Quote:
Originally Posted by edslunch
Arbitrarily dividing the ME into countries was part of it too
Edit: deleted some drunken ramble
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Persia was never conquered or colonized by the West. The modern state of Iran maps almost exactly to the historical Persian heartland. It's far from an arbitrarily constructed state.
It isn't obvious that if left free of foreign interference, Iran would have developed into a more prosperous, liberal, or pro-Western state.
Look at its neighbour Turkey. In the 20th century it did become prosperous, liberal (by the standards of the region), and pro-Western. But largely because its constitution was defended by a secular military cabal, with the backing of the West. And since the generals were shoved aside by a populist, conservative movement, the country has become less prosperous, less liberal, and turned away from the West.
People can badly #### up their own countries without any help from the West.