One of the paradoxes of states in the Middle East is that the mythology of Arab nationalism once described their borders as unnatural impositions by western imperialistic powers, yet rarely have borders been as enduring, or have states once deemed to be artificial creations remained as geographically unified, even amid war.
The region is replete with examples of countries that could have shattered in times of conflict but didn’t. One could have made a fortune during Lebanon’s civil war being paid for every prediction that the country would be formally partitioned. Yet after the conflict ended, and despite the fact that rival sectarian militias had controlled territories of their own, Lebanon was reunified and remains a centralised country today – some would say too centralised, given its localism and regionalism.
Similarly, while Syria after the uprising against the regime of Basha
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