Commentary: European refugee crisis bitter fruit of Western hegemony, interventionism

The West should regard the ongoing refugee crisis as a costly and painful lesson of its hegemonistic foreign policies and interventionism in the Middle East that have not only brought wars and chaos to the region, but also boomeranged.

The tensions between the West and the Arab world has its roots both in their respective histories and in their thorny historical relations. Only through talks between the two sides as equals and through recognition of the complex historical plights of the two sides can hostility and tensions be reduced.

But this is not how the Western countries have done it. Entering the 21st century, under the leadership of the United States, Western powers, in order to secure their own safety and interests, have been meddling in regional affairs, waging wars, inciting turmoil, supporting rebels and so on.

The United States has intervened, directly or indirectly, to overthrow Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, while supporting Syrian opposition to topple Bashar Assad.

Savage wars have scourged Iraq, Syria, Yemen and other countries as terrorist attacks take place on a daily basis.

The radical militant group Islamic State (IS) that emerged from Syrian opposition has thrived in the turmoil and anarchy created by Western intervention and become one of the greatest security threats for the Middle East as well as some other parts of the world.

The IS, which has occupied large swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria, has also enslaved, raped and slaughtered many innocent civilians there. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians have died in bloody conflicts, while millions have been forced to flee their hometowns, first to neighboring Lebanon and Turkey, and then to European countries.

While the humanitarian efforts made by Germany and other EU countries are laudable, one should also bear in mind that those refugees flocking towards European shores are the direct result of the West's actions and that the West's efforts can never fully compensate the innocent Iraqi and Syrian civilians for their heart-wrenching sufferings.

Especially for the United States, it is high time to reflect upon its foreign policy as history and facts have shown that forcibly promoting its ideologies is dangerous and armed interventions can only bring about perilous outcomes.

As for other Western powers, they also should learn, in a hard and painful way, that diplomacy is better than military action and that following the United States is not always a good policy choice. Endi