Sykes-Picot deal: 100 years of Arab resentment

The Arab world continues blaming the Sykes-Picot treaty, signed a century ago on May 16, 1916 by Britain and France, for complicated disputes the Middle East has experienced over the past few decades.

During World War I, the Ottoman Empire, who controlled the Arab world, began to grow weak and joined Germany and other powers to take on France and Britain.

At this time, Mark Sykes from Britain and Frenchman Francois Picot, redrew the frontiers of the Middle East keeping in view the regions of their influence.

The deal aimed to divide the Arab world into five entities which were to be shared by Britain, France, Russia and Italy.

The Middle Eastern map started to take shape.

Since the mapping of the region, it seems as though there has been no end to the crisis faced by Middle Eastern countries, as disputes and wars have been ongoing in the region.

Palestinian occupation, the ongoing war in Syria or the threat of DAESH are all believed by most of the Arab world to be the direct or indirect consequences of the Sykes-Picot agreement.

Traces of the intervention and role of western countries in the Middle East can be seen over the past century which only seem to have aggravated the crisis rather than helping to resolve the issues.

And, unfortunately, even after all these decades of unrest in this region, there still appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel.