Yeah, I think folks here are not giving them enough credit. It wasn't just some random dude drawing lines for no reason.

The purpose of a lot of what Britain was doing was to prevent unification into a new Ottoman Empire successor. They intended the internal conflict in the region.

And it worked at keeping the Middle East busy and Europe safe for the most part (if you don't count the incalculable death toll having them fighting amongst themselves has caused, and random terrorist attacks).