Arab-Israeli relations are influenced by problems between the two groups extending back centuries, and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 today remains a sore point in the Arab world. In the Middle East, the Israelis are the minority population and are surrounded by Arab nations. Among the points of contention between Arabs and Israelis are Israeli actions with regard to the Palestinians, the discovery and development of oil in the Arab countries, and shifts in the world geo-political situation. The Middle East holds a place of particular strategic importance, and the tensions existing there impinge on relations between nations outside the region.
Friedman provides a sketch of the history of tensions in the Middle East and refers back to their roots in the Middle Ages and to the various authoritarian dynasties that have maintained these tensions through the centuries. It is with World War I that the modern state structure in the Middle East began, and it is with World War I and its aftermath that the tensions around Palestine and in Beirut begin in earnest. Friedman notes how the boundaries of the Arab states were imposed artificially from above and how vested interests soon took hold to make these boundaries work. Since that time, the forces that have warred have included those tending toward modernization against those fighting to retain traditions, and Friedman finds that these forces in particular have come to be of vital importance in modern Arab states, producing violence on both sides in our time, with fundamentalist groups using violence to bring attention to their point of view, while governments with a stake in staving off retrogressive elements using violence to stop such resistance. Friedman notes how the evolution of these new states has produced a certain legitimacy that may in time allow leaders to forge true social contracts with their people:
Only then will these countries have real public sph...