RL: Most people in the region have been living in peacetime most of the time since independence.
Swank: Seems to detail a different picture here…
There has not been a war fought on Moroccan territory. Morocco has been at peace 100% of the time since Independence.
Algeria fought a civil war from 1991-2000. That is 10 years out of 53.
There has not been a war fought on Tunisian territory. Tunisia has been at peace 100% of the time since Independence.
Libya fought a 4 day border war with Egypt in 1977. There was an on and off war in Chad for 8 years between 1978-1987. There has been civil war since the overthrow of Ghaddafi. That is 12 years of war out of 63 years. Libya has been at peace 93% of the time since Independence.
Egypt was involved in several wars with Israel, but they didn’t last long. The total adds up to maybe 2 years at most. That’s 2 years of war out of 93 years.
Indeed, Palestine has been embroiled war almost all the time since 1947.
Jordan has only fought some wars with Israel. Maybe 2 years of war out of the last 66 years.
Syria fought several wars with Israel, but the combined total only lasted two years. They fought a war with the Muslim Brotherhood that went on perhaps 1 year. There has been a civil war since 2012. That is 6 years of war out of 64 years.
Saudi Arabia has not been in any wars since 1920 that I am aware of. However, there was an internal civil war that lasted a few years recently, but it was a very low level war. Saudi Arabia was briefly targeted in the Gulf War but that was only for a year. That’s 3 years out of 95.
Oman has not been in any wars since 1920 that I am aware of. Oman has been at peace 100% of the time since Independence.
Bahrain has not been in any wars since 1920 that I am aware of. Bahrain has been at peace 100% of the time since Independence.
UAE has not been in any wars since 1920 that I am aware of. UAE has been at peace 100% of the time since Independence.
Qatar has not been in any wars since 1920 that I am aware of. Qatar has been at peace 100% of the time since Independence.
Kuwait has been at war only with Iraq and that was only for a few weeks. That is 1 month out of 95 years.
Yemen did fight a civil war that lasted maybe 8 years. This resulted in a split in the country. There has been an internal war against Al Qaeda for maybe 4 years now. That’s 12 years out of 54.
Iraq fought a brief war with the British in 1941, but it only lasted one month. There was civil war in Mosul in 1959, but it lasted no more than a week. Iraq fought a number of wars with Israel, but those amounted to no more than 2 years. The Iran-Iraq War lasted 8 years. The Gulf War was over in less than a year and was by an internal civil war on 6 months. Iraq has been at war since the Iraq War in 2003, 11 years. Since 1932, Iraq has been at war for 22 years. That is 22 out of 83.
Lebanon fought a few wars against Israel, adding up to no more than 2 years. There was a brief civil war in 1958 lasting no more than one month. There was a major civil war in Lebanon for 15 years, from 1975-1990. Hezbollah fought a 1 month war with Israel in 2006. There was a brief civil war in 2007 with the Lebanese army fought a 4 month civil war against Fatah-al-Islam. In 2008, Hezbollah fought a 1 week war with the government. The Syrian Civil War has spilled over into Lebanon for the last year. Lebanon has been at war for 19 out of 70 years.
Conclusion: Most countries in the Arab World have been at peace most of the time since Independence.