How would YOU handle the ISIS terrorist organization if you were in the Oval Office?

[Scootaloo]

88. Contrary to modern belief, the chaos in the middle east is a recent thing

And it indeed stems entirely from Sykes-Picot, the agreement that split the ottoman empire between british and French "spheres of influence."

Prior to that, the ottomans had governed a stable middle east for over four hundred years.

Prior to the ottomans was a period of instability, brought on by the Mongol invasion of the middle east under Hulegu. Baghdad was sacked, everything West to the Sinai was taken (The Mameluks of Egypt were the first army to successfully repel the Mongols - them and malaria / west Nile)

before the Mongols, the middle east was not only stable, but was also the epicenter of western civilization. Of course it had its wars and conflicts, but it was dynastic tussling and local tribal skirmishes. No mass chaos. Even the Islamic conquest of the region in the 7th century was relatively swift and painless - prior to that the biggest conflicts in the region were Romans and Persians lobbing spears at one another over a no-man's land border.

So yeah, the current situation of chaos and crumbling states is a modern thing, and can be termed a European innovation to the region.