Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Conflict in the Middle East Quizlet
Chapter 34.4 conflicts in middle east
Conflicts in the middle east
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Conflict in the Middle East Quizlet
The Middle East has been involved in many conflicts for most of its history. These conflicts have been in large part due to, natural resources and foreign involvement. The rich supply of oil in the Middle East has made it a region of interest for many non-Arab countries to support in order to ensure a steady flow of oil. As the importance for oil increased through the industrialization of the world, the need for it became magnified. This need for oil prompted non-Arab countries to become involved in the Middle East by means of financial aid, treaties, weapons, and troops. Many foreign countries have intervened in Middle Eastern conflicts, in order to protect their access to an oil supply for their own nations, causing further conflicts and escalate violence in the region.
The Middle East had been a very prosperous region, but they fell behind in the sciences and technology in the nineteenth century. In the early 1900's, the Ottoman Empire started to decline and was dubbed the "sick man of Europe" (Blackadar 2). This made the Ottoman Empire vulnerable to the attacks from Russia, who took land, and Europeans looking to acquire oil from the area. The Ottoman Empire was destroyed during World I. Russia and Britain were trying to gain control of Iran's resources, fighting each other on Iran's soil, causing the Iranian economy to suffer. In order to maintain and control Iran's resources, Russia and Britain resolved to work together, invading and taking control in Iran. "I am quite clear that it is all important for us that this oil should be available," (Blackadar 5), said Arthur Balfour, telling of the importance of the oil for Britain. Britain and France conspired to divide the remnants of the Ottoman Empire between thems...
... middle of paper ...
...s in the Middle East, in the interest of securing oil, has added to the disruption and upheaval of this region. Foreign involvement has been motivated by the need for access to a consistent oil supply. This involvement has only furthered conflicts and elevated the level of violence in the Middle East. For many years violent conflicts in the Middle East have involved Arab and non-Arab countries in the quest for control over the oil supply. There is no indication, as the need for oil continues, that these conflicts will be resolved anytime soon.
Works Cited
Blackadar, Andy, ed. "Part I: The Middle East in the World." The Middle East in Transition:
Questions for U.S. Policy (2013): 2-18. Print.
Blackadar, Andy, ed. "Part II: Weighing U.S. Priorities in the Middle East." The Middle East in Transition: Questions for U.S. Policy (2013): 19-34. Print.
Imperialism, Colonialism, and war had a huge impact on the Middle East, and it can also be thought of as the source of conflict. According to the map in Document A, it shows that the size of the Ottoman Empire grew smaller after the first world war, along with this change came new boundaries. These borders were created by the victorious European countries that won World War I, and made different ethnic and religious groups separated and grouped together with others. Great Britain's took over Palestine mandate and developed the Balfour Declaration that promised Jews support in making a home in Palestine. Most of the Palestine land was populated with Arabs.
The Ottoman Empire was a large empire that lasted for several hundred years. They were primarily Sunni Muslims and they were led by the Sultan. Over time, they had a long decline, mostly because they hadn’t progressed with the times. France and Britain were getting very involved with their affairs in Egypt. By the late 1800’s most of the Ottoman Empire was gone. During World War One (WWI), in 1916, the Arabs helped Great Britain to defeat the Ottoman Empire. In 1918 the Ottomans surrendered and their empire was dissolved. When mandates were established it caused nationalist ro revolt. General Mustafa
In his current job, Friedman writes a 740-word column twice a week. It appears in many of the world’s newspapers and on the Web. This latest book, Longitudes and Attitudes, is a compendium of his more recent columns and a diary of supporting incidents. The text relates to the theme that has consumed him in his career: the failure of the Arab nation to develop, democratize, and compete properly with the West. This theme is given point by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the attack of 9/11.
