ADVERTISEMENT

Is Saudi Arabia still, the most powerful middle east nation? I'm not.....

I think it's Israel, Turkey (NATO), Egypt, then likely a close race between Iran and Saudi Arabia. That's my guess for toe to toe military strength. Egypt used to hold a lot of public sway in the entire region due to Cairo (largest city in the region by far- a lot like how New York holds an influential place here) but I think after Sissi's coup they lost some of that influence.
 
Uh, depends on what you mean by powerful....

Saudi Arabia has only been powerful in that they control the Muslim holy places of Mecca and Medina and they have more oil wealth than any other country.

Israel is powerful militarily but that's because the United States made them powerful. In the new era of suicide bombs and cyber attacks, their military power is not quite as dominating as it used to be.

Iran, by far, is the up and coming power. It has been for over three decades. Iran is the nation behind almost all of the radical Muslim fundamentalism, and has killed or captured more Americans than any other country. It developed the Islamic Jihad and Hizballah, and is deeply ingrained in all forms of anti-Western terrorism.

We should never have invaded Iraq. That was the meaningless slaughter of thousands, including 4500 Americans. Iran has been and always will be the problem.
 
Kurdistan

The Kurds are the 4th largest ethnic group in the Middle East and yet were without a country until our intervention in Iraq. If you've ever used the phrase "I've got no use for him" then you understand why.

This post was edited on 3/17 7:26 PM by Cosmos
 
Counterpoint

If we didn't invade Iraq then what would have happened to the price of gas in this here country. That's a rhetorical question. Bush No.1 gave the 'shoe shine boy' a 2nd chance because he served as a buffer against Shiite attempts at regional hegemony. As you know Saddam blew that 2nd chance. So now who is the new buffer against Persian influence. Another rhetorical question as they are plainly evident for all to see. The question is will we abandon them.

As for Israel count me in as an ardent supporter principally because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. What you discount is Israeli intelligence capability. Mossad is the most powerful intelligence agency in the world because it is borne of necessity. It is a matter of state survival. A distant second is British MI-6. How do we know? Because MI-6 is the only foreign intelligence agency with which Mossad collaborates. The Iranians are amateur in that regard.
 
Turkey is the number 1 military power in the region in terms of

conventional warfare capability and it isn't even close. Throw in nuclear capability and things change. Israel is the sole nuclear power in the region and that is what Iran intends to change.
 
Re: Uh, depends on what you mean by powerful....

Iran is Shia and is not behind el Queda or other Sunni-based terror groups. But they are a huge source of the problems in the ME. Invading Iraq was supposed to plant democracy in the ME. We had it won but Pres zer0 pulled out all troops and allowed it to collapse. If he had maintained a democratic Iraq and helped the people of Iran overthrow the mad mullahs in 2009 when they started a revolution, the whole world would be a much better place.

A western-friendly democratic Iraq and Iran would have been huge. Assad could not have survived without Iran's help. Hezbollah and Hamas would be seriously weakened,Yemen as stable as zer0 claimed, less trouble in many places. Thanks for nuttin zer0

As to the OP, its very hard to say at this point who is the baddest dude. Turkey is very powerful as is Egypt. Iran has been weakened by sanctions and the oil price crash but has great influence in several countries. Saudis have a strong air force but small ground troops, I think. The Kurds are great fighters but very under armed. Kurds could be big winners as they could take territory from Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Turkey and have a formidable force But Turkey, which has been in a state of war with Kurdish forces for 40 yrs, would fight hard to prevent that from coming about.
 
Re: Israel. *****

Combine everyone in the middle east against Israel and Israel still cleans their clock.
 
Power is a relative term. Saudi Arabia has connections and money, but not sure how well that translates into actual power. They really are not a match militarily for many other nations in the region. Heck, the UAE probably has more money and power now, considering they are positioning themselves for financial domination rather than religious domination.

Turkey is a NATO member. Enough said. End of debate.

Any military power in the region is pretty much a result of the amount of technological know-how that they have. Tiny Israel may not have the numbers, but they have the superior air force which is critical in any war.
 
In the past I'd agree about Turkey but not so sure anymore. Before Erdogan (?sp?) their military was held in very high regard and seen as savior/ defender of the nation. Problem is they were set on keeping Attaturk's secular state. Erdogan gets elected and over the yeas he has started to arrest and replace generals who were the long term backbone of the military. He's replaced them with yes men who want an islamic state. I would bet Turkey's military is not near the level it once was.
 
What's interesting about Turkey's army - 600,000 + strong - is that they spend about 2.5% of the GNP on the military - on par with other military powers, but a much larger percentage is spent on personnel, as opposed to weaponry, intel, etc... Nevertheless, they still have a very capable military and are part of NATO. On the lists I read they are always around number 10 in the world, as they are listed here: Turkey Military Strength[/URL]. Nuclear capability is not factored in here.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT