1
Iran, Israel, the Persian Gulf, and the United States:
A Conflict Resolution Perspective
By Simon Tanios
Keywords: Iran; Israel; Gulf countries; the United States; conflict resolution.
I. Introduction
onflicts in the Middle East have become a
recurring feature in international media
coverage, academic literature, and global
politics. The region hosts various forms of
violence, as well as is surrounded by other long-
term conflict zones. However, Middle East
exceptionalism is used to delineate the region's
resistance to “democracy” and backwardness in
social development and respect for human
rights.
Within this dynamic, various forms of conflicts
shape the region, in particular the struggle
between Sunnis and Shiites, the Arab and
Persian Civilizations, the legitimacy of the State
of Israel in the Muslim World, and the mutual
animosity between Iran and the United States.
Many incompatibilities seem to define ongoing
conflicts, leading to numerous attitudinal and
behavioral consequences. These complexities
attributed to the conflicts have led to multiple
forms of violence, and failures in peace-making
processes for decades.
II. From the Origin of an
Irreconcilable Sunni-Shiite Split: The
Killing of Al Husayn
mong the 1.6 billion Muslims in the world,
about 90 percent are Sunnis and 10 percent
Abstract
Where the Middle East is often described as a battleground between “chosen peoples”, Johan
Galtung, the principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies, preferred to see it as
a conflict between “persecuted peoples”. Iran, Israel, the Persian Gulf, and the United States have
been in various conflicts through history shaking peace in the Middle East, with a prevailing tense
atmosphere in relations between many parties, despite some periods of relatively eased tensions
or even strategic alliances. Nowadays, Iran considers the United States an arrogant superpower
exploiting oppressed nations, while the United States sees Iran as irresponsible supporting
terrorism. In sync with this conflict dynamic, on one hand, the conflict between Iran and many Gulf
countries delineates important ideological, geopolitical, military, and economic concerns, and on
the other hand, the conflict between Iran and Israel takes a great geopolitical importance in a
turbulent Middle East.
In this paper, we expose the main actors, attitudes, and behaviors conflicting in the Middle East
region, particularly with regard to Iran, Israel, the Gulf countries, and the United States, describing
the evolution of their relations, positions, and underlying interests and needs. Then, while building
our work on the Galtung’s transcend theory for peace, we expose some measures that may be
helpful for peace-making in the Middle East.
