The Middle East: Past, Present and Future

What is the Sykes-Picot Agreement?

The Sykes-Picot agreement was reached in 1916 between Britain and France, dividing the Arab lands of the Ottoman Empire into smaller countries with defined geopolitical borders under British and French rule.

What effect did this agreement have on the region?

This act has been cited as the root cause of much that has transpired in the Middle East since then - the rise of Arab nationalism, the formation of modern-day Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, and the current refugee crisis. With the major changes this agreement has made to the region in 1916, it is worth examining its effects on the Middle East today.

Which countries took part in the agreement?

The agreement was made between Britain and France but was essentially a response to Russia's designs on the Ottoman Empire. Russia had already agreed to take control of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and the Dardanelles (a strait in modern-day Turkey) in return for British claims on other areas of the former Ottoman Empire, leaving out France at first. But when Sir Mark Sykes and Francois Georges Picot got together to discuss how to divide up the rest of the Ottoman Empire's territory, they did so with the intention of balancing out the influence of the two countries (Britain and France) in the region.

Sykes-Picot and Arab Nationalism

The agreement did not take into consideration the future growth of Arab nationalism, which at that same moment the British government and military were working to use to their advantage against the Turks. This would come back to affect the British and French later on, as nationalism would be one of the driving forces behind the formation of Syria and Iraq as independent states.

How was the Middle East divided?

The Sykes-Picot agreement resulted in the Syrian coast and much of modern-day Lebanon going to France; Britain took direct control over central and southern Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq and Kuwait with parts of Turkey, Syria and Iran), around the Baghdad and Basra provinces. Palestine would have an international administration, as other Christian powers, namely Russia, held an interest in this region. The rest of the territory in question - a huge area including modern-day Syria, Mosul in northern Iraq, and Jordan - would have local Arab chiefs under French supervision in the north and British in the south.

The Middle East: A Region of Constant Change

The Sykes-Picot agreement is just one of the several geopolitical changes that the MENA has witnessed. During the last 500 years, most or all of the region has been under several empires and control. For a large part of the Arab Middle East to be under self-governance is relatively recent. Two exceptions are Morocco and Egypt, which have a spent larger part of the last 500 years as self-governed empires than other Arab states.

The region is constantly changing with new governments and elections, wars, laws, coups, and uprisings. We took a lot at how the Middle East looked like a century ago, but how will the region look like a century from now?