Note:
(a) "Even before the guns fell silent, Britain and France agreed to carve up Ottoman lands, including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. That was key to understanding the modern Middle East said Michael Clarke, head of the Royal United Services Institute in London. 'The Arab world as we know it was established effectively in 1916 by the British and the French in the Sykes-Picot agreement'
(i) Royal United Services Institute http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_United_Services_Institute
(a British defence and security think tank)
(ii) Sykes-Picot Agreement http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sykes-Picot_Agreement