The text begins its story with the Middle East around the time of Muhammad and the creation of Islam. From then on riots, demonstrations and acts of violence were commonplace and have continued to be so ever since. Dig a little deeper and go back a little further into the history of the Middle East, and you will find that this pattern of unrest dates back a long time, as the evidence shows. To see a timeline of the Middle East's significant wars or battles, the picture is best illustrated by how long this territory of the earth has been involved in internal or national conflicts. The text briefly touches on social life before Islam when it explains how villages handled domestic disputes or punishment for crimes. According to the times, then, it was ethical to “settle the score” if an individual or family had been wronged. The punishment will be appropriate to the crime; however this meant there were substantial feuds. “An inherent weakness of the system, however, emerged when the warring parties failed to agree on what constituted an even score, and the situation escalated into a bloody feud involving entire tribes and their allies and it lasted for generations.” (McKay, 124) The implementation of Islam or the presence of the Prophet Muhammad did not change this thesis that was so ingrained in society, but it gave a completely new order to live by and aspire to adopt as an ethical foundation. . The Quran, although not specific in the political order, was and is an aid in the social order. Since long before the prophet, the Middle East has been the fertile ground for many extraordinary and epochal battles that have changed the earth and contributed to the evolution of civilizations. From the Egyptian invasion of Asia in 1479 BC to P...... middle of document ......defined as: shared group beliefs and values: beliefs, customs, practices and social behavior of a particular nation or people. With an infinite amount of different beliefs, religions, customs, traditions, opinions and perspectives, the search for global and permanent peace is outside of our reality. Peace in the Middle East is certain, but it will not be constant. And it won't fit everyone's definition or standard of peace. The recent drastic changes that the Middle East has experienced over the past 6 months have been promising. All one can hope is that the recent uprising will bring the much-needed human comfort that the people deserve, and somewhere along the way they will begin to show signs of peace. Works Cited McKay, John P., et al. A History of World Societies, 6th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.