Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1940. THE MIDDLE EAST.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 96, 21 March 1940, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 1940. THE MIDDLE EAST.

To an increasing extent the conviction is growing in the lay mind that no small part in the present international conflict will be played in the arena of the Middle East. The geographical position of the countries embraced in the convenient term is of the utmost importance to a tactician, and the disposition of British troops — notably those from the Southern Dominions—in this centre of the Islamic world, is not without significance. Between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, the Arabian Sea and the borders of the Indian Empire, Turkey and Soviet Russia, is a compound of racial elements whose role in the future course of the war promises to be of great importance. It has been aptly observed that between the two wars which have embraced the greater part of the world the conflict of interests in the Middle East has been no longer one of rival imperialisms alone. A new factor appeared in the spread of Western nationalism to these countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan each acquiring a national self-consciousness. They have accepted increasing economic and political responsibilities as part of the world order, at the same time throwing off European control and setting their own terms to the penetration of Western Powers. The core of the Islamic world, the Middle East, with the exception of Lebanon, is predominantly Moslem, though the Pan-Islamic movement has not not as yet attained the proportions of, a binding influence.

Only recently lias Germany reappeared in the Middle East drama. The policy of Soviet Russia lias been one of fraternisation rather than of ascendancy, typified by her relations with Turkey, each undertaking - to respect the national characteristics and internal policy of the other. Britain and France, after the temporary acquisition of great power under the peace treaties, have observed their provisions in the spirit and to the letter, and have now abandoned nearly everything except the strategic points necessary for maintaining their positions in the Mediterranean and communications with India and the Far East. Before the Great War Britain’s diplomacy was of a forward type, in an endeavour to establish her position against the competition of Russia and Germany, the Battle of . the Nile in the Eighteenth Century having opened the Middle East to her at a time when Turkey and Persia were declining States. To-day her diplomacy, as the greatest Power in that uncertain area, is defensive in nature. Her vital interest is the security of the routes to India and in the Mesopotamian and Arabian oilfields. Two important factors in the maintenance of her position are the consolidation of good relations with Saudi Arabia and a settlement of

the Palestine problem, evidence of the desire for which has been steadily accumulating. Palestine might he regarded as a bridge connecting Africa and Asia, part of the only practicable corridor between the Nile and the Euphrates, and British diplomacy and tact are to-day being usefully expended in consolidating the foundations of that structure. Palestine is in a similar position in relation to the Suez Canal on the one side as is Egypt on the other, for it affords the possibility of defence against land attack upon the canal from the north. The factor of strategy is repeated in varying degrees in almost every other country in the Middle East, potably Arabia with its relationship to the Indian Ocean, and it is of prime importance to the Empire that Britain retain her present interests. Amid a confusion of intrigue and espionage her watchfulness is keener than ever before.