The Middle East's 5-Way Cold War Explained

Discover what's driving the wars in the Middle East in this insightful video. Learn about Middle East rivalries like Iran, Israel, and Hamas, and why the region is always in conflict.

0:00 Intro
1:31 The Struggle for the Soul of Islam
11:11 The Struggle of Nationalism against Islamism
16:35 The Arab-Israeli Struggle

[MonsieurDean]

What would you like to see us cover next?

[innadesertDOTjpg]

Born too late to fight in the desert
Born too early to fight in the desert
Born just in time to fight in the desert

[Snp]

I love how Oman is just chilling down the gulf . Their last sultan was great statesman kept his nation out of "exciting times"

[thames]

Never seen a western content creator explain the different islamic schools of thought this well and thorough, good job

[MegrelMamba]

When an isolationist makes a better video about middle-east conflicts than interventionists

[czar]

I'll be honest, ba'athist and even nasserite movement does strike my curiosity. Imagine a progressive secular nationalist movement in a typical conservative religious region.

[elraviv]

I think you missed a very interesting point. Israel and Iran were allies until the 1979 revolution. These are 30 years of cooperation and cultural exchange between the Jewish state and the Iranian population. If the theocratic regime in Iran falls. It is likely that this collaboration will return.

[hishamalaker]

Mr.Z, From a Levantine Arab Muslim I gotta say you are my favourite American. Your more knowledgable than conservatives, liberals and pretty much everywhere else. You are opinionated however knowledgable and you give detailed and accurate analysis and I appreciate that. Your also not stupid, I saw your videos on how you dont think Conservatives arent guaranteed to win and how your community should be more cautious I also saw your other analyses of the middle east in other videos and I agree with them.

[Kapnohuxi_folium]

It's worth noting that, while small, christian populations in the middle east do play a central roll in politics in the countries they historically have a decent pressence in. Like the Maronites in Lebabon being tacit supporters of Israel through the Kataeb and Phalange movements, the Coptics, Chaldeans, and Orthodox supporting more secular nationalists in Egypt, Iraq, and Syria respectively, and of course the Orthodox Cypriots being heavily alligned with Greece against the Turkish state.

[jump_kid]

Finally a guy talking about the difference gropes in sunni Islam, most Muslim I meet (arab and non arab) know nothing about this topic. but mostly live in country run by ashari scholars but get affected by the saudi-gulf back media.

[miladd]

I’m Iranian and I can say this is very accurate, well done.
However the remaining half of this decade will see great changes to the situation, especially when it comes to my country…

[aseefi]

There is mutual understanding between the hanbalis, malikis, shafis, and hanafis that the other's interpretation IS valid.

[Makem]

It's still amazing to realize that Israel has continued to exist in the Middle East for so long. At this point Middle East can pretty much just rumble about Israel but they can't do anything until Israel weakens itself internally or external support for Israel is withdrawn.

[Entity_Anonymous]

THANK YOU I'VE NEEDED THIS SO MUCH

Incredible summary of the Middle East, but you did not discuss the persecuted pockets of Christianity, particularly in Lebanon. Though not big in number, the influence they have had on the region in terms of politics, international affairs and development is highly significant.

[tianming]

This is an awesome explanation. I'll be honest even as someone who has studied Islam and Muslims history for years, I've always been confused by the different schools and how they relate to one another, so thank you for this!

[sjappiyah]

As a Christian, the comparisons to Protestant groups was very helpful for understanding this, thank you.

[yakov]

Outside the biased views against Israel I actually learned many new things about the different Muslim schools so thank you for the video.

[freedomclub]

Interestingly, you didn't mention Qatar as much as backing Islamic terrorism like the Islamic Brotherhood...

[dogaemiramasyal]

9:23 Armenia is actually listed as a strategic ally for Iran due to Iran's competition with Azerbaijan. Iran hosts anywhere between 25-40 million ethnic Azerbaijanis, creating concerns for Azerbaijani separatism. Armenia serves as a means of balancing Azerbaijani influence in the area.