Deja Vu in the Middle East

It's deja vu in the Middle East...November 19, 2013, two suicide bomb blasts have killed 23 and wounded 146 near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. These two blasts reportedly carried out by extremists on a motorcycle and in a car have become part of a pattern of attacks around Beirut that all seem to read like the 1980s all over again. The blasts, carried out in a largely Shiite Muslim enclave and a stronghold of Hezbollah in Beirut, appear to be related to Hezbollah's direct participation and support of the Syrian regime in the current Syrian conflict. Both Hezbollah and the Syrian regime are closely tied to the Shiite Iranian government. Some analysts are blaming extremists Sunni Muslims for the blasts while some have hinted at an Israeli connection.

Whatever the sources, these two blasts indicate that the Middle East is politically and security-wise unstable. And if the past is any indication of what the future holds, things will get a lot worse before the situation stabilizes.

On August 15, 2013, a bomb blast in another Hezbollah stronghold of Beirut killed 27 people and injured 300.

On July 9, 2013, another bomb - with the appearance of an original trial run, exploded in the said area of the August 15th event and wounded 50. Do you see the pattern? Do you remember Beirut of the 1980s?

The Syrian conflict, the Iranian accord, the Egyptian question, the Palestinian quest and the Israeli concern are matters that again weigh heavily on World security stability as we approach 2014.