MIDDLE EAST POLITICAL MOVEMENTS

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MIDDLE EAST POLITICAL MOVEMENTS
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1920s

• ARAB WORLD IS UNDER CONTROL OF EUROPEAN POWERS
• REGARDED AS BETRAYAL OF PROMISES
• WESTERN CULTURAL INFLUENCES SOME ARABS ADOPT
  THEM, OTHERS ARE REPELLED

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ARAB NATIONALISM
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INDEPENDENCE

• Egypts Gamal Abdel Nasser becomes most
  charismatic leader of Arab world.
• Defies West by seizing Suez Canal
• Anti-Israel
• Leader of neutral countries in Cold War-gets aid
  from USSR when US refuses it.

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ATTEMPTS AT UNITY

• Union of Syria and Egypt in 1958.
• Union of Syria and Iraq in 1957.
• Both break up because of bickering
• over power.

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BAATH MOVEMENT

• Started by three Syrian intellectuals in early
  1940s
• Michel Aflaq, right, an Orthodox Christian
• Believe in nonviolently opposing both
  colonialists and native aristocrats
• Advocates pan-Arab nationalism, socialism, is
  strictly secular

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BAATH continued

• Name means Arab Renaissance or Rebirth
• Hope is to unite all Arab states as one Arab
  nation.

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1963 BAATHISTS TAKE OVERIN SYRIA AND IRAQ

• Iraqi President Kassem assasinated
• Military coup in Syria

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ASSAD

• Hafez Assad, a military officer, eventually comes
  to power in Syria.
• Today, his son Bashar is President.
• Ruthlessly destroys any attempt at rebellion
  Hama, 1982 10-20,000 fundamentalists and
  civilians killed
• Is an Alawite Shiite in a Sunni country
• State-sponsored terrorism

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SADDAM HUSSEIN

• Member of Iraqs ruling council from 1968 on.
• Comes to full power in 1978.
• Ruthlessly suppresses any signs of rebellion,
  esp. Kurds and Shiites
• Is a Sunni Muslim in a Shiite majority country

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• WHAT HAPPENED TO BAATH MOVEMENTS PROMISE?
• IT PRODUCED DICTATORS AND ROGUE STATES
• BAATH PARTIES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA SPLIT, BECAME
  ENEMIES

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RISE OF ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISM

• ISLAM IS A POLITICAL RELIGION
• ISLAM SHOULD BE GUIDE OF STATE
• SHARIA or ISLAMIC LAW SHOULD BE THE SOURCE OF LAWS

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FIRST FUNDAMENTALIST STATE

• IRAN
• IRANIAN REVOLUTION 1979
• BRINGS CLERICS TO POWER
• US is GREAT SATAN
• USSR is not much better.
• HOWEVER, IRAN IS SHIITE - influence doesnt
  spread immediately to Sunni areas.

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SPREAD OF FUNDAMENTALISM

• Saudi Arabia sponsors Wahhabi schools and radio
  broadcasts around the world
• Pakistan adopts sharia law in 1980.
• Rise of Taliban in Afghanistan in 1995-96

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MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

• Founded in Egypt in 1928.
• Opposed to Western influences
• Stress brotherhood of Muslims
• Has spawned most Islamic terrorist organizations.
• Today, is a political party in Egypt.

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SAYYID QUTB

• Leading theorist of Islamic fundamentalism
• Born in Egypt
• Member of Muslim Brotherhood
• Earned doctorate in US
• Totally repulsed by American lifestyles
• Arrested by Egyptian authorities
• His published works are still popular

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ASSASSINATION OF SADAT

• 1982
• Muslim Brotherhood gunmen kill President Sadat of
  Egypt Why?

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AMONG THOSE ARRESTED

• Ayman al-Zawahiri, Egyptian doctor, student of
  Qutb, member of Islamic Jihad offshoot of Muslim
  Brothers
• Now second-in-command of al-Qaeda

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AL QAEDA THE NETWORK

• LOOSELY KNIT GROUP FUNDED BY BIN LADEN AND
  ZAWAHIRI
• WANTS TO RESTORE CALIPHATE
• UNITE ALL MUSLIMS PAN-ISLAMIC
• MAIN GOAL IS TO OVERTHROW ARAB GOVTS IT REGARDS
  AS CORRUPT AND AS SPONSORS OF WESTERNIZATION
• USE OF TERROR JUSTIFIED SINCE AMERICAN TROOP
  PRESENCE IN SAUDI ARABIA DEFILES HOLY GROUND
• USE WESTERN WEAPONS AGAINST WEST
• EXPLOIT VULNERABILITIES OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES

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HAMAS

• Palestinian offshoot of Muslim Brotherhood
  doesnt believe Israel has a right to exist.
• Main group carrying out suicide bombings
• Won elections last year to take over Palestinian
  Authority
• Presently in conflict with PLO

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WOULD BAATHISTS AND FUNDAMENTALISTS BE LIKELY TO
GET ALONG?