THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• AN OVERVIEW OF THE MIDDLE EAST

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The Middle East is a region of immense global
  importance
• Regarded as the cradle of civilization
• Worlds richest oil reserves
• Birthplace of 3 of the worlds most important
  religions
• Christianity
• Islam
• Judaism

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The Middle East is torn by conflict and warfare
• Reasons
• Historical animosity
• Disputes over land and water
• Control over oil reserves
• Ethnic and religious differences
• Foreign intervention
• Disparities in wealth

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Clearly the Middle East is a complex, diverse,
  and important region of the world
• This lesson will provide an overview to the
  regions
• Geography
• Resources
• Religions
• History

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Geography and Resources
• The term Middle East was coined in 1902 by a US
  Naval officer who thought Europe to be the center
  of the world
• There is no universal definition of what
  countries are included in the Middle East but our
  purposes
• North Africa
• The Arabian Peninsula
• The Eastern Mediterranean
• Iran

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Geography and Resources
• The area of North Africa includes
• Morocco
• Algeria
• Tunisia
• Libya
• Egypt

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Geography and Resources
• The Arabian Peninsula includes
• Saudi Arabia
• Bahrain
• Qatar
• United Arab
• Emirates
• Oman
• Yemen

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Geography and Resources
• The Eastern Med area includes
• Turkey
• Syria
• Lebanon
• Israel
• The West bank
• and Gaza Strip
• Jordan
• Iraq

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Geography and Resources
• Several rivers run through the Middle East
• Nile
• Tigris
• Euphrates
• However, much of the area is extremely dry
• The Sahara Desert covers much of North Africa
• Therefore, water is a valuable source and worth
  fighting over

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Geography and Resources
• Though poor in water resources, the area is rich
  with oil
• 70 of the worlds oil reserves
• Not every country in the ME is rich
• Countries with oil are not necessarily wealthy
• Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia have
  little or no oil at all
• Oil rich countries have unevenly distributed
  wealth and have wide spread poverty

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Religion
• Three of the worlds most important religions are
• Christianity
• Islam
• Judaism
• All founded in the Middle East
• All very different

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Religion
• Judaism God will send a Savior to redeem
  humankind
• Christianity Jesus is the Savior that Judaism
  still awaits
• Islam Jewish and Christian prophets were
  divinely inspired Jesus was great prophet, but
  not a Savior and Muhammad was the last and
  greatest prophet

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Religion
• MUSLIMS and ARABS are not the same thing
• Muslims follow Islam, the religion founded in the
  7th century A.D. by Muhammad
• Arabs are an ethnic group subdivided into many
  different tribes, clans, and families

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Religion
• While all Arab states profess Islam as their
  primary religion, not all Arabs are Muslims
• Several Arab countries, such as Lebanon, Egypt,
  and Jordan, have significant Arab Christian
  minorities
• And, not all states with a large Islamic
  population are Arab, or even located in the
  Middle East

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• Religion
• Even though Islam is truly a global religion
• The majority of Muslims in the world live
  outside the Middle East
• However, Islam remains a strong force within the
  region

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• History
• Christians, Jew, and Muslims all regard the
  Middle East as the birthplace of their religions
• Much of the Middle Easts history revolves around
  the expansion of Islam as the predominant
  religion in the region

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• History
• Islam
• Founded by Muhammad in 610 A.D. in Mecca
• Muhammad claimed he received revelations from
  Allah via the angel Gabriel
• After Muhammad died
• Conflict developed over who would succeed him as
  Caliph
• A united Islam disappeared sects were formed

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• History
• Islam
• Most significant split came in 661
• Led to the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• History
• Islam
• Shias believed only descendants of Ali, the 4th
  caliph and brother-in-law of Muhammad, should be
  caliph
• Sunnis believed Muhammad intended for the Muslim
  community to choose a caliph by consensus

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• History
• Islam
• Despite the split, the Arab Empire remained
  powerful
• By the 18th century, the Arab Empire ruled
  northern Africa
• Islamic armies went north to Spain and eastward
  through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and even the
  borders of China

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• History
• Islam
• Eventually, the Arab Empire went into decline
• Internally
• Succession struggles
• Worldly pleasures
• Policy debates
• Religious disagreements
• All eroded the strength of the empire

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• History
• Islam
• Externally
• Christian Crusaders began probing the Middle East
  in the 11th Century
• In 1099 they launched an assault capturing
  Jerusalem
• The city is sacred to all three religions

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• History
• Islam
• Externally
• Christians held the city until 1187
• Saladin recaptured it for Islam and the Arabs

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• History
• Islam
• Externally
• By 1231 the Mongols descended on the Middle East
• By the end of the 14th century Iraq, Persia, and
  Syria were ravaged
• The Arab Empire never fully recovered

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• Post WWI
• Arabs wanted one giant state
• European colonial powers did not
• The League of Nations
• The League of Nations was an international
  organization founded as a result of the Paris
  Peace Conference in 1919-1920. The League's goals
  included disarmament, preventing war through
  collective security, settling disputes between
  countries through negotiation diplomacy and
  improving global welfare.

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• The League of Nations
• Gave Palestine and Iraq to Great Britain
• Gave Syria to France
• Egypt moved toward a quasi-independence
• Wahhabi Muslims (the primary religious movement
  behind extremist Islam) established their own
  state in Saudi Arabia

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• By early 20th century, Wahhabis under Ibn Saud
  extended their control to much of the Arabian
  Peninsula
• Ibn Saud consolidated his control in Arabia
  except for Yemen, Oman, the Persian gulf coastal
  emirates, and Kuwait

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The Arabian Peninsula
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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• Saud realm was poor
• The Saud familys major revenue sources were from
  Muslim pilgrims to Mecca and a small annual
  subsidy from Great Britain

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• In 1932 oil was discovered in Bahrain
• Ibn Saud had reservations about allowing
  Westerners into his kingdom to explore for oil
• He finally agreed to allow Standard Oil of
  California to drill for oil in his country

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• Oil wealth poured in
• Both to the Saud Kingdom and other fortunate
  states on the Arabian peninsula

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• With this new source of wealth
• Many traditionalist regimes adopted new views
  about how Islamic societies should be shaped
• Ibn Saud thought the oil should be used to
  improve living conditions and the quality of life
  for his country

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• Radical Muslims called on Muslims everywhere to
  return to traditional Islamic institutions and
  teachings
• To reject all western or non-Islamic teachings

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• For radical Muslims
• Violence against those who were not true
  believers in Allah was acceptable and necessary
• Large, radical Islamic movements developed in
  Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Sudan, and Tunisia

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The development of Current Political and Social
  Forces
• Radical Muslims
• Oppose both non-Islamic societies and governments
• Islamic governments they define as outside the
  realm of true Islam

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THE MIDDLE EAST IN TRANSITION

• The Middle East contains a complex mix of
  outlooks, attitude, and cultures
• Muslims, Christians, Jews, Arabs, and Non-Arabs
• All contribute to the regions diversity
• The Middle East is also impacted by external
  influences and interests
• It is a complex region where history, religion,
  oil, and water all set the stage for conflict