Conflicts in the Middle-East. Who are the actors? What are their relations? A fuzzy LOGICal analysis for IL-LOGICal Conflicts

Will mathematics be useful in overcoming the crisis in the Middle-East Area? The classical decisions methods are based only on numbers and do not include qualitative aspects which can add important and significant meanings to the subject. Furthermore, Mathematics is often reviled and considered unpleasant or difficult to be comprehended and so social researchers prefer to have nothing to do with it. The recent development of Fuzzy Logic has opened the possibility of new applications in situations in which both numbers and adjectives are important and have to be treated, simultaneously and on an equal standing; a mathematical theory where the traditional concept of true or false can be enriched by true and false. A Fuzzy Cognitive Map of the conflicts in the Middle-East has been realized and has been used to evaluate the failure of diplomatic and political efforts with the consequent onset of war and conflict. The paper is the result of the uncommon but joint effort between mathematicians, social researchers, sociologists and information experts.