Most international borders in the Middle East and North Africa were drawn by imperial powers – Britain, France, and Italy – either after World War I and the breakup of the Ottoman Empire (the Sykes-Picot agreements), or, as in Libya and Sudan, earlier. But in no case did these borders correspond with local popular will, or with ethnic or historical boundaries.
观察该地区当前和未来变局，还有一个更基本的维度亦需考虑。中东北非各国的疆界，大多是由帝国主义强权如英、法、意划定的，要么是在一战后在分崩离析的奥斯曼帝国疆土上划出（赛克斯—皮科协定），要么更早一些，如利比亚和苏丹。但这些国境线丝毫不符合当地人的愿望，也不与民族或历史疆界重合。