The Middle East's cold war, explained

The Middle East is one of the most complex regions in the world:

Currently there are 4 failing states and 3 wars, with major powers increasingly taking

opposite sides.

Countless armed militias and terrorist groups are spreading violence across borders.

The region has seen conflict after conflict going back well into the 20th century.

But among all the uprisings, civil wars, and insurgencies, two countries always seem to

be involved: Saudi Arabia and Iran.

They’re bitter rivals, and their feud is the key to understanding conflicts in the

Middle East.

The Saudis and Iranians have never actually declared war on each other.

Instead, they fight indirectly by supporting opposing sides in other countries and inciting

conflicts.

This is known as proxy warfare.

And it’s had a devastating effect on the region.

Countries, especially poor ones, can’t function if there are larger countries pulling strings

within their borders.

Both the Saudis and the Iranians,

see these civil wars as both tremendous threats,

and also potentially enormous opportunities.

The Saudi-Iranian rivalry has become a fight over influence, and the whole region is a

battlefield.

It’s why the rivalry is being called: a Cold War.

The most famous cold war was fought for 40

years between the United States and Soviet Union.

Looking forward to the day when their flag would fly over the entire world.

They never declared war on each other, but

clashed in proxy wars around the world.

Each side supported dictators, rebel groups, and intervened in civil wars to contain the

other.

Like the US and Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia and Iran are two powerful rivals - but instead

of fighting for world dominance, they’re fighting over control of the Middle East.

In order to understand the Saudi-Iranian rivalry, let’s go back to the origins of each country.

In the early 1900s, the Arabian peninsula was a patchwork of tribes under the control

of the Ottoman Empire.

After World War I, the empire collapsed, leaving these tribes to fight each other for power.