Seminar paper from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 1, 0, Kadir Has University, language: English, abstract: The current situation in the Middle East is a result of the political and military influence of Western powers, proxy wars, religious and cultural clashes and collapsing regimes which lead to power vacuums and rising radical and terroristic groups. This essay analysis the political and societal situation in the Middle East until 2017 and the developments from Israel to Syria that helped evolve the current crisis.In the Middle East, states are enemy's due to disputes on religious dispositions, ethnic backgrounds and spheres of political and economical influence. The Middle East region itself - even though its member states share a similar history, culture and religion - is no entity. Arab states against the "little Satan", the artificial state of Israel and Arab states against Arab states - Sunni against Shia.