what were NATO and the warsaw pact what was the first major armed conflict of the cold war

First, the regional balance of power has been highly uncertain following the 2011 uprisings as well as the aftermath of the 2003 U.S. But while such rivalries are indeed consequential, broader dynamics have also made these conflicts particularly long and ugly.įour factors in particular have served to escalate and perpetuate conflicts. Regional power struggles, such as the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, are widely understood to be complicating factors.

But not since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire a century ago has the Middle East been so convulsed by regional turbulence and internal conflict.Īmid this crumbling regional order, the ongoing civil wars, especially in Syria and Yemen but also in Libya and Iraq, have become apparently intractable. This has been the case for the region’s modern history and will remain so for the foreseeable future. More than any other region in the world, the Middle East is defined not by commercial ties, diplomatic interaction, or regional organizations, but by hard power and military might.

What were NATO and the warsaw pact what was the first major armed conflict of the cold war