Middle East Factions

Factionalism in the Middle East is a very ancient phenomenon. Conflicts between different religious, political, and ethnic groups has been going on in that region since antiquity. Resolving the problems is important for peace in the modern world.
I have spent time in the Middle East. While I was in the Air Force, I did a one year tour of duty in Turkey. That was from July of 1981 to July of 1982.
My second stay in the Middle East was as a civilian; it was many years later. I worked as an English teacher at the Manarat School in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That was in the late part of 1999 and the very early part of 2000.
I have studied several Middle Eastern languages, including Turkish and Arabic. I took Arabic at the University of Florida at Gainesville in 1977. I also studied Arabic at the University of Texas at Austin, which was in 1989 and 1990.