On September 23 2014, the United States launched air strike attacks on the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq with a large support of European and Arab countries. The unanimously formed coalition turned out to be bigger than the threat itself, and the rush after military attacks targeting IS militants rather than the Islamic State as en entity, raised future fears of a world acceptance of this state but with different governance.

Back in 2012, the United States openly armed the Syrian rebels with anti-tank missiles, mortars, medium range weapons as well as large quantity of ammunition. Those specifically provided weapons guaranteed long and slow hostilities between the rebels and the Syrian army.

A miscalculated action of the United States whereas some of its Syrian “freedom fighters” loaded the arsenal and crossed the border to join forces with other Sunni extremists in battering a weaker Iraqi army. Why would they keep fighting the Syrian Army along with Al-Nusra, the rebels and other factions when they’re capable of achieving their own agenda?

But this is another story and the status-quo in the greater Middle East might drastically change with a series of unfortunate events.

In Syria, Bachar Al Assad’s government was officially informed about the strikes, but is skeptical about getting hit by this coalition under the pretext of fighting ISIS.  His army “along with Hezbollah” is looking to gain territories lost by ISIS. But at the same time, the US and France keeps on arming the rebels as they prefer to see Syrian rebels take over rather than Bachar’s forces.

In Iraq, the newly formed Shiaa government is backed by both the US and Iran with the sole mission of fighting ISIS but accepting a long term plan to divide Iraq into three countries (Iraq, Islamic State and Kurdistan)

In Kurdistan, the Peshmergas received weaponry and training to keep ISIS away from their borders, Kurds from Syria and Iraq fled to the land of their ancestors asking for permanent residency, a first step before proclaiming the independence of this autonomous state.

In Lebanon, the uncontrollable exodus of millions of Syrians turned out to be catastrophic for the economy, national security and overall Lebanese social life. Add to that, Al-Nusra and ISIS attacks on the Lebanese Army in Arsal pushed authorities to fight back the militants to the arid mountains separating Syria with Lebanon. With winter in sight, these militants will either launch a heavy assault on Arsal or will retreat back to Syrian territory. Still without a president, Lebanon’s weak political body and religious interferences might jeopardize the country’s core identity.

In Iran, the foreign policy was completely changed with president Rouhani, he showed more cooperation regarding Iran’s nuclear program, opened talks with many western countries while maintaining a solid alliance with Russia and Syria.

In the Gaza strip, many homeless Palestinians moved to Jordan or Egypt instead of rebuilding their houses, fearing another wave of battles between Hamas and Israel. The overall population in Gaza is expected to decrease by 10% within the next two years, as per Israel’s long-term plan to depopulate the strip of Palestinians. In Israel, every war waged with the Palestinians increases the size of the Jewish state; lately Israel confiscated 1,000 acres of privately owned Palestinian lands without any condemnation or action from world countries.

In Turkey, the far-reaching strategy is being implemented with the newly elected Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu; although he comes from the same party as his predecessor Erdogan, he tends to build solid relationship with Cyprus (to unite the island?) and to stop direct involvement in the Syrian conflict and the flow of weapons and fighters from Turkey, but could be the first nation to send ground troops.

History books taught us that dinosaurs were extinct million of years ago, that religions were imposed on humans, we read about the rise and fall of empires, we’ve studied the spread of diseases and the causes of two world wars, we’ve read about brutal leaders and their achievements; nowadays we are watching the birth of new countries, the collapse of others, we are witnessing the end of an ethnic group, the outbreak of a deadly plague, and we passed close to the independence of a country that could have ended a monarchy, we are the actors, watchers and victims of an era that will be written in history.

Yes, the world is changing and we’re in it.