From the ruins of Aleppo to the streets of Sanaa, one pattern is hard to ignore: when foreign powers intervene in the Middle East, conflicts rarely remain local. The United States, Russia and Iran claim they are either protecting stability or fighting terrorism, but on the ground, their actions deepen divides, prolong wars, and turn local struggles into regional crises. The central question is: do these outside powers make conflicts worse, or do they prevent total collapse?
At times, they have stopped conflicts from escalating completely out of control, but far more often, their involvement has poured fuel on already intense fires. In the Middle East, a crisis in one country quickly spills into another.
For Syrians forced into refugee camps, or Yemenis facing famine, the promises of foreign powers ring hollow. Foreign powers do not just fight over territory or resources; they also turn conflicts into battles of identity. This framing transforms local disputes into global ideological struggles. Outside powers see the Middle East less as a humanitarian concern and more as a stage for their global rivalries. As a result, what looks like stability in the short term often plants the seeds for future unrest.
If foreign powers genuinely want to support stability, they need a different approach. First, they must dial back their rivalries. Treating the region as a chessboard only turns every dispute into a proxy fight, and Washington and Moscow, especially, should resist the urge to make every war another front in their global competition.
Second, outside actors should encourage regional dialogue. The Saudi-Iran thaw brokered by China in 2023 showed that local actors can reduce tensions without foreign armies. This kind of diplomacy deserves support, not sabotage. Third, the focus should shift from arming to rebuilding. Finally, foreign powers must listen to local voices. What the region desperately needs is not more matches thrown into the fire, but space for its own people to rebuild peace from the ashes.
EMAN TAHIR
ISLAMABAD
