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The Middle East is among the most war-torn and politically unstable regions in the world. While this is unfortunate, it provides an interesting area to study through the lens of globalization and international relations. Globalization here is taken to mean the development of interconnected cultural, economic and political systems across the world. The western and westernized nations are consistently involved in the Middle East's affairs. This involvement comes in monetary, military, and advisory assistance to western allies. To examine this in conjunction with current events and political instability in Jordan, and advise the United States on their response, Robert Satloff and David Schenker wrote “Political Instability in Jordan, Contingency Planning Memorandum Number 19.” More analysis of United States involvement in Jordan is present in the the article “Jordan agrees to host US training of Iraqi military after al-Qaida gains” written by a source at the associated press in Amman. This article examines the Jordanian government’s decision to host the training of Iraqi soldiers in response to al-Qaida aggression. Finally, “As Syrian Refugees Develop Roots, Jordan Grows Wary” by Norimitsu Onishi examines the additional pressure the war in Syria, and the refugees from it, puts on Jordan. Jordan is currently under pressure from all sides due to the terrorist activity in Iraq, war in Syria, and political instability. Overall these pressures combine to create massive stress on the Jordanian government, and more specifically on the Jordanian King Abdullah II.
“Political Instability in Jordan, Contingency Planning Memorandum Number 19,” is an extensive article which describes in depth the current political unrest in Jordan....
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These articles certainly spurred many questions in my mind. I am curious what it is that makes the Middle East so filled with political and social unrest. It seems curious that some of the oldest nations are locations of some of the greatest strife and frustration in the modern day. It makes me wonder if all nations, including the larger developed nations, will some day become war-torn and politically unstable in the future. It seems that much of the unrest is caused by cultural differences between peoples. In America we seem to get along just fine, but the melting pot idea concerns me in that it could lead to infighting between cultures in the U.S. far beyond what we have seen thus far. I think that studying the Middle East will ultimately spawn more questions than answers, but if nothing else that makes it an area boundlessly intriguing to learn about.
The first is the sectarian conflict. The sectarian conflict was a conflict dealing with the race and religion of the sects. The two sects are Islam and Muslim. The conflict went nowhere because it is self perpetuating. The rate of casualties is too high, making it hard to tell how many people have been killed. This is partly caused by the death of civilians, which is 30% of the casualties. Also, there are people that are being forced to leave from their homes because of their government and just war in their area. The Sunni are dominating the other force, but are also hurting civilians, and the alawite heavy regime are holding up to them, but they are getting hurt
War and Peace in the Middle East by Avi Shlaim. In the novel War and Peace In the Middle East, author Avi Shlaim argues that Arab nations have been unable to escape the post-Ottoman syndrome. In particular, he describes how the various powers inside and outside the region have failed to produce peace. While some of Shlaim's arguments hinder the message, I agree with his overall thesis that the Middle East problems were caused and prolonged by the failure of both powers and superpowers to take into account the regional interests of the local states.
The Middle East has historically rebuked Western influence during their process of establishing independence. When Britain and France left the Middle East after World War II, the region saw an unprecedented opportunity to establish independent and self-sufficient states free from the Western influence they had felt for hundreds of years. In an attempt to promote nationalistic independence, the states of the region immediately formed the League of Arab States in 1945. The League recognized and promoted the autonomy of its members and collaborated in regional opposition against the West until 1948 when Israel declared independence. Israel represented then and now an intrusive Western presence in the Arab world. The ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict typifies this cultural antagonism. The Cold War refocused attention to the Middle East as a site of economic and strategic importance for both sides, yet the two hegemons of the Cold War now needed to recognize the sovereignty of the Middle Eastern states. With their statehood and power cemented, the Middle Easte...
The Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam have been feuding for hundreds of years dating back to the beginning of the Islamic religion. The deity or god of the Sunnis is Allah. The Sunni branch of Islam is the larger of the two branches with over 80% of the Muslim population. The Sunni are the majority in most of the countries that have Islamic followers. There are a few different translations of what Sunna stands for, one of which is “Habitual Practice.” The differences between the two branches can be traced all the back to the 7th century CE when the disagreements as to who should succeed Muhammad. Sunnis believe that the Muslim community should maintain the right to select who the successor to Muhammad is going to be. The Shiite branch maintains the belief that Muhammad has selected his son-in-law to be the successor. Even though the two branches agree on most matters, the Sunni put more power behind god and his determination of fate, and are more inclusive about their definition of being Muslim. The Sunni place heavy belief in the role of religion in some aspects of life and a lot of weight is put on the Islamic law known as Shariah as the standard for a vast range of social issues including marriage and divorce. (Patheos.com)
Early 2011 uprisings swept across the Middle East and North Africa, and many rebellions are still going on today. The Arab region has seen revolts and conflict since the 1800‘s, but only recently have these revolts been redirected to the problems of Arab society (Ghannam, J. 2011 pg 4-5)The Arab Spring Uprising was first sparked in Tunisia and eventually struck Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen and then spread to other countries. Citizens throughout these countries were dissatisfied with the rule of their local governments. Issues like human rights violations, political corruption, economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, dictators...
