The problems in the Middle East are not new. The causes continue to be rooted in outside influences and interventions that have as their primary goal self-aggrantizement. Maybe the peoples of the area will now do violently for themselves what Lawrence tried to do peacefully almost 100 years ago.
This link leads to a < 5 minute explanation–with implications for all of us today.
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/24652-bill-moyers-essay-what-we-can-learn-from-lawrence-of-arabia