Could the USSR have stabilized the Middle East?

[abaris]

They couldn't stabilize Afghanistan because America intervened, giving Osama Bin Laden billions in aid and CIA training. As well as radicalizing the bunch. Yep, we still haven't learned anything, because to this day we keep trying to use radical Muslims to fight our enemies, and it always backfires.

Look up Afghanistan's history. When was the last time any invader landed a success there? The Brits bloodied their noses there as early as 1879, without any other foreign power intervening. It's one of the countries with the biggest keep out sign on it's doors. The other would be Russia where invasions have been equally successful.

As for the Soviet Union being able to stabilize the region - only in keeping the lid on the kettle for a while longer. The problem aren't the last few decades, it's the last 6 centuries. Most of these countries moved from Ottoman colonialism to Western colonialism to dictatorships. A look on the map shows everyone that these aren't grown nations, but made up at some colonial office at London or Paris. Straight lines for borders, keeping an abundance of different ethnicities under one roof, forced over their heads. All with their own affiliations, religions and nationalistic desires. They never wanted to live together in what is now called Iraq, Syria or Lybia.