Explained | Colonial Borders: How West sparked the endless Middle East fire that still burns​on February 6, 2026 at 1:55 pm

The Middle East’s persistent conflicts stem beyond oil, power struggles, and Shia-Sunni divides, tracing back to the Ottoman Empire’s 1918 collapse and Western colonial interference. Britain and France imposed artificial borders via the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, ignoring tribal, ethnic, and sectarian realities.  The Middle East’s persistent conflicts stem beyond oil, power struggles, and Shia-Sunni divides, tracing back to the Ottoman Empire’s 1918 collapse and Western colonial interference. Britain and France imposed artificial borders via the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, ignoring tribal, ethnic, and sectarian realities.