BACKGROUND
Well it’s all about two countries pulling strings in the game. Yet it all started after the collapse of ottoman empire which largely controlled the middle Eastern peninsula. After it’s collapse the Al-sauds annexed majority of the territory in 1932 they were recognised as Saudi Arabia. Soon large oil reserves were discovered which made House of sauds extremely rich a large portion of money was used on building infrastructure . Sauds forged a geostrategic alliance with US. Another country which was moving up the order was Iran. It too discovered large oil reserve yet found extremely difficult to maintain stability due to continuous foreighn invasions( credited to British ).Both the nation’s never went into direct engagement yet both longed for control of power in the region hence both engaged in proxy confrontation. Sauds wanted stability in the region but were outright autocratic and didn’t accept Democracy. Iran on the other hand was open to people’s choice.
IRANIAN JUGGERNAUT
Understanding Iran is pivotal to understand the conflict in a greater context. Iran witnessed occupation from ottoman empire and then consecutive invasions from British. After the British left Iran was ruled by Mohammed Mossadegh a populist yet he was overthrown and a American controlled puppet leader Reza shah was bought into power his reforms paved way for mordern, secular and progressive Iran however his secret police Sadak launched major crackdown against civilians and his political opponents. Hence what it meant was that both Sauds and Iran were under American influence. Iraq under the leadership of saddam hussain Invaded Iran to annex important religious places in Iran. Seeing Iraq loosing sauds pumped money and provided weapons so as to push Iran back. Analysing the map we can see that Iraq acts as buffer between both the nation’s and this was preffered by both so as to prevent direct confrontation.
KEY DIFFERENCES
There are significant differences between kingdom of Sauds and Iran. Both are autocratic however natives of Saudi Arabia are more loyal and commuted to the Royal family as compared to Iran. There is a sunni shia divide but it does not have a significant role in this rivalry. The key difference is localisation of power in Islamic world(ummah). Saudis consider themselves as the heads of Islamic world due to presence of Mecca. On the other hand Iran consider itself the same due to Iranian spring which was an extremely successful movement that later on established Ayatollah Khomeini. Another key difference is control over opec and monopolising oil trade. Sauds have large oil reserves and Aramco is a major oil supplier . Iran on the other hand has control over hormuz thus controlling the oil market. Today both have established proxies which are actively engaging each other in different part of the region. Like Iran supports Bashar Al Assad. However sauds back sunni rebels.
ISRAEL AMIDST ALL OF THIS
Israel’s journey as a nation has been nothing short of thriller action movie. Jews are one of the most persecuted community in the world. Hence followers of judaism realised it was important to establish a Jewish homeland. After the collapse of ottoman empire Jews immigrated to middle East were they were provided accommodations by the British yet this enraged Arabs. So UN worked out a plan to establish and demarcate land between Israel and Palestine . However it was rejected by extremists on both the sides. In 1967 Arab states formed an alliance and invaded Israel yet Israel turned the tables and won the war. The aftermath being Israel annexed 3 times it’s initial territory including West Bank , Golan Heights. Israel left Golan heights however it created walls encircling it leading to major problems for Hamas with unemployment rising there by 40 percent. In West Banks case Israelis inhabited the area due to cheap housing and to fulfill political objective of the state this has led to creation of fault lines. Israel has been a victim of assymetric war. On the Palestinian side Two intifada have taken place which have taken a major toll on civilian population. Amidst all of this Israel has build itself as a economic and military superpower . ISIS has been unable to penetrate Borders of Israel. Inspite of facing lethal and structured militia like Hamas and PLO It has grown from strength to strength. Israel today stands as a major player in this game what is extremely unique is the fact that Sauds are the only ones in the Islamic world having great relations.
CONCLUSION
Gulf War is similar to cold War the only difference being proxies have been proactively used across the region. Today more players are trying to climb up the power ladder. With Islamic world in turmoil it will be very interesting to see who gets what in this conflict.
Geopolitical Matrix 