Middle East Setting

Setting: The middle east in the year 2000 is very interesting due to the remaining conflicts that are still present in middle eastern politics. You have the Israeli-Palestine conflict where many nations in the middle east have no room for a western aligned nation like Israel. There has been several wars which Israel had to fight off  against many middle eastern powers which do not support the Western-Jewish government. Nations like Saudi Arabia are very closely aligned with the U.S which can cause diplomatic disputes which often lead to war. There are intergovernmental organizations like the Gulf Cooperation Council which compromise of many nations in the Arabian peninsula. This Council can be used to help economies grow or it can turn into a military alliance which will defend one another. Saddam Hussein has an iron grip in Iraq and has many enemies and friends which will define how politics will run in the middle east. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 which resulted in a government opposed the the U.S and western influence in the middle east. Iran could take a leading role in displacing U.S influence in the middle east which could lead to conflict with nations like Saudi Arabia or Israel. Despite all the conflict that the middle east has endured there is still hope of peace reigning supreme and diplomacy leading the middle east into a new era of economic and political stability.