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 relations between the U.S and the Middle East are strained at best. The troops deployed in the area face constant threat of attack by a militant group. These broken relations between the U.S and the Middle East started over 50 years ago, with the Iran Hostage Crisis. Root causes of the crisis were many. One was U.S greed over oil in Iran. The second, the coup in Iran organized and funded by the CIA. The U.S dependence on foreign oil is another cause of the problems. Lastly, should the U.S stop moving into other countries sovereign lands and trying to “Prevent the evil of communism”, the nation would not have so many problems around the world. This worry was even shown in Iran (Kinzer, 10). While often blamed on radicals, the strained relations between the U.S and the Middle East are a direct result of a poor US foreign policy.
The Middle Eastern has developed a lot of economic success with the authoritarianism government they’ve established. To some people, if they are economically stable, they’re willing to endure the hardships of being lead under a dictator. Countries like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are flourishing in the oil business, which keeps them wealthy and involved in international relations. To the citizens of the Middle East, this makes their country look powerful because even with the Western’s opposing ideologies, they’re still working with the Middle East. This is sending the wrong message because even though the western countries have to cooperate and show political support with the Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries. Situations like these give the citizens a positive outlook of how their country is being conducted and support their governme...
Yapp, Malcolm. The Near East since the First World War: A History to 1995. London: Longman, 1996. Print.
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 United States has had several scares throughout its history in terms of oil, most turn out to be over exaggerations of a small event. However, these scares highlight a massive issue with the U.S. and that issue is the U.S.’s dependence on foreign oil. Why does it matter that our oil should come from over seas? In a healthy economy this probably wouldn’t be as relevant, but the U.S.’s economy is not exactly healthy at the moment. There are 4 things that I would like to address: what the problem is, how it affects us, what some solutions are, and what solutions I feel are best.
The author exposes how the American and Arabs cultures met and interacted. It is clear that the Arab people did not comprehend the changes they would face. Furthermore, the Americans had to adapt but somehow still overcome religion and tradition. Consequently, the beginning of the oil era brought financial wealth but for the greater part brought painful changes to Arab societies. It is difficult to understand how oil wealth did not completely modernize the Middle East for a greater good. Instead we know about the real situation in both the novel and the real Arab culture and how oil money paired with retroactive empires, old religious beliefs and self-absorbed Western governments took over.
Maynes, Charles. "The Middle East in the Twenty-First Century." Middle East Journal 52.1 (1998): 9-16. JSTOR. Web. 6 June 2011.
In 1970 oil reserves became more scarce, leading to a decrease in production, while consumption continued to grow rapidly (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011). In order to fill the gap between rising demand and falling supply of oil, the United States became more and more dependent on imported oil, primarily from Arab countries in the Middle East. (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011). As the U.S and many other countries became highly industrialized nations, they became even more dependent on oil imports. With demand being higher than the actual amount of supply, prices kept rising reaching a peak of $140 a barrel in 2008. (Wright, R. T., & Boorse, D. F. 2011).
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.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a petrostate. It is a petrostate in the sense that the oil sector dominates the national economy and international exports. (Colgan 226) This is due to Saudi Arabia’s one crop economy, oil. (Ali 100) Oil accounts for 70-80% of the state revenue as well as roughly 95% of export revenues. Before the discovery of oil in the 1930s, the economy rested on Islamic pilgrims. Containing the Grand Mosque, Al-Masjid al-Haram, Saudi Arabia gets a large influx of believers every year for the Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam. During this time of year, income was made by food and shelter sold to the travelers. This was enough to support the state, but not enough to make it the monetary power it is today. What allowed for Saudi Arabia’s climb in the world economic ladder was oil. Oil has been a valuable industrial resource since the beginning of World War 1. Since then the demand for oil has progressively become higher and higher amongst industrial nations, allowing for oil rich states to receive large amounts of affluence. Among these oil rich states is Saudi Arabia, the region with the highest capacity for oil production out of the entire Middle East. From their remarkably high oil production, Saudi Arabia was able to gain considerable amounts of wealth and political significance. Oil in Saudi Arabia politically affected the Saudi government in both their foreign and domestic policy by providing economic power, the ability to fund wars, the ability to use economic diplomacy.
...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.