A map of Iraq and Syria showing flags of warring sides

A century has passed since the Sykes-Picot Agreement was struck. The geopolitical madness in the Middle East indicates that the region is heading toward more fragmentation. 

The 100-year-old plan to control the Arab world is still at work to divide what has already been divided.

The borders drawn by French and British diplomats Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot on the map of the crumbling Ottoman Empire in the midst of the first World War seem no longer sustainable.

The Allied Forces, namely France and Britain, took the peoples of the Arab world as spoils of war after defeating the Germans and Ottomans in the Great War. They carved the land into states and divided them among themselves. The French took Lebanon and Syria. The British took Iraq and Palestine.

May 16, the 100th anniversary of Sykes-Picot, coincided with developments that symbolically highlighted the agreement’s aim in the context of partitioning Arab countries.

In Syria, peacemaking faltered as representatives of the warring sides and their foreign backers failed to agree on a new round of talks.

In Iraq, sectarian bloodshed is returning, with news of terror attack becoming daily headlines.

It appears that fragmentation in Syria and Iraq have become a reality, after the implications of the “Arab Spring” and the rise of ISIS.

Kurds have declared federalism in northern Syria and gained autonomy in northern Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion.

Meanwhile, Israel has declared that the Syrian Golan Heights is an eternal part of Israel, against basic principles of international law.

Turkey, which seems to have fantasies about resurrecting the Ottoman Empire, continues its incursion on Arab land as if to avenge its losses to Sykes-Picot.

Terror and sectarian violence are transcending all borders.

In Syria, the unfruitful peace talks are not showing signs of a solution.

U.N. Envoy Staffan de Mistura was clear in his pessimism when he said the negotiations are awaiting tangible results.

Far from ending the war, the talks are now aiming to re-implement the truce before the holy month of Ramadan begins on June 5. Previous cessation of hostilities fell apart because of the stubbornness of the fighting sides and their foreign patrons.

Whether the efforts to reach a new truce succeed or fail, it appears that a unified Syrian state is a thing of the past.

Many regional players are benefiting from implanting new borders within Syria. Syrian Kurds want self-rule, which would allow them to consolidate their territories with Iraqi Kurdistan. Israel wants to annex the Golan Heights and end Syria’s requests to end the occupation. Islamist extremists want to create their own mini-states to enforce their un-Islamic way and create safe havens for global terror.

In Iraq, divisions are unfolding as well. U.N. membership is all that separates the autonomous Kurdistan region from independence. Sunnis and Shi’a are in a bitter sectarian conflict that is derailing the central government. ISIS still controls Mosul, the country’s second largest city.

Masrour Barzani, chancellor of the Kurdistan region, said on the 100th anniversary of Sykes-Picot that Kurds will no longer allow others to determine their future. He slammed the agreement, saying it supported the aspirations of superpowers, not the people.

“One hundred years of failure [and] bloodshed is enough reason to try a new path. For Kurdistan it’s time to undo the injustice,” Barzani tweeted.

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advocates making the Golan Heights a part of Israel’s internationally recognized border, Israeli diplomat Dore Gold said the “Arab Spring” and “Islamist Winter” have created new realities for Israel and the region.

Perhaps he put it best when talking about world powers interfering in Syrian affairs.

“This raises, in my view, the image of some secret meeting in the basement of one of the chancelleries of Europe, where a 21st century Sykes and Picot are sitting with maps and cartographers and trying to reconfigure the borders of the Middle East,” Gold said. “You have to put down your flag.”