The history of the area now known as the Middle East has all of the characteristics needed to set up centuries of warring factions and conflict, given the large empires that often held these lands together through force and genocide.  Though the modern era should have brokered in the opportunity for peace and stability as people gained their independence from the Ottoman Empire and then from the British and French who controlled much of the region, the support and rise of terrorism and Islamic extremism has created a breeding area for anti-western and anti-freedom populations, controlled by terrorist groups and rogue nations.