Century Of Violence In The Middle East Research Paper

The wars of the Middle East over the past one hundred year are very complicated. When the Ottoman Empire chooses the losing side in WWI, then France and Britain started drawing new borders to the region as a result of the Sykes Picot agreement. After WWII, the United States intervened its force to change the governments of countries in the Middle East. Now, the same behaviors have been continued by the major powers in the world for their own interests, as stated by Jeffrey D. Sachs, the special advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations on the Millennium development

While the aftermath of World War II is often referred to as one of the primary creators of deep rooted turmoil in the Middle East region, the effects of the Cold War and the United States often over-zealous battle against communism is just as much a contributor if not more. The Arab world and the Middle East region were clearly going through quite an extraordinary period throughout World War II and its conclusion, primarily with the creation of most of the states we recognize today and struggling with the continuation of colonialism. These factors set the stage for the emergence of strong nationalist sentiments and Pan-Arab movements across the Middle East. Unfortunately, and much to the detriment of the region, the leaders of these young

The collapse of the Ottoman Empire started with the World War I and multiple Iraq wars of terrorism made to their empire. The frequent rebellions and attacks in their territory eventually lead

The Ottoman empire fell behind in industrial and political developments while European colonies in the Middle East where eager for independence. The Ottoman Empire was dissolved creating independent states and the modern Middle East; crashing the empire’s large scale economy it had sustained during the past into smaller independent economies. With the economic disparity between these countries after the Ottoman empire disintegrated, social conflicts raised, creating a long term deficit in these regions economy, complicating the recovery of the losses from the war. This was mostly seen in regions within the Middle East that began civil movements against their colonial leaders, who had promised them political rewards for sending military troops and resources towards the warfare participating in the war. Due to the fact that only specific nations gained independence based on their ethnicity, there were economic differences in small areas within the same region, illustrating economic inequality within the Middle East.

The Middle East started out being controlled by the Ottoman Empire. On the map in document 1 it is very clear that from 1683- 1914 the control was shrinking in size but still majority of the Middle East. This shows that before world War one control over the Middle East was declining a lot which will represent a huge change after the war. The war began and the Ottoman Empire was coming to an end

With the end of the War came the end of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the Middle East nation states. These new states consequently ended the possibility for a single Arab Nation. Each state came under the influence of Britan or France. Although these new states were not technically colonized, each country was significantly swayed by the European powers. For example those states under British influence were lead by monarchs while French states often gravitated towards republics. These spheres of influence greatly impacted a

The East, the land of cotton, fine silks, and rich coffee, was the land of three of the most powerful empires to ever grace the surface of the earth. The Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman Empires were known as the gunpowder empires, and they were feared throughout Europe because of their horsemanship, their power, and their armies. They dominated the stage for centuries, but, as with all things, history moves on. It stops for no man, and all goods things eventually come to an end. So it was with the powers of the East. As Europe prospered from exploration and improved though revolution, the Middle East suffered from poor weather, internal dissent, and a currency crisis that sucked the rulers in like quicksand. And so it was that the epicenter of the world shifted; Europe took the title of midpoint between East and West (Lecture, 09.09.).

The term Eastern Question defined the games of politics and diplomacy in the Middle East from the mid-eighteenth century until the breakup of the Ottoman Empire orchestrated by Western European powers after First World War. The Ottoman Empire was increasingly becoming very dysfunctional, ravaged by internal conflicts between rulers, governors, and opposing factions, which put Western powers on edge, prompting military coalitions that abridged the Ottomans territorial controls and influences. After the fall of Adrianople the Europeans scrambled for two years to find a solution for the lands controlled by the Ottomans for fear that one country would “benefit exclusively. “ This is a clear example that the Europeans themselves were staunchly divided

World War 1 was the war to end all wars. Comprising most of Europe, Russia and the US World War 1 was a war for nationalism and defending of the norm. To preface it, during this time the major powers of Europe were organized into two major alliances: The Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance. The Triple Entente was composed of Britain, Russia, and France. The Triple Alliance united Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy. However, the main source of tension was not between the alliances, but between the powers that led them: Britain and Germany. It is arguable that this underlying tension may have been the indirect cause of conflict. Many attribute the spark of WW1 to be the assassination of Archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Ferdinand. The assassination, which was a "happy accident”, escalated. This event set off a chain reaction that resulted in Austria-Hungary, with German support, launching an attack on Serbia. Serbia called in Russia. Thing continues to spiral out of control and by the end of the summer, Germany had declared war on Russia and France; Germany had also started to mobilize troops in to Belgium setting up for a push into France. Great Britain declared war on Germany under the façade of honoring its alliance with France; however, the real motivation was to go to war with Germany. Eventually, Italy, although aligned with Germany, entered the war on the side of Great Britain and France. The Ottoman

The Middle East is far from monumental and homogenous. Its differences have been a source of both strength and inspiration. The most visible, most pervasive, and the least recognized aspects of

Many of the problems in the Middle East today are a direct result of actions undertaken in the region 's colonial past. I will argue that both imperialist ineptitude, deliberate meddling and outright deceit by colonial powers have sown seeds of distrust that linger in the Middle East today towards the West. I will claim that artificial boundaries, government structures and societal schisms created in colonial times have entrenched animosities and created internal structural instabilities in the area that are still being resolved. The imposition of Israel into Palestine, I will argue, remains an unresolved product of colonial rule. I will discuss how the discovery of oil and the regions importance as a trade route caused the World Powers to remain engaged in the area and oppressive in their demeanour. Finally I will argue that perhaps the greatest ongoing legacy of colonialism in the Middle east is an imperialist attitude by the west which continues to this day.

Then came the First World War and with it the defeat of the German army and their allies, including Turkey. As a result in 1919, Iraq, as well as Palestine, came under the control of Great Britain who proceeded to draw out the borders and establish a government that would best suit them. The years which followed were filled with revolutions, jihad, and unrest, as the British sought to maintain control of a nation with which they knew very little about.

Ottoman Empire was an Islamic empire, which ruled Middle East and some other parts of the world for almost 400 years. On one hand Ottoman Empire became an ally with Germany in the First World War and on the other hand some of the Arab leaders held a revolt against the empire, which were the main reasons of its collapse. While Arab leaders were dreaming of an Arab unification, European powers were seeking their interest and try to secure the territories they took over in the war period. Versailles conference was held between Arab and the European leaders to define borders and create new states. Due to weakness of Arab leaders and their lack of experience most of the decisions were made in favor of the Europeans expectations of the state. And as a result Jordan, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon were emerged (Pappe, 2005) and (Fawcett, 2005).

were chosen by God to set up a state of Israel where they could not be

the conflict in the middle east between 1948-1973 was not purely fuelled by the interest and concerns of the superpowers but rather of a series of conflictual incidents, aswell as the main wars that took place from the years from 1948-1967 such as the: 1948 War, The Six Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur war of 1973. But although the conflict was not fuelled by the superpowers, the influence of the superpowers and the reach of the superpowers into the Middle East was evident in the years both prior and following 1978. But even despite the influence and interests of the superpowers between and including 1948-1967 being undeniably evident, the extent of this influence cannot be said to have “fuelled the conflict”.