“Where I live; where they live”

As citizens of the United States of America, our daily routines differ from those who live in the region of the Middle East.  How are we different?  Looking at our culture and environment compared to the Middle East, we live in a completely different world.

Living in the United States provides opportunities of a lifetime, which is certainly a privilege many in the international community do not share.  The United States creates these opportunities because of the diverse community among its population.  Citizens from a wide variety of ethnicities and religions live amongst each other creating a diverse community that works as one, for the most part.

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Like the United States, countries in the Middle East share a wide variety of ethnicities and religions.  Middle Eastern ethnicities include Arabs, Kurds, Jews, Armenians, etc. However, most of these groups live separately and conflicts often ensue as a result.  Religion appears to be one of the main reasons conflicts will break out in the region.  With that said, terrorist groups emerge in order to force their religious beliefs on other religious groups or ethnicities.  For example, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is attempting to create an islamic state of their own by massacring their way through cities of Iraq and Syria.

When looking at the environment in the United States compared to the Middle East, there is a huge difference in terms available resources to live off of.  The United States has the ability to create its own resources and not depend on other countries to provide these resources like some in the Middle East.  The United States has many large bodies of water, which makes it possible to grow crops and other necessities.  For example, the majority of Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, etc. receive under ten inches of rainfall.  This makes it difficult for these countries to grow crops, which forces them into relying on other countries to provide them with food and water.

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After analyzing the Middle East and seeing the differences it has with the United States, it is evident that we, as citizens of the United States, seemingly live in a completely different world than those in the Middle East.  We all, for the most part, have all the resources we could need to make a successful living and are able to live our daily lives with those who are quite different from ourselves either ethnically or religiously.

In the Middle East, it appears to be a struggle to get hands on everyday resources, depending the nation state one lives in.  Conflict flows through the region due to religion, which has created a crisis of its own.  The Middle East appears to be the complete opposite of the United States.

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