Which events, people, time periods are most crucial to understanding

Anything covering the fall of the ottoman empire(as well as western interaction with it), the effects of the first world war on the region and then the influence of ideology and the cold war.

British colonization of Iraq and subsequent influence on ex-colonial regimes by the British after the 8 February revolution left more scars than anything else

>>876894
Gulf and Iraq wars are also very relevant

File: The_Siege_of_Mecca.jpg (19KB, 200x304px) Image search: [Google]

19KB, 200x304px

This is a pretty good read on the origins and the immediate impact of the Grand Mosque Seizure

>>876887
Ever since the Arab Israeli war, the religious diversity of the region has been in decline. Even for non-Jews, there is more discrimination than before.