The concept of centralizing governmental power. In this process, large amounts of land and people come under the control of a si
ngle government. What might be the advantages to a society that centralizes its government (such as the Sui Dynasty in China) compared to a decentralized system (such as Ancient Greece)?
The advantages of a centralized government impliy the following. After the industrial revolution, the growth of economics worldwide has been lead by large companies that need centralization to be effective. But in ancient times like the dynasties in China, a central government unified people in order to have a better control of the society. A strong central authority made possible a much better internal operation of rules. However, centralization has disadvantages like despotism, autocracy and deaf ears to peoples opinions and demands. In decentralized systems like the Greeks of ancient times, The Assembly had monthly meetings in Athens to discuss the the problems of the city. The meetings were open to the public in a demonstration of civility and the right of hearing to anyone. Nowadays we find decentralized governments like the U.S. or centralized ones like Cuba.
The United States has mainly had two consistent policies in the Middle-East from the 1980s to the present:
Supporting Israel: Israel is America's main ally in the region, and both Democrats and Republicans support Israel. The U.S. provides military contributions to that country, which is often in conflict with its neighbors. These contributions are crucial for Israel continuos military victories.
Supporting Saudi Arabia instead of Iran: since the founding of the Islamic Iranian Republic, The United States has been a enemy of Iran and viceversa, and Iran is at the same time a geopolitical enemy of Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and Iran are in fact, often at war in other countries (proxy wars), and the U.S. always supports the former.
