MR. RALPH PETERS i visit and read http://www.armedforcesjournal.com/2006/06/1833899 You are very comic man. This is a your dream. I'm a Turkish man and I think that, try this maps border on Turkey? Have You bravery to Try it? Try and see. The Turks not as arabian. Oguz Turk's come from center of asian. Not middle east and arabian. Read our history and learn, understand Turkish people. attention, becaouse the Turks dangerous in war arena for you. All world are understand this. Try it for your drawing map border. Try and see...

Alper, I think you miss-read Peter's article. He is suggesting that much of the problems are partially resultant from national/identity boundries being mismatched from state boundries.

The question is should US Foreign Policy continue to desire that states do not break into smaller states?

Here's the map on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56241129@N00/178710868/

Sorry

I can not look at our case through your eyes.

"OUR" .

How are we ?

We are a nation that has been divided by the old Western powers. This is just another vision of division by someone who belongs to another new Western power.

The World peace will be realized only after our nation reunite. This nation which survived 1400 years and whose State was destroyed by the West in 1922.

The puppet so called states in our region were created by the West as well an western-occupation-subcontractors to prevent the unification and resurrection of our nation. By believing them you fall into your own illusion.

The insistence on having us looking to our selves through your eyes and ignoring our point of view regarding our destiny are excellent prescriptions for trouble and suffering for YOU and Us as well.

The Ottoman Empire is kaput because the western powers the Turks sided with lost in WW1 to the winning western powers.

Perhaps, you are a referencing an Islamic Empire instead?

As far as "World Peace", I suspect you and I have different definitions for that.

The fantasy of a future Islamic Empire continues to infect the islamic mind and is the root cause of misery and wasted human potential in Dar al-Islam.

As a curtesy to Curtis, I will stop now.

Oh no, go on if you like.

[BTW, I had linked Ralph Peter's essay only as a curiosity. I think that in actuality the borders may shift organically, over a very long period, or else as a result of much warfare -- but either way, the final results will probably no be what we would expect. Of course, that 'very long period' is indefinite, so I guess anything's possible, with such a long view....)

I can't speak for Curtis or purpleslog, but I'm personally curious as to the world you do see through your eyes? Do you see borders based on ethnicity? Should an empire based upon Islam stretch from Gibraltar to Indonesia? Should every person be able to organize and swear allegiance tribally and ignore such things as national borders for an entire region of the world? Please, I would very much like to know how the world should look to you.

Al, those are good questions.

Just an offbeat observation / question:

Looking at the revised borders -- now that I've gone ahead and posted the animated gif as an update to this post -- it occurs to me that an overlay map of natural resources available in the geography would be good also. For instance, tensions over water supply have already played a part in ME conflict (and have since ancient times, even, if I have my history correct -- thinking of Sumeria and all those who have subsequently fought over access to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; not to mention access to the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf...)

The reason I bring this up is that 'Balkanization' of areas, if it were to become a peaceful arrangement, would also seem to require complex and mutually beneficial trade agreements and perhaps security agreements, but a far-ranging cross-continental Empire -- whether Islamic or otherwise -- would not depend as much on such agreements.

So it would seem that a rise in the number of 'microstates' would necessarily require a kind of concurrent Barnettian PNM process if such a rise were to be peaceful. Trying to dissolve areas into one "Empire" would require mutual desire to join that empire, however, if such an arrangement were to lead to a 'Peace' -- but a 'World Peace' would still require healthy economic and security agreements between individual empires.

The problem with trying to dissolve all these areas into one empire would seem to be in the fact that many in these areas would pretty much hate having to join that empire, however.

Ralph whatever his name is, suffers from dementia. I love the comical map giving the Kurds [the biggest terrorists in all of middle east] everything from all the oil of Iraq, all the water of Middle East, to sea ports on the Black Sea, FOR FREE!!! WOW!!! This guy knows absolutely nothing about the Middle East. What a moron! And he is on Fox? [which proves the moron part] Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good laugh, but some seriously retarted people out there [Bush] may get some ideas from this load of bull crap. Hey Pete, see a shrink will ya [or get laid], you are seriously disturbed. Idiot!

Ozman,

The question is not wether or not you believe Ralph Peters' vision is wrong, but what is -your- vision. It is very easy to criticize but very, very difficult to put your own reputation on the table, say 'Here are my credetials and this is how I believe it should be.', and then defend your thoughts.

Catholicgauze has criticized Ralph's new map, too.

I am Turkish and I’m living in Turkey, Istanbul.I was born in Istanbul. My father is Turkish, my grand mother(mother’s mother) is Kurdish. Regarding to this funny map above, Istanbul, the city I’m living will be in Turkey, my father’s native city Mersin will be in Turkey, and my mother’s native city Mardin will be in Imaginary Free Kurdistan. The problem is I have relatives living in Mardin, and Mersin.(Grandfathers, grandmothers,cousins, aunts, uncles…)
How can this borders be considered as a solution in this matter? In fact in Turkey there are many(hundreds of thousands)familes like ours. What will happen afterwards if something like that will happen?

