If you ever look at the Middle East, you’ll notice that its, mostly, dead-bones dry.

Y’know, desert, sand, 110-degree heat. The stereotype.

And also, the Middle East is mostly associated with Arabs and Islam.

However, there are a few political hotspots in this area: Iraq, Israel/Palestine, and Egypt/Sudan.

What do all three of these have in common?

Rivers.

In Iraq, where you have the conflict between Sunnis, Shi’as, Assyrians, Turkmens, and Kurds, you have the Tigris-Euphrates River Basin (Kurdish Turkey is also centered around the valley’s northernmost extension). In Israel, where you have the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, you have the Jordan River Valley. And in Egypt/Sudan, where you have animosity between the Arabs, Copts, Furs (of Darfur), and Southern Sudanese, you have the Nile River Valley.

Also, while they may not have any outstanding river valleys, mountainous areas such as Lebanon (Muslims, Maronite Christians), Iran (mostly Persian, with a few Azeris and Kurds), and the Atlas Mountains of the Maghreb (with the Berber minority) have something of a ethnic or religious diversity, though its definately not pronounced.

Other than those areas, the Arab World is almost exlusively Arab, whether you’re in Libya or in Saudi Arabia.

So what does this say about the history of the Arab people? That its built around, and based upon, the expanse of the desert?

And if there is a political side to water in the present conflict between the two civilizations?

Currently, in addition to many other projects in the uber-rich UAE, they’re building the Dubai Waterfront, which will be a draw for expatriates from all over the world. At the same time, they’re employing immigrants from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and other parts of South and Southeast Asia to do the grunt work for this and other humongous projects, and doing so at the cheapest minimum wages possible.

I’m wondering what’s gonna happen there in the future…