(Estimated Pub Date) the Challenge of Ethnic Conflict to National and International Order in the 1990S: Geographic Perspectives- October 1995

Approved for Release: 2018/06/01 C00123268
land suitable for cereal farming and horticulture, a rich
petroleum field, several cities, and a population of
15-30 million. None of these observations distracts
attention from a reality that precludes any prospect for
the creation of an independent Kurdistan because a
Kurdish state could come into being only if Iraq, Tur-
key, and Iran were to display unprecedented coopera-
tion and generosity.
These speculative remarks reinforce a comment made
at the beginning of this review: the Middle East is and
will continue to be an area of contention and danger.
As the only superpower and, indeed, the only external
power capable of influencing events in the region, the
United States has an unavoidable responsibility. At the
least, we might hope that our experience since 1776
could be a source of illumination for those Middle
Easterners—-the vast majority of them—who have
never known democracy. Other hopes can be enter-
tained. By encouraging govemment reforms, discour-
aging excessive military expenditures, exposing
human rights abuses, seeking by diplomatic means to
promote peaceful settlement of border disputes, and
organizing boycotts when such are required to prevent
or punish reckless national behavior, the United States
could expect to play a constructive role in the Middle
East. We also need to recognize that the United States
has been, and will continue to be, viewed with suspi-
cion and even contempt as a new colonial power, well
aware of the natural resources and strategic position of
the region but incapable of understanding the aspira-
tions and frustrations of its “difficult people.”
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Approved for Release: 2018/06/01 C00123268