It seems the old adage might need a little tweak: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again—unless it’s meddling in the Middle East, where even a cracked crystal ball could foresee the mess. The weekend’s tragedies in Syria serve as a somber reminder that the region is as stable as a toddler hopped up on sugar. A brutal weekend saw countless civilians, many of them Alawites, fall victim to violence. And what’s causing this latest turmoil? A classic dose of internal conflict and a side of civil strife.
The plotline is all too familiar. We’ve ditched one dictator only to reel in a recipe for disaster. Remember Iran in the ’70s? The Shah with his issues was out, and not long after, American hostages were in. And the same script was flipped in Libya. Gaddafi was no saint, but the aftermath of his ousting served up a sinkhole of chaos. Benghazi, anyone? Now Syria stands as the latest chapter, with Assad’s iron grip pried loose, making way for chaos, calamity, and carnage instead. The so-called “good guys” make far better villains in reality, it turns out.
Attempting to morph the Middle East into a mini America is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole—or maybe a round one into a square hole; either way, it doesn’t fit, folks! The belief that turbulent regions would suddenly enjoy Starbucks and democracy is as outlandish as expecting a cat to bark. Realism needs to tether foundational policies, lest the consequences be deadly and devastating. Illusory visions can be quite charming until they crash into the brick wall of reality, putting innocent lives at stake.
The puzzling approach towards the Middle East takes a page straight out of a naive daydream. It’s all well and good to hope for global harmony, but it’s detrimental to strategize based on pipe dreams. Assad might have been the classic narrative’s antagonist, but his absence has ushered in more chaos than the filmographies of Hollywood’s villains combined. Peace was kept not because the region was sipping sweet tea, but because it was gripping a barrier – however dictatorial – that prevented utter bedlam.
To put it plainly: the West needs a recalibration of its rose-colored foreign policy spectacles. Idealistic attempts to rebirth nations into democracies overnight are neither practical nor effective. It’s about time the policies reflect a level of prudence and practicality. Without this, the cycle of failed interventions and growing instability will spin on, leaving a trail of innocent lives in the wake. Intervening responsibly and with a touch of the real world in mind? Now that would be something worth repeating.