Besides after 50’s with the industrilisaton of Turkish economy. Many families immigrated from east to west part of Turkey.They bought houses, lands, founded companies,married with others.
As an example in Istanbul there are more Kurdish people living than in many of the cities in the eastern Turkey.What will happen to them, if The Imaginary Free Kurdistan will be founded on Turkey’s land?
Also the population in the eastern Turkey is not only Kurdish People.There are many Turkish People living there.

In Turkey there are mainly three different kinds of Kurdish People( Zaza, Kirmanci, Sorani). They even can not understand each other when they speak their native languages.So who will be in charge in that Imaginary Free Kurdistan.Or If the Kurdish people in Iraq (They are also different from the ones in Turkey) will be in charge what kind of advantage will the TURCO KURDISH gain?I do not believe that Turco Kurdish people will want to leave a democratic western country and be minorities in a country ruled by Iraq Kurdish Tirans.

In Turkey we have a democracy, and capitalist system.We had two Kurdish Presidents and many Kurdish high ranked generals in the army. “I didn’t see a black president in USA, except the the TV series 24″
The counrty is integrated with the western world. So people must be crazy to leave it and want to be a part of a feudal kurdish country.

Besides Turkey is not an artificial state like Iraq or Yugoslavia that has founded by other countries. Turks are living in Anotolia, from the year 1071 and conquered every centimeter by fights.So the only way to get them out is to fight for every centimeter.
The questions are who will finance this fight and who will fight?
I do not think that none of western counries (Including USA) will finance it and will be able to find someone to fight.

As last words “No land for you fools, forget it”

I think Mr Peters do not know the area well and he is using his imagination too much. I am Turkish, I'll not comment on the Turkish borders although many of the Turkish cities that are moved into Kurdistan has Turkish majority with Kurdish migrants from South East.

Tabriz. Since when Iranians and Azerbaijanis became a minority in Tabriz? Mr Peters should do his homework before he sits the exam.

Also if it is about Ethnicity, he should create the United Arab State that spans from Morocco to Oman to Iraq. And the United Turk (Turan) State that spans from North-East of Greece and South of Bulgaria all the way to China Xinjiang state (please exclude Armenia, nobody wants them). Ahh that region has majority of the world's oil. Bummer!

For the sake of the world and humanity what about giving;
- Alaska back to Russia,
- Texas ,NewMexico ,California, Arizona, Louisiana states back to Mexico.
- Missisipi, Alabama,Georgia, South and Norht Carolina, Kentucy, Tennessee, Virginia to Afro-Americans for THE UNITED STATES OF FREE AFROISTAN
- Washington,Montana, Dakota, Minesota, Wisconsin Michigan, Indiana, Illinois,Missouri, Arkansas,Oklahama, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon for THE UNITED STATES OF REAL AMERICAN INDIANS who were living on this lands from the first day of human race on earth.
- And the rest for THE USA

Also limit the amount of the THE USA citizens natural recourse's crazy consuming habit (This will also help them to be fit, healty and to have a normal human body shape like the rest of the world.)

I think this is the main solution of World Peace.

Dear friends, feel free to comment !

The previous comments and linked discussions, more than anything I have read recently, illustrate the very fundamental difference between the United States and the countries of the Middle East.
The United States is based on the principle of inclusiveness. We welcome all those who bring positive and contructive ideals, and embrace them because we know that as a country and as a people not in spite of our differences but because of them we are stronger and greater than the sum of our parts.
The principle most prevalent in the Middle East is one of exclusion. You fear and hate all that is different. Be it religion, ethnicity, nationality or economic status, there is always a reason to exclude.

This, at a fundamental, rule-set, level means that the Middle East will never be able to lift itself up and out of its petty hatreds until it realizes on that same fundamental level that this doctrine of exclusivity keeps you from reaching your potential as a people of strength and vision. You must ask yourself, "Why do I really hate my neighbor? Who told me to do so? What does it gain me to do so? Who is it who gains when I do?"

I'm going to get up on my soapbox now so please forgive me.

I see now that the real flaw in Peters' map is that it does nothing to abolish, and everything to sustain, this principle of exclusivity. A great American President once said at a time of great crisis in the history of the United States that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and he was right. Hundreds of thousands of Americans died at the hands of other Americans before we realized the truth of these words and United our house again. It is my hope that one day the people of the Middle East can come to realize the price of their exclusivity from each other and come together to draw their own map, becoming greater than the sum of their parts and joining the rest of the world in something greater yet.

Based on Arherring's comments I have found a new map showing the unified Middle East.

www.crazyturks.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/new-near-middle-east-project.jpg

if war is what you want, so be it! we are men of war
a persian

You will probably get your wish.