The impact of the Cold War on the Middle East Essay

The impact of the Cold War on the Middle East - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the cold war had a lot of effects not only to the participating countries but also the neighboring states: moreover, the effects were both positive and negative depending on the situation. Significantly, when it comes to the nuclear legacies, most of them can be traced back to the cold war, with most of the Middle East states experiencing the availability of new technologies for nuclear power and energy, use of radiation for improving medical treatment and health; moreover, environmental remediation, industrial production, research science, and technology development have all benefited from the carefully managed application of radiation and other nuclear processes. On the other hand, military development and spending have continued despite the end of the cold war especially in relation to the exploitation of defensive systems; furthermore, former superpowers in the Middle East have proceeded to maintain and develop existing weapons and delivery systems. Additionally, with some countries having had overseas military bases and facilities, they have inherited responsibilities and costs especially with the urge of more production and serving facilities (sometimes even military staging and storage); as well, nuclear and conventional forces remain at levels reasonably high for a  peacetime  environment with localized conflicts and tensions having replaced the former bilateral nuclear confrontation. Generally, in the wake of the Cold War, some of the Middle East countries inherited expenses, commitments, and resources for which they were not prepared, and others state also found themselves with contemporary national-security burdens and substantial environmental contamination legacies, all to be financed while new or revised civilian economies had to be instituted. In 1955, Syria aligned with Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Arab Solidarity Pact) to balance against Iraq and the United States sponsored Baghdad pact; still, on the same year, there was a pact between Syria and USSR - Syria was trying to balance against Iraq, Turkey and Israel (went up to1958). Additionally, in 1958 Syria united with Egypt under Nasser (United Arab Republic) to balance against internal communist threats and external superpower pressure; after this, there was the Tripartite Unity Pact - where Syria and Iraq formed an alliance with Egypt, and later on in the year, Syrian and Iraqi Ba’ath united to balance against Egypt to fulfill ideological goals.