And remember that the whole Middle East “connundrum” created by the British and French in the 1917 Sykes/Pecoe sell out of the indigenous tribes that sacrificed half of a million men to keep the Central Powers out of the oil fields.
Even back then in the embryonic stages of mechanized warfare, the impetus was on the British Royal Navy which had begun converting their newly constructed capital ships to oil power from the restricting coal . The British had been involved in the Suez Canal in Egypt since 1889 so they had a presence in the region long before the war.
In the Sykes/Pecoe sell out the British had promised King Hussein that London would support a new government AFTER the war that he would head for his support which he unflinchingly gave .
At that time the region consisted of a disparate group of tribal heads that cumulatively represented the entire population that reported to Hussein as head. But the whore French got wind of the deal and wanted their piece as ally of Britain and as country who paid the dearest price in war as most but not all of the major battles happened on their soil.
So in March 1919 when the French marched in after carving up territory with London in a totally sell out deal they took control and the tribal alliances so carefully crafted splintered and reformed to create the animosities we see today. So if the region blows up, THANK LONDON AND PARIS all those years ago.
The US stands on the brink of global war with the Middle East and Asia (msn.com)