Final answer:
The European partitioning of the Middle East after World War I, particularly through the Sykes-Picot Agreement and Balfour Declaration, led to conflict by creating arbitrary boundaries that ignored ethnic realities and by making contradictory promises to Arab and Jewish populations.
Step-by-step explanation:
After World War I, the colonial practices of European powers like Britain and France directly led to conflicts in the Middle East that persisted into the following century. The Sykes-Picot Agreement and the British government's issuance of the Balfour Declaration exemplify the conflicting promises made to Arabs and Jews in the region. While the Balfour Declaration supported the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, the Sykes-Picot Agreement divided the region without regard to ethnic or religious factors, with different areas falling under British and French control. The British promises of supporting Arab nationalism contradicted their commitment to the Jewish homeland, leading to tensions between Arabs, Jews, and the controlling European powers.
The aftermath of the division, conceived without consulting the local populations, ignored the self-determination desires of these populations, which President Wilson had emphasized in his Fourteen Points. Nations were created with little consideration for ethnic realities, leading to an enduring sense of betrayal among both Arabs and Jews. This contentious division of the Middle East set the stage for prolonged strife regarding national boundaries, sovereignty, and control over vital resources such as oil.