Ever the shrewd leader, Hussein realized that the primary way to ensure stability was to increase the standard of living. The fi...
BACKGROUND: In March of 2011, the unrest in Syria was just beginning, with protests g...
The article, “Why Is There So Much Conflict in the Middle East?” written by Mirjam E. Sørli et. al corresponds a great deal with the text Politics and Change in the Middle East as far as the reasons for conflict in the Middle East. Sørli et. al disputes the idea of “Middle East exceptionalism,” which says that there is something different about Middle Easterners that make them prone to violence and conflict (142). Sørli et. al says this is not true, but rather there are very simple reasons as to why there has been conflict in the Middle East. As stated, the lack of regional natural resources such as water, oil, and arable la...
In those countries that have not experienced government upheaval, a common outcome of the Arab Spring has been sustained civil unrest, political instability, and the extension of political and economic concessions by leaders seeking to appease protesters. Many questions could arise as one contemplated those events. One of these questions would be: Why has the Arab Spring produced different results across the Middle East? This paper is a humble attempt to suggest some answers to this sort of these logical questions.
Gerner, Deborah J., and Philip A. Schrodt. "Middle Eastern Politics." Understanding the contemporary Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008. 85 -136. Print.
Political uprisings in the Middle East, especially in Muslim nation states have placed Arabian politics back on the focus point of international politics. Political events in certain Arab countries had an excessive impact on the political development of other neighboring states. Resistances and anxieties within different Arab countries triggered unpredictable actions, sometimes sorely to observe and believe. The authoritarian governments of Arabian countries led from various dictators have created a precarious situation for their people, especially in providing national security and maintaining peace in the region. Jack Goldstone argues that the degree of a sultan’s weakness has been often only visible in retrospect; due in part to the nature of the military-security complex common across Middle East states (Goldstone 1). In addition, the existence of various statesmen with political affiliation is concerned in faithfulness of its armed forces. Usually, the armed national forces of several states, mainly those in Arab countries are loyal and closely affiliated to their leaders, which have a major role in state regimes. Arab uprisings in their early spreading appeared legally responsible and with concrete demands from representatives’ peoples, calling for a more open democratic system and reasonable governance. Even though, the system in which popular frustration with government imposes alters considerably from one state to another. These public revolts against different authoritative governments didn’t halt just in Arab states, but they sustained also in the Far East and in the Eastern Europe. Can we say that the popular uprisings in Arab countries could be attributed to the term of globalization? In fact, globalization is a multi...
...most distressed by outcome of a war, could exercise only inadequate control on the issue of armed action against Iraq. Most of the regional actors discarded the U.S. policy towards Iraq with varying intensity as they feared insecurity after Iraq’s disintegration (Reuters, 2003) whereas; Jordan decided not to endanger its rewarding ties with Washington. Another key actor at this level is the Baathi party in Iraq which was based on tribal division, domestic oppression and economic enticement. Under Baathi regime military, bureaucracy and security services was divided into several competing institutions which reinforced Hussein’s dictatorship in Iraq. In the post war Iraq, the USA in collaboration with the Iraq National Congress and the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution started to make Iraq a democracy that is similar to the American political culture and values.
Jordan’s demographic balance is made up of ethnic Jordanians, non-Arab immigrants who came before Jordan’s independence (i.e Circassians, Chechens, and Armenians), several waves of Palestinians, Lebanese, Iraqis, African refugees from primarily Sudan and Somalia and recently refugees from Syria. The integration of these ethnic groups generally depend on the time of their arrival with those arriving the earliest having integrated the most and therefore are the least vulnerable. The further integration of certain refugee groups namely Palestinians remain hampered by political considerations namely the Israeli-Palestinian peace deal that would foresee the establishment of a new Palestinian state. Despite Palestinians being short of full political citizens, the general situation of Palestinians is considerably better off than those from la...
The abrupt end of decade long dominating regime in three weeks had created a political vacuum, that is evident in shifting coalitions and divisions among religious groups, ethnic groups, regional groups and even classes (Barnett et al. 2003, 25). US did not realize, moreover, the depth of the hostility between Kurds and Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, and the members of different tribes and local religious groups. Furthermore, to deal with destruction in Iraq new plan was decided by the US. The plan was to pull out all troops and hand over the responsi...
...nd Politics." Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Ed. Philip Mattar. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 890-895. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.