Sure, maybe it played a part, but to say that overgrazing that started 50 years prior was the “root cause” turns quite the blind eye to the Arab Spring: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring
Which was created by the us pivoting away from food aid towards bio fuels. But the arab spring is the end result, the outcome. Mismanaged resources are at the core, the root cause. Im not interested in the flash symptoms of a crisis.
The interesting part is the little rock that starts the avalanche and how we can prevent such cascades in the future..