What is the importance of studying world history?

One of the most important reasons for studying history is that the events in past history can often explain today's events. As one example, the Middle East problems of today can be historically traced to the 1956 war that France, England and Israel had with Egypt. In today's world, the resentment of many Arab nations towards the West is based on the example given along with many other western policies that adversely affected certain Arab nations.