A Turbulent West Asia

Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and UAE, was at the Synergia Forum on 10th June 2017 to speak about the current ‘Terror and Turmoil in West Asia’.

He spoke about events which have paved the way for a very ‘versatile’ West Asia today. The breakdown of the state order in West Asia has led to chaos. As a consequence, it has attracted military power from countries that are focused in maintaining their foothold for energy security.

Not a New Game for the West

Mr. Ahmad emphasized that the political order of the Arab world is one that is ‘peculiar’ in nature as it fails to meet the aspirations of its people as politics is ‘externally’ influenced.

Specifically, the United States has long been a dominant player in West Asia, further intensifying tensions in the region.

The politics of West Asia had been imposed by Western intervention, right from the British time in the 17th Century.

External Influences

The West Asian region is characterized by various authoritarian regimes with Mr. Ahmad noting that “the Arab world has not experienced the fresh winds of popular parties.” He also mentioned how events in West Asia in the past have shaped its present condition. The US was a hegemonic power in the region in all security aspects. Islam was seen as a natural ally for the West in opposition to ‘Godless’ communism.

1979, a prominent year for West Asia, witnessed the departure of the Shah in Iran, the hostage crisis at the US embassy and the occupation of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Once the Islamic revolution began, the Saudi government, fearful of the Western influence on its people labelled the revolution as a ‘Shia’ Revolution to instigate Iran.

The Ambassador pointed out that ‘Global Jihad’ was engineered by the Saudis in Afghanistan, who with assistance from the United States brought people from the Muslim communities to be ‘indoctrinated’.

To this day, oil continues to play a major role in shaping the direction of politics in these territories. He added that even though Saudi Arabia discovered oil, it became reliant on the Western countries to help develop mechanisms to obtain that oil.

Assessment

Talmiz Ahmad mentioned, given the anti-Iran stance taken by the US administration, under Trump it will continue to fuel hostility among states. He was also quick to point out that the US is no longer the only dominant player in the region with Russia now positioning itself as a major diplomatic leader.

The word policy means ‘consistency’ said Talmiz and present day America is no longer consistent under the leadership of Donald Trump. The future of American influence is neither definite nor defined, he elaborated.

The former Indian Ambassador also highlighted the current situation in West Asia; briefly pointing out the “confident” position taken by Saudi Arabia to induce stability in the region by ‘instigating’ Qatar is rather curious. In his assessment he also brought up an interesting question as to whether Islamabad will make its stand known to the world in the ‘fight against terrorism’.

“Jihad flourishes only under state sponsorship or private sources, it does not emerge from thin air,” said the former Ambassador. He felt that “Jihad’ will remain with us…”

He asserted that ISIS represents the 3rd generation of ‘Jihad’ as they are able to inspire support for their attacks through the internet, like the ‘lone wolf’ attacks that took place in Europe.

When it came to India, Mr Ahmad asserted that India should play a role in stabilizing the West Asian region, something it has never done before, mainly due to provocation from Pakistan. Considering the large Indian Diaspora in the region, he said India should not stand back and watch these events unfold but rather collaborate with other partner countries or work independently to promote diplomatic initiatives in the region.