The main problem, which caused permanent conflicts in the Middle East was the lack of effective self-government institutions in the region because of constant external intervention by the US and Europe, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals, Jeffrey Sachs wrote.

�The region�s political institutions have been crippled as a result of repeated US and European intervention dating back to World War I, and in some places even earlier,� Sachs wrote in his article for Project Syndicate.

The analyst further noted that after World War II, the US picked up the �interventionist mantle,� following a CIA-backed military coup in Syria in 1949 with another CIA operation to tumble Iran�s Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 (to keep the West in control of the country�s oil).

�The same behavior has continued up to the present day: the overthrow of Libya�s Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011, the toppling of Egypt�s Mohamed Morsi in 2013, and the ongoing war against Syria�s Bashar al-Assad. For almost seven decades, the US and its allies have repeatedly intervened (or supported internally-led coups) to oust governments that were not sufficiently under their thumb,� Sachs wrote.

In order for Washington to fix the chaos it has brought to the Middle East, it must stop intervening blatantly and illegally.
According to the Special Adviser, the basis of the �new Middle East� should be based on five basic principles.

�First, and most importantly, the United States should stop secret CIA operations to overthrow or destabilize governments anywhere in the world,� he wrote.

In addition, the Sachs believes that the US should achieve its foreign policy objectives, through legitimate bodies, such as the UN Security Council.
�When Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Council, opposed the US-backed overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the US would have been wise to abstain from covert operations to topple him. And now, the entire Security Council would coalesce around a global (but not a US) plan to fight the Islamic State,� stressed the analyst.

Sachs pointed out that it is extremely important to realize that democracy logically brings a lot of Islamist victories in the Middle East. In addition, important pillars of the �new Middle East� should be a high-quality education and care of the environmental situation in the region.

By Sputnik