The entire Middle East is going through a situation of great political instability and internal conflict between a group of countries that have turned the area into a dangerous region of our planet. This situation is not only affecting other countries located outside the region, but also international peace and security. I am going to mention in my comments only two cases to demonstrate the complicate situation that the region is facing, but these cases are not the only ones which are affecting international peace and security.

The crisis in Syria begun as a result of a confrontation between the government and part of the population living in certain parts of the country and has tragically spread to involve other countries of the region and outside of it as well as outside forces that have no relation whatsoever with the internal crisis between the government and a part of its population. The deepening crisis has been caused by factors of religious and political nature and has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, the destruction of of the country's infrastructure and the emigration of millions of people to other countries. The reason why the internal political crisis erupted in Syria has been diluted and passed to a second position, leaving, as the main components of the internal conflict, the religious and political differences among countries within the region. Without the political solution of these differences will be very difficult to find a political solution to the current crisis.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict shows no signs of being on the road to find a negotiated solution after so many years of violations of UN resolutions that gave the green light to the creation of two states in the region. On the contrary, each time new conditions are imposed to derail the current negotiations and all sorts of pretexts and excuses used in order to avoid taking the only decisions that have to be taken that are the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the occupied territories, the establishment of the Palestinian State with the return of hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict and located in other countries of the region and to give full guarantees for the Israel's security. Following the current trend of events that are taking place now in the region, it will be almost impossible to talk about the creation of a Palestinian State in the region in the future.

These conflicts are affecting the security of other countries and also are creating great political instability in some of these countries, increase energy price taking into account the vast oil and gas reserves located in the region, increase the arms trade in the region, among others.

I agree that the situation in the whole region is very volatile and currently on a knife edge. To this conflict we are also seeing a religious crisis e.g. Iraq with the Sunni's loss of power and in Syria with the surrounding countries taking religious sides through either support for the rebels or the government depending if you are a Shiite or Sunni or a faction of one or other.

The international community appears be either confused or perhaps just tired of the constant conflict within the region.

With regards to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the starting points do keep moving but the fundamental principles of both states are so far apart that it iwll be difficult to establish a win/win solution

The Syrian conflict – as complex as it appears, can be broken down in two different levels where each level is feed with ample of animosities and power politics resulting in prolong sufferings of the Syrian people with no end in sight.

First is the geopolitical dimension that, in my view have more or less paralyzed the international community to take effective action. Russia, acting like a revisionist power is challenging the post cold-war settlements. Regional players like Iran and Saudi Arabia is stuck in the battle of expanding the Sunni dominance (blessed by the West). Thus, under the ambit of R2P, many western countries bent on for a ‘regime change’ as the only solution to Syrian conflict. However, this could not be backed up with sufficient political will (consider the UK Parliament vote on Syria that was lost against 285-272 and the constant shifting of the ‘Red Line’ by the USA). Indeed, it was a false start to solve the problem. The bandwagoning of some countries like Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia with no effective end-game plan further exacerbate the problem making space for the Russian leader Putin to enter the scene and play his master stroke. The essential difference between Putin and West’s approach to the problem was: the later focused on working on the modalities to remove means of violence (i.e. chemical weapons) as opposed to ‘regime change’ (of course under apparent US pressure and taking care of own interest of securing the energy supply and missile export).

Arguably, R2P is the most valid instrument for the International community to intervene in Syria. However, west’s interpretation of the R2P has also been rather limited and short sighted. with strong anti-immigration sentiment in most of the European countries and the desire to contain the refugees within the region by building large refugee camps in Jordan/Turkey and denying (or deporting) the Syrian from entering in UK or other EU countries says a lot about the sincerity attached by the western governments that does not go well while professing the R2P. Deep down, a level of mistrust prevails.

Second is the domestic level where the cultural and religious divide constitutes the basis of the conflict and are fuelled by non-state actors. Historically the cultural/religious fault lines resurfaces (often with violence and brutality) only when the ability of the state to provide security is diminished or diminishing (i.e. weak or collapsing states). The fact that the ruling regime in Syria is dominated by Alawits that constitutes only 13% of the population (Sunni accounts for around 60%, Christian 10%, Kurds 9%, Turkmen 3%) speaks of the danger that can befall if the central authority crumbles. Indeed deep divisions inside Syria today is along these lines and are being fuelled by various actors both within the country and the region – all in the name of ‘freedom and democracy’.

Given such context the solution of the Syrian conflict perhaps lies at different levels. At the geopolitical level, the decision paralysis needs new initiative not just by welcoming more Syrian refugees in EU and USA soil to appear benevolent and compassion to address the immediate problem but also by criminalizing the Assad regime (and the non-state actors committing war crimes) alike and trying to bring them under the International Criminal Court. This approach is different than the ‘regime change’. The spectre of serving justice to the criminal (both government and extremist) in foreseeable future, substantiated by the evidence and testimony by those who had to fled the country and seek asylum in foreign land(s) seems a just and reasonable approach.

Second, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict needs to be addressed in earnest before the parties (particularly the Muslim world) deems the the . This will restore the much needed confidence on the West (particularly the USA) about their commitment and seriousness to the Middle East. If USA can prepare to embrace ultra Hindu-nationalist leaders like Norendro Modi (whom they rejected the visa based on his track record in Gujrat riot) as the next possible PM of India, the recently formed national coalition government of Palestine appears to be less problematique. With the Turkish election ending, the Government in Ankara need to take a more constructive and conciliatory approach (divorcing their geopolitical ambitions if any) as they remain in the forefront of the conflict and the possible springboard for any NATO action.

The bottom line, Syria needs to remain intact with a more federalized government structure (like the Ottoman millets) where each community has a voice and a representative to address their issue in a democratic and peaceful manner.

As countries did not do what they have to Syria, I believe that the region will go to further destruction and sectarian wars, and the weakness of countries towards Syria was the reason to destroy the neighboring country such as Iraq and Lebanon and even Jordan