West Asia at War: Repression, Resistance and Great Power Games
By Talmiz Ahmad
HarperCollins, India
ISBN: 978-9354895258
304pp.

Whether it is called West Asia, or — within a larger geographical context — the Middle East, the Arab heartland presents quite the enigma. Terminology notwithstanding, the tract is undoubtedly a most pivotal area on the globe because of its strategic situation at the junction of the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, and it is a critical source of the world’s energy.

West Asia is constantly in the news for incidents of civil violence, of state-sponsored violence and of violence perpetrated by external actors. This is hardly extraordinary, but encompassing as it does several of the world’s major oil-producing countries, any economic, social and political tensions make its landscape markedly more fragile, turbulent and uncertain. Furthermore, it has problems that have no solution in sight, such as protectionism, lack of investment in the region’s poorer countries and unresolved border disputes.

Writ large, West Asia is perhaps the only part of the world that does not have any kind of regional mechanism for dealing with problems internally. Its countries, in their totality, do not sit around the same table. Some of its bigger nations, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, categorically have no diplomatic relations, while Iran and Israel remain at loggerheads.

West Asia at War: Repression, Resistance and Great Power Games by Talmiz Ahmad attempts to unravel the complications of this region and make it somewhat more comprehensible. The author is an academic, diplomat, historian and analyst who spent several decades of his life in the region as India’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

A former Indian diplomat, academic, historian and analyst attempts to make sense of the dynamics that have made the Middle East and North Africa region so volatile

As a result, Ahmad is able to relate first-hand many important developments that have occurred in West Asian countries. His book sketches, at length, the region’s social, economic and political malaise; the perennial rupture of incipient democratic efforts, as has happened in Iran, Iraq and Egypt; new nationalism projects taking root in Syria and Lebanon; the practice of resistance as shown in Libya, Sudan and Yemen; and the United States’s increasing disengagement and changing political settings across the board.

The book is not simply a recollection of the author’s manifold experiences, though. It gives a historical overview of the region from the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) to the present, with precise definitions and timelines of events. It also highlights India’s particular relations with West Asia, elucidating the former’s stance as compared to other important actors, such as Pakistan.

An interesting point worth noting is the unifying principle — Great Britain — that Ahmad uses to describe the diverse region. West Asia has always been of deep political and strategic interest to foreign powers, especially Great Britain. According to Ahmad, it was the two world wars that gave rise to the term ‘Middle East’, which swept together the Arab nations and their immediate neighbours, with no concern for geography and no clarity about what territories to include in it, despite pressure from other global superpowers to specify precise precincts.

This debate about setting precise precincts eventually popularised the term MENA (Middle East and North Africa). The events of 9/11 marked another major turning point, redefining the region’s security dynamics and geopolitical architecture.

Current research on Middle Eastern rivalries is dominated primarily by Western narratives. Ahmad smoothly transcends those to demonstrate an Asian perspective — he believes West Asia holds great importance for India’s security and prosperity, and the two regions have a strong historical, civilisational and geographical affinity.

Ahmad takes a deeply critical look at Western colonialism, imperialism, military interventions, Zionism, West Asian authoritarianism and Islamic radicalism as factors that have left lasting effects on the land.

Various villains — monarchs, presidents, government officials and diplomats — have worked together for their own vested interests to secure temporary benefits, or occasionally used a cramped viewpoint of religion to create disorder. Of course, there are plenty of unsung heroes as well, who have attempted to fight back against the violence and prejudices shoved upon them.

West Asia’s interactions with the powers at play over the last two centuries have been essentially troubled, with foreign players acquiring firm control over the Arabs, Turks and Persians. As the people tried to free themselves, the intellectuals among them endeavoured to understand the reasons for their defeat and how they could restore their culture and religion.

That is also the gist, somewhat, of Ahmad’s book. He proposes a novel approach to looking and understanding the past and future of the region, calling it extremely fundamental for West Asian countries’ economic, trade, investment, logistical, energy and security relationships with other countries, particularly India.

Of great value in this context is the chapter ‘India and West Asia (1950-2021)’. It begins with India’s former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s visit to Saudi Arabia in 1982. It additionally evaluates the recent initiatives India has taken with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and Iran.

Another important topic the author visits is West Asia’s ties with Israel, that have been cultivated for mutual benefit. However, perhaps the most striking takeaway comes from the chapter on US policies regarding the Iran-Israel conflict. Anyone familiar with the political sensitivities of US institutions will understand the courage needed to describe Israel’s system as it is: a racist, apartheid regime, and Ahmad has objectively succeeded in doing this.

The tussle amongst West Asian countries about their relationships with Israel is what really irks the latter. It’s the issue that irks Saudi Arabia and the UAE, too. We forget that the entirety of the US’s relationship with the Persian/Arabian Gulf monarchies is built around the idea of containing Iran.

It is all the more important to note that Arab decision-makers need to recognise that the region is undergoing multiple transformations. No good can come of Arab regimes that stubbornly cling to yesterday’s solutions in order to resolve today’s problems. What is needed is to think outside the box, not just because this will allow for innovation, but because the box itself is no longer what it was.

By the time one reaches the end of West Asia at War, one is compelled to think quite differently about the regional, as well as international, fabric of politics. At the same time, one feels sufficiently conversant with the issues to be able to make sense of the political, religious, military, socio-economic and cultural dynamics that have wrought the contours of contemporary divisions and alignments, and made the region of West Asia so volatile.

The reviewer is a communications professional/content creator. She can be reached at
sara.amj@hotmail.co.uk

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, January 29th, 2023