There has been no shortage of cases of territorial disputes in the history of the world, and the recent Palestinian-Israeli conflict has caused even more uproar, and the mainland and Japan have also abandoned a lot of verbs with each other over the issue of the ownership of the Diaoyu Islands. But what is it that Saudi Arabia and Egypt have humbled each other for 66 years over a piece of territory, and no one wants it?
Tiran Island
Similar to the location of Suyan Reef between the mainland and South Korea, there is also a beautiful island between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Logically, countries will compete for the ownership of the islands, mostly not because of the gold mines on the small islands, but because the islands are owned, and the territorial waters around the islands will also belong to the country.
There may be untapped oil and gas resources in territorial waters, and there will be new areas for fishermen to operate in the country, which is the best of both worlds.
Tiran Island is also different from the bare island, the island scenery is infinitely good, due to its good geographical location, located in the Red Sea, the climate is also more pleasant, although the area is not too large, equivalent to about two Shanghai cities. One of the neighbors is Egypt and the other is Saudi Arabia, and in addition to being rich in oil, the second most abundant place is of course the rich.
The scenery of Tiran Island is good, so it can also attract tourists from many countries to visit and play every year, the surrounding sea, sunshine, because of the good water quality, the underwater scenery is also very beautiful, there are many nature documentary shooting groups have come here to shoot and introduce.
In addition, there are also companies that have developed surfing, diving and other marine activities here, and in the company of professionals, visitors can safely dive into the water and interact with a variety of small fish with beautiful textures, and can also see huge coral reefs and feel the magic of nature, and tourism income alone can make a small business a lot of money.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt may not look down on this small island because they are not short of money, but it doesn't make sense in a political sense. Tiran is not just a beautiful island, as you can clearly see from aerial charts, Tiran Island is next to the Red Sea, and to the north is the only outlet for Jordan and Palestine: the Gulf of Aqaba. This meant that Tiran became a key fortress in the Gulf of Aqaba.
Once the warships sail here, it means that they can go straight to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and even Jordan and Palestine, and the area obviously cannot fall into the hands of foreign enemies, otherwise everyone will be mired in war.
The leaders of various countries are not fools, the economic significance is significant, the military significance is even more prominent, Saudi Arabia and Egypt have not dared to touch it for more than 60 years, presumably there is a greater information vein.
A tug-of-war in the Middle East
After a long period of chaos in the Middle East, Egypt finally declared its independence in 1922. But Britain has followed the example of the United States and tried to fire artillery all over the world to disrupt the peaceful life of other countries for its own benefit, and the Middle East is obviously a powder keg of contradictions.
Of course, Britain also understood the value of Tiran Island, and secretly controlled the ownership of Tiran Island, sowing the disaster for discord in the Middle East.
Shortly after Egypt's independence, the situation in the Middle East briefly calmed down, and the Saudis successfully unified the Arabian Peninsula, and the two sides seemed to be in a situation of confrontation, and the question of who would manage the gateway out of the Gulf of Aqaba gradually became the focus of attention.
Britain, which has been sitting on the sidelines and watching the tiger fight, knows that its opportunity has come. Although most of the British troops gradually withdrew from the Middle East, there were still British troops on the island of Tiran.
Britain, as an outsider, certainly does not want to be treated as enemies by Saudi Arabia and Egypt in order to grab a small island, and Britain has cleverly shifted the contradictions between the two countries, and the contradictions that have been precipitating in the Middle East have been detonated again.
Britain understood that Egypt was the most qualified to fight for Tiran in terms of historical belonging. But it did the opposite, giving the island of Tiran to Egypt and quietly withdrawing on its own, waiting for the situation to change.
As expected, a conflict began between Egypt and Saudi Arabia over the island of Tiran. This is also the usual routine of the Western powers, which has caused many countries to suffer greatly. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have shown a different fate, and the island of Tiran has made the two countries feel bitter, like a stinger stuck in the Middle East.
But we know that destiny is unusual, and after a long time, no one will know what will happen here. The return of the Jews to the state in 1948 made the situation in the Middle East unpredictable again.
Jews have always had a tradition of having a home and no country, and although they are ethnically scattered around the world, their descendants are closely connected in their hearts and minds by virtue of their devout Jewish faith. But Hitler's ethnic cleansing program in World War II brought the Jews almost extinction, bringing them great national trauma.
After learning the hard way, life under the fence was unstable, and the Jews returned to the Middle East and established their own nation-state, which is now Israel.
Most countries in the Middle East have their own beliefs, with Islam as the main religion. The complexity of the Middle East is also due to the conflict of religious beliefs, and now Israel has stepped in and established a state with Judaism as its national religion, which is of course as unreasonable as one day a rebellious person will enter the court and become an official in the eyes of other neighboring countries.
