visual statement

by MUIZ

“The Prophet
 Mohammed described the ummah, or the community, as a body where, if one part is hurt, the pain is felt throughout. For us today, the ummah is humanity.

The part of humanity now known as the Middle East is here represented by two hands whose arteries and veins run deep across the landscape: from the Nile to the Jordan River to the Tigris and the Euphrates.

The Middle East continues to suffer the effects of the crude pencil lines of the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, in which the landscape and its various people were divided into ‘A’ and ‘B.’ Whether the region’s people resist or submit to the dominance inherent in Sykes-Picot, it is an agreement whose scars stand even now, between them and self-fulfillment, between them and peace.

And as the Middle East hurts, the whole world feels the pain.”

Left handRight hand
Loading graphics

Welcome to a world of insight.

Make the most of FP.

Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. Explore the benefits included in your subscription.

Stay updated on the topics you care about with email alerts. Sign up below. Stay updated on the topics you care about with email alerts. Sign up below.

Choose a few newsletters that interest you. Get more insight in your inbox.

Here are some we think you might like. Update your newsletter preferences.

  • World Brief thumbnail
  • Africa Brief thumbnail
  • Latin America Brief thumbnail
  • China Brief thumbnail
  • South Asia Brief thumbnail
  • Situation Report thumbnail

Keep up with the world without stopping yours. Keep up with the world without stopping yours.

Download the FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere. Download the new FP mobile app to read anytime, anywhere.

Download on the App Store
  • Read the magazine
  • Save articles (and read offline)
  • Customize your feed
  • Listen to FP podcasts
Download on the Apple App Store
Download on the Google Play Store

Analyze the world’s biggest events. Analyze the world’s biggest events.

Join in-depth conversations and interact with foreign-policy experts with Join in-depth conversations and interact with foreign-policy experts with

A tank fires at Russian positions near Kreminna in the Lugansk region of Ukraine on Jan. 12. ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images
A tank fires at Russian positions near Kreminna in the Lugansk region of Ukraine on Jan. 12. ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine’s Battlefield Dynamics

✓  

Registered

  |   Ask a Question Ask a Question   |   Add to Calendar
  1. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

  2. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews.

    ALREADY AN FP SUBSCRIBER?

Russia has gone from one mobilization to the next, burning through equipment and ammunition faster than it can replace it—even resorting to the recruitment of prisoners to fight its drawn-...Show more

made-in-america-protectionism-adam-posen-doug-chayka-illustration-fp-live-lead
made-in-america-protectionism-adam-posen-doug-chayka-illustration-fp-live-lead

Over the last few years, Washington has prioritized relocating manufacturing production back to the United States. Critics abroad argue that America’s new industrial policy is protectionis...Show more

BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 05: A general view of the Great Hall of the People during the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a speech in the opening of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress at The Great Hall of People on March 5, 2023 in Beijing, China.China's annual political gathering known as the Two Sessions will convene leaders and lawmakers to set the government's agenda for domestic economic and social development for the year. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
BEIJING, CHINA - MARCH 05: A general view of the Great Hall of the People during the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivers a speech in the opening of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress at The Great Hall of People on March 5, 2023 in Beijing, China.China's annual political gathering known as the Two Sessions will convene leaders and lawmakers to set the government's agenda for domestic economic and social development for the year. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

FP editor in chief, Ravi Agrawal sat down for a regular China discussion with three experts: Ryan Hass, a former China director at the National Security Council; Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a Council ...Show more

See what’s trending. See what’s trending.

Most popular articles on FP right now. Most popular articles on FP right now.