The Sykes-Picot Agreement must be one of the changes to the political geography of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan. Even from the bird’s-eye view of the 21st century, the effects of the Sykes-Picot Agreement were huge. In the long run, the specified agreement can be consider one of the key factors that led to the creation of ISIS and the further shrinkage of the areas of the specified countries.
A closer look at the alterations, which the Sykes-Picot Agreement triggered in Iraq, will reveal that the agreement led to the northern area of Iraq getting under the control of France, while the southern part of it appeared under the aegis of Great Britain. While the specified change allowed Britain and France to obtain the access to the Mediterranean, therefore, prompting more efficient trading relationships between the states, the lack of control over the specified territories by the Iraqi government has led to the power dissemination within the state (Tucker and Roberts 1143).
Much like the Iraqi territories, a significant part of Saudi Arabia was alienated from the state, with Britain and France seizing control over it and establishing their policies and regulations in the area in question. As far as Lebanon is concerned, its geopolitical fate is quite similar to those of Iraq and Saudi Arabia; due to the conditions listed in the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the residents of the state quickly found themselves under the control of France (Wagner 33).
Syria, in its turn, was not acquired by France entirely; though its coast went to France like most of the areas, which used to belong to Lebanon before the agreement was signed. Therefore, it can be assumed that politically, both Syria and Lebanon were controlled by France directly (Tucker and Roberts 1143).
Finally, when it comes to identifying the geopolitical effects of the Sykes-Picot Agreement on Israel and Palestine, the Balfour Declaration and the further conflict between the Arabs and the Israeli people seem to be the most obvious outcomes. In search for their national identity and home, the Jewish people came across aggression from the local dweller; thus, the conflict, which would go on for decades, was spawned.
The geopolitical changes also triggered major economic and social alterations in the regions in question. With the heads of the aforementioned states being puppeteered by the French and British governments, with a distinct influence from Russia, the countries were affected by the cultural influences from Europe, therefore, altering their traditions and shaping their culture in an attempt to acclimatize to the new environment (Tucker and Roberts 565).
In general, the effects of the aforementioned agreement on the area in question can be described as those triggering atomism. Signed in 1916 by Britain, France and Russia, the Sykes-Picot Agreement has triggered a major decrease of the territories of a range of territories in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan (Tucker and Roberts 1143).
On a sociopolitical level, the creation of ISIS as the method of reinforcing the power of the Islamic states can be viewed as the key change brought on by the Sykes-Picot Agreement (Russell 88). However, when it comes to identifying the major geopolitical changes, the reduction of the areas, which constituted the aforementioned states, must be mentioned. Moreover, the agreement spawned the tendency for the atomism in the specified area.
Works Cited
Russell, Malcolm. The Middle East and South Asia. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. Print.
Tucker, Spencer C. and Priscilla M. Roberts. Encyclopedia Of World War I: A Political, Social, And Military History. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2008. Print.
Wagner, heather L. The Division of the Middle East: The Treaty of Sèvres. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2004. Print