ABSTRACT
This chapter considers several of the wars—hot and cold—and conflicts that have transgressed national borders, even involving countries far from the region. Among geopolitical problems since World War II, the emotionally charged conflict between Arabs and Israelis is unique in its regional impact, global ramifications, Great Power involvement, intractability, and impact on the US role in international affairs. The modern conflict began with embryonic nationalism among Jews in Europe and Arabs in the Middle East. Jewish nationalism arose in the 1880s, taking shape as Zionism, the aspiration to establish a Jewish polity in "Zion"—a hill in Jerusalem, but by extension all of Palestine. Foreseeing the end of Ottoman rule, British Zionists pressed Britain early in World War I to officially support the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, originally arguing this would motivate Jews in the United States to urge that country to join the Allies against Germany.
