional influence. Turkey and Arab countries pursue varying political, security and economic objectives that do not always align with the interests of their peoples.

These powers use military interventions, sanctions, alliances and support for local actors to strengthen their positions. As a result, domestic crises become arenas for external competition, particularly when state institutions weaken and political consensus is absent. Although each conflict has its own local roots and circumstances, external interventions can exploit existing crises, intensify them and prolong their duration.

Gaza

The war in Gaza illustrates the contradiction between military and political calculations and the rights of peoples. Israel seeks to dismantle Hamas's military capabilities and prevent attacks against it, while Hamas seeks to preserve its presence and influence. However, security considerations do not justify targeting civilians or imposing collective punishment, just as the rhetoric of resistance does not absolve any party of responsibility for its actions.

Palestinians must not be reduced to a single faction, nor should their right to freedom and self-determination be disregarded. Guaranteeing Palestinian rights remains fundamental to achieving lasting peace.

The Iran-Israel-US War

The confrontation between Iran, the United States and Israel extends beyond the nuclear program to include missiles, regional influence, armed groups and the American military presence. While Washington and Tel Aviv view Iran's capabilities as a threat to their interests, Tehran regards them as instruments of deterrence.

However, sanctions and military strikes can widen the escalation and increase the burden on ordinary citizens without guaranteeing a change in the policies they seek to alter.

Yemen

In Yemen, the internal war intersects with regional rivalry, particularly between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, amid the Houthis' ties to Iran. The Houthis seek to consolidate their authority, while the central government works to extend its control amid the presence of multiple armed and political forces.

Saudi and Iranian support for opposing sides does not appear sufficient to resolve the crisis unless accompanied by serious dialogue and a settlement that allows Yemenis to determine their own future.

In Iraq, American and Iranian interests intersect with competition among local political and armed forces over power and resources. The use of Iraqi territory to exchange strikes and settle regional scores undermines national sovereignty, while conflicts drain resources that could otherwise be invested in improving public services and creating jobs.

Overcoming the crisis requires strengthening state institutions, bringing weapons under the rule of law, combating corruption and restoring the independence of national decision-making.

Syria

Following the fall of the Baath regime in December 2024, Syria faces the challenges of rebuilding the state, achieving stability and guaranteeing the rights of its different communities.

At the same time, foreign powers are pursuing their own interests. Turkey seeks to expand its influence by treating the Kurdish issue as a security matter rather than a political one. Israel seeks to prevent the emergence of a military threat near its borders and expand its influence, while other powers, including Russia and the United States, work to preserve their influence. Iran, meanwhile, seeks to return to the country and reassert its dominance.

The Syrian transitional government seeks to consolidate its rule, but stability cannot be achieved simply by unifying institutions under a central authority. It requires political participation, equal citizenship, and the protection of rights and freedoms.

Turning ethnic and sectarian differences into inevitable conflicts also opens the door to exclusion and foreign intervention. Syria needs decentralization, the rule of law, strong institutions and accountability, rather than the reproduction of authoritarianism in new forms.

Who Benefits from the Continuation of Wars?

Wars give some authorities an opportunity to strengthen their security rhetoric and expand their control. Corrupt networks benefit from these conditions, while arms companies profit from increased demand for weapons and ammunition.

Foreign powers may also exploit conflicts to weaken their rivals and expand their military and political presence.

This does not mean that all wars were planned in advance to generate such gains. However, their continuation can create economic and political interests that lead some parties to resist negotiated settlements.

Meanwhile, ordinary people bear the heaviest costs through deaths, displacement, poverty, unemployment, declining education and healthcare, and the destruction of infrastructure.

Reconstruction can itself become an arena for favoritism and the monopolization of wealth. Therefore, a victory for a government or armed group cannot be considered a victory for the people unless it translates into improvements in their rights, security and living conditions.

How Can Wars Be Stopped?

Ending wars requires protecting civilians, ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid and securing ceasefires, alongside addressing the political and economic causes of conflicts.

This includes resolving disputes through negotiations, respecting state sovereignty and the rights of different communities, and ending interventions that fuel confrontations.

It also requires building national institutions governed by the rule of law and accountability, expanding political participation, combating corruption and addressing grievances that fuel conflicts.

Economically, resources should be directed toward development, domestic industry, public services and job creation. Transparency in reconstruction must be ensured, and reconstruction efforts must be protected from monopolization by networks of interests linked to war.

Lasting stability cannot be achieved without the participation of affected communities in determining their future, protecting their rights and creating space for political, ethnic and sectarian differences to be managed without violence or exclusion.

A-H 

ANHA