Therefore, Israel has invested heavily in winning the recognition of Middle Eastern countries, fought countless wars, and established its own position. As everyone knows, Israel has always received assistance from the United States in the Middle East war, and it is good to enjoy the shade with its back against a big tree.
But for Tiran, the situation suddenly changed. With Israel rooted in the Middle East, Tiran Island has become a place that Israel must fight for.
On the map, if Israel wants to go to sea, Tiran Island is the only and only sea route. Of course, Saudi Arabia and Egypt cannot compete with the big tree behind them.
The two countries were still fighting for Thiem Island, but looking at Israel's eyes, who would dare to speak, but the two countries were unwilling to give up their rights and interests on the island.
So in the 50s of the last century, Saudi Arabia appeared humble and issued a statement claiming that Tiran Island was part of Egypt in history, so Saudi Arabia would take the initiative to return the ownership of Tiran Island in Egypt. Secretly, he still retains the interest of investing in the development of Tiran Island.
Egyptians are not fools, at a time when Israel is making a big splash in the Middle East and making a name for itself, Saudi Arabia's move is undoubtedly a gesture of goodwill to Israel, and the hot potato of ownership is thrown to Egypt, Israel's spearhead is aimed at Egypt, and Saudi Arabia will become a vested interest.
Egypt is not easy to mess with, the official statement says that Britain has already given Tiran Island to Saudi Arabia, and we will not force it back. Both countries have put on a gesture of humility.
Unknown spectators may see this scene and think that the world is so peaceful. But behind the non-contention of interests, there is obviously a more vital interest, and for Saudi Arabia and Egypt, it is the threat of the United States and Israel.
After all, both countries have legitimate reasons to clear themselves, and Israel can't ask anyone to get results, which makes Israel very annoyed, since Saudi Arabia returned the island to Egypt, then take Egypt to open up, Egypt "kicking the ball" obviously did not kick out.
The fate of Tiran Island
Of course, the loss of checks and balances in the Middle East is not what the United States wants to see, so it mediated, and the boss behind it came forward, and Israel also stopped, and Egypt and Israel signed the "Camp David Agreement", although they did not get the ownership of Tiran Island, but Egypt could not control Israel's right to go to sea, and the contradictions between the two countries finally came to fruition.
Saudi Arabia, which is developing silently, has other thoughts, and the country of the well-known oil kings is not lacking in money. The issue of Tiran Island, which was finally shelved, has been raised by Saudi Arabia.
After all, Tiran Island controls the access to the sea, and the sea transportation of oil trade also accounts for a large proportion, and if you can occupy Tiran Island, the money you can make will naturally double. Around 2016, Saudi Arabia began to tentatively discuss the issue of Tiran Island with Egypt, after all, Tiran Island has caused a lot of unpleasantness between the two countries in history, and even caused Egypt to suffer from years of war.
But Egypt, which has experienced so much right and wrong, has long been downplayed by the question of the ownership of Tiran Island, and Saudi Arabia has put forward lucrative conditions, hoping to cooperate with it, and it is not a loss-making business.
Moreover, Tiran Island is, after all, a thorn in the line between Egypt and Israel, and because of its importance to Israel, Egypt is also worried about whether the other side will give up.
Now Saudi Arabia has taken the initiative to propose cooperation, but it has weakened the current international pressure on Tiran Island, which is also a good thing for Egypt, so the two countries have begun to promote the development and cooperation projects of Tiem Island.
The rich Middle East tycoons made a generous move, and in the first round of cooperation, they threw more than $20 billion on Egypt's head, and Egypt's economy mainly depends on tourism, so no matter how rich it is, it is not the same order of magnitude as Saudi Arabia.
The favorable conditions offered by Saudi Arabia have won the hearts of Egypt, and the cooperation between the two countries on Thiem Island is also proceeding smoothly. Saudi Arabia also tested the attitude of the United States in 2016, and the reason why it dared to throw an olive branch to Egypt was also because it determined that the United States had no intention of intervening, so the 66-year-long issue of the ownership of the island finally came to a short end.
It can be seen that it is most appropriate for the people of the region to solve regional problems, and countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, which are afraid that the world will not be chaotic, had better stop disturbing the internal affairs of other countries, and the world could have returned to clarity, and everyone has a desire for peace in their hearts, and there are measures to achieve peace, and as long as there is no other malicious force intruding, I believe that tomorrow will also be a good day.
epilogue
Although the two countries have gone through a dramatic process from competition to humility, it is gratifying to congratulate the two countries on their cooperation in the end, regardless of their previous grievances, and have achieved a win-win result.