I've never been much into politics or history, and I often have trouble understanding these global situations, much less discussing them. But I found a study (by one of my go-to pastors for Bible study) that, even though it's from the eighties, helped me understand without the usual bias towards Palestine and in a simple manner, as well. It's towards the middle, but I recommend watching the full thing - Jeremiah is a lovely book and I'm learning much from it.

Hopefully, this can help others! If you've done your research, this should be no news to you, but to the academically troubled like me, I think it can be worthwhile.

http://mmedia.joncourson.com/jeremiah/W419.mp4