Andrew Skitt Gilmour: The CIA re-thinks the Middle East

The CIA has published a book by A.Skitt Gilmour about the re-organization of the Middle East based on its ancient history. Basically, he explores the ways of creating workable political frameworks instead the fragmented chaos of today. The interesting parts are the analysis of religion - something foreign to the secular West today - and analysis of the Greek experience. How, for example, several rural villages succeeded in unite into the State of Athens, or how  thousands of Greek pirates encamped on Troy's beach succeeded in solving their differences. The Athenians, like today’s Arabs, also faced the daunting task of forging a social compact on more than just dominant family groups.

"The Athenian solution—conceived and executed by the Athenian archon (ruler) Cleisthenes in the late sixth century BCE—was equivalent to an ambitious redistricting program that created ten new tribes, each of which drew members from the city of Athens, coastal areas, and the rural interior. Politics was no longer tied to dominant local families from one geographic region. Instead,  newly diverse tribes had to forge a common set of interests when each new tribe’s constituent members were drawn from different regions. The unifying political idea of Athenian citizenship emerged from the creation of inclusive political institutions that transcended narrow allegiances."