Entry #7 – Cities of Salt: This book’s main focus is essentially the transformation of the land on the Arabian Peninsula due to the American oil explorers who want to exploit the land to gain access to the huge oil reserve that is the Middle East, in this case Saudi Arabia. The Americans are first described as harmless except by Miteb al-Hathal, who senses that they are devils who cannot be trusted and that something bad will happen because of them, which no one believes. It turns out, in the end, that he was right and if the Emir had realized what was going on earlier and actually worked to stop it then things wouldn’t have turned out so bad for the people. Entry #8 – Cities of Salt: I found it how shocking the Emir of Harran was bought
Salt: A World History written by Mark Kurlansky in 2002 is his fifth work of nonfiction. This novel explains the importance of salt, a mineral our bodies need, but cannot create; more than just an ordinary condiment, a substance of life. The book jacket identifies the book with the tagline:
Throughout Middle Eastern, beginning in the 1800’s many changes and continuities have occurred and shaped what there national identity is in present day. Religion and literature have remained a continuous factor throughout this time period; where as a very successful oil discovery and currently changing government help shape the Middle Eastern national identity
The island of Satus was unlike any other. The island was a once a place of happiness and joy, until the people on Satus became greedy. The Dark Mountain contained the most gold anyone had ever seen in an island, but the soil inside the mountain contained the evilest particles known to man. When the miner from the Village of the Lost, a city near the mountain, found out about the gold, they mined the entire mountain on the inside making the mountain one giant cave.
The final chapter of this controversial book is about all the reason behind the current invasion of Iraq by U.S. government. All the EHM were failed in Iraq, all jackals were failed too. So young people were killed and sent to far off desert to die. If Saddam bought out by corporatocracy and he accepted their terms he would still are alive today. He should permit US firms to maintain his chemical plants, trade his arms, let him to kill innocent people to show power and violate human rights. The invasion of Iraq put a huge question mark on the royal of Saud. If US conquer Iraq which has more oil than any country, then Saudi Arabia will be of less importance for them. Perkins declared that US dollar is the root
“There is, then, an economic basis for the absence of democracy in the Arab world. But it is structural. It has to do with the ways in which oil distorts the state, the market, the class structure, and the entire incentive structure. Particularly in an era of high global oil prices, the effects of the oil curse are relentless: Not a single one of the 23 countries that derive most of their export earnings from oil and gas is a democracy today.”
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.).
This picture demonstrates Westernized culture forcing a weaker country to learn their customs and words. The theme of imperialism is shown in this picture because it is a larger power taking over and controlling a less powerful people. The main conflicts in this book originate mostly in the work of modern Imperialism. Marjane’s father says, “In any case, as long as there is oil in the Middle East, we will never have peace” (