The League of Nations mandate system was designed to guide former Ottoman territories toward independence. Instead, it became an instrument of European colonialism, arbitrarily redrawing borders and imposing foreign rule that ignored the ethnic, religious, and political realities of the Middle East. The Arabs realized they had been ‘colonized’ rather than ‘liberated.’ Western policies were met with strong resistance from local Arab nationalists who sought self-determination, leading to uprisings against French rule in Syria and British rule in Iraq and Palestine.
In French-mandate Syria and Lebanon, nationalist resistance was immediate, leading to the 1920 Franco-Syrian War and the massive 1925-1927 Syrian Revolt, which forced France to adopt a “divide and conquer” strategy, separating Lebanon and creating sectarian states to manage resistance. Simultaneously, the British mandate faced significant uprisings, including the 1920 Iraqi revolt, which necessitated a move toward indirect rule, and the persistent, intercommunal violence in Palestine culminating in the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt, a major uprising against colonial rule and increasing Zionist immigration.
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Despite using intense military force ~ such as the French bombing of Damascus and harsh British repression in Palestine ~ the mandatory powers found it increasingly difficult to sustain control, ultimately resulting in the loss of legitimacy and the eventual independence of Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon during the 1940s. The decisions made by Britain and France between 1920 and 1948 did not foster stability; rather, they acted as a catalyst for long-term political fragmentation, sectarian tension, and violent conflict that continues to shape the region’s instability today.
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The borders often slashed through existing communities, separating cohesive ethnic groups, such as the Kurds, who were left without a state, or forcing incompatible groups together. In Iraq, the British merged three distinct Ottoman provinces (Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul) with varying Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish populations, creating an artificial state prone to internal instability. France created a “Greater Lebanon” by expanding Mount Lebanon’s borders to include coastal cities with large Sunni populations, altering the demographic balance in favour of Maronite Christians.
This facilitated sectarian favoritism and fostered long-term political instability that escalated into the Lebanese Civil War. The seeds of the Israel-Palestine conflict were sown by Western imperial powers, most notably Britain, through conflicting wartime promises and colonial policies during the early 20th century. Through the Hussein-McMahon correspondence, Britain promised Arab leaders independence in exchange for revolting against the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, it simultaneously issued the 1917 Balfour Declaration, pledging support for a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, which was a land already populated by a predominantly Arab majority.
The Balfour Declaration was formally incorporated into the Mandate for Palestine, approved by the League of Nations on 24 July 1922, which finalized Britain’s administrative authority. This inclusion transformed a British policy statement into binding international law, making the establishment of a Jewish “national home” a central objective of the Mandate. The result was that the Mandate Authorities facilitated large-scale Jewish immigration into Palestine.
This immigration swelled heavily in the 1930s due to Nazi persecution. The Jewish population in Mandatory Palestine increased rapidly, rising from about 60,000 or less than 8 per cent in 1918 to over 450,000 or 30 per cent in 1939. The result was the 1936-1939 Palestinian revolt, which demanded an end to both British rule and Jewish immigration. Britain ruthlessly suppressed the Palestinian revolt. Subsequently, the Jewish population in Palestine grew even more, crossing 600,000 by 1948.
This was 10 times what it was in 1918. After World War II ended, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Palestine in 1947. It was a proposal to terminate the British Mandate and divide the territory into independent Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem as an international entity. The Arab states rejected the plan, arguing it violated the principle of self-determination and the UN Charter. The plan was never implemented. After failing to reconcile the growing demographic and nationalistic tensions, Britain withdrew in 1948 and handed the problem to the United Nations. Civil war broke out, leading to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
By the 1949 armistice, Israel controlled about 78 per cent of the territory. Thus, between the World Wars (1918-1939), Western policy ~ led primarily by Britain and France ~ focused on dominating the Middle East through the League of Nations Mandate system, replacing the Ottoman Empire. The primary objective was securing oil fields, particularly in Iraq and Iran, and controlling the Suez Canal as a lifeline to British India. While Britain and France were dominant, the United States began taking an increased interest, particularly in oil concessions in Saudi Arabia toward the 1930s.
The Cold War transformed the Middle East into a primary theatre for proxy battles, as the US and USSR competed for influence, oil resources, and strategic alliances. By supplying arms and aid, superpowers intensified local rivalries, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict and regional power struggles. It created an “Arab Cold War” that polarized the region, pitting socialist nationalist regimes (often aligned with Moscow) against conservative monarchies backed by Washington, which disrupted domestic politics and fuelled regional conflict. The region was split between secular, pan-Arab nationalists (e.g., Egypt under Nasser) and traditional monarchies (e.g., Saudi Arabia).
During the Cold War, Western policy focused on containing Soviet expansionism, securing vital oil resources, and maintaining regional stability, often by backing conservative regimes and bolstering Israel. This strategy involved creating alliances like the Baghdad Pact, providing military aid, and applying the Eisenhower Doctrine to prevent socialist revolutions. The West frequently intervened to protect its interests, treating the region as a critical geopolitical chessboard in its systemic battle against communist influence. The U.S. launched the Eisenhower Doctrine in 1957, promising economic and military aid to resist communist aggression, while seeking to prevent the Soviet Union from gaining access to Mediterranean ports or Middle Eastern oil.
Maintaining access to oil was crucial for the Western bloc’s economic stability. The U.S. emerged as Israel’s primary strategic partner, while maintaining key relationships with oil-rich nations like Saudi Arabia and traditionally pro-Western governments. Both superpowers, particularly after 1955, sought to expand their influence, frequently taking opposing sides in regional conflicts to maximize their influence over Arab nationalist regimes. They sought to secure access to oil and strategic territory (e.g., Suez Canal), resulting in heavy military investment.
Following years of US-Soviet competition, the 1979 Revolution in Iran established a third way ~ Islamism ~ that challenged both US-backed secularism and Soviet communism. Following the Cold War, Western policy, led by the U.S., shifted toward active interventionism to secure regional stability, oil supplies, and non-proliferation, often pursuing democracy promotion and backing Israel while navigating security partnerships. This era saw a transition from fighting Soviet influence to managing terrorism and regional threats, evolving from interventionist initiatives in Iraq to a more cautious, war-weary withdrawal in recent years.
The U.S. adopted a proactive approach, including the Gulf War to push back against Iraqi aggression, and later the 2003 invasion of Iraq, aiming to reshape the region. A major priority was ensuring the free flow of oil, protecting key partners like Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states, and fostering peace initiatives like the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty. Post-9/11 policies, such as the War on Terror, intensified focus on counter-terrorism and preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, particularly targeting Iran. In conclusion, the consequences of the mandate system are still acutely visible in 21st-century Middle Eastern politics.
The arbitrary borders and artificial states created in 1920 are directly linked to the chaos and quagmire of contemporary Syria and Iraq. The rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014 was partially framed as a reversal of the “Sykes-Picot conspiracy,” aimed at breaking the borders drawn by European powers a century ago. The League of Nations mandate system failed its stated goal of preparing territories for self-determination. Instead, it imposed arbitrary borders, broken promises, and sectarian manipulation that fractured the region. The resulting instability has not been resolved; it has only evolved, with the modern Middle East still dealing with the unresolved trauma of its colonial-era creation.
(The writer, a retired IFS officer, served as India’s Ambassador to Kuwait and Morocco and as Consul-General in New York)
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