When was there last stability in the Middle East?

by sktrollex

I'm new here so apologies if i've overlooked some rules/this question has been asked countless before.

When was the last time there was sustained peace/stability in the Middle East? I understand there's probably been low scale conflict going back a millennia, so by this I mean:

  • A period lasting at least a generation (30 years)
  • No major empire/nation on the forseeable verge of collapse
  • No two major empires/nations involved in full scale war
  • No major famines
  • Relative prosperity (economic growth, emergence of Art, creation of new technology etc.)
  • The "Middle East" = Egypt - Asia Minor- Levant - Mesopotamia - Arabian Peninsula - Iran

Thanks, look forward to hearing your answers :)

thelasian

Considering that there was a war in Europe just not so long ago, I'm not sure what part of the planet would meet this criteria except for the poles.

But on the question of relative prosperity in the Mideast, take a look at what the UN says about Iran's development of living standards since their 1979 Islamic Revolution as measured by the UN's Human Development Index. Iran improved at twice the rate of the rest of the world, coming second only to China (since 1980) or S Korea (since 1990)

Only one country (the Republic of Korea) was able to do better.

http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2013/apr/01/un-stats-life-longer-and-healthier-iran

http://www.ir.undp.org/content/iran/en/home/countryinfo.html

http://www.ir.undp.org/content/dam/iran/img/News/March%202013/14%20March%202013-%20Global%20launch%20of%20the%202013%20Human%20Development%20Report%202013/iran-trend%20hdr2013.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.web.540.390.jpeg

In fact, since the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Iran's Human Development Index improved 67% http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/IRN.pdf

In comparison, China's HDI improved 70% http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/CHN.pdf

Turkey: 52% http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/TUR.pdf

Brazil: 40% http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/Country-Profiles/BRA.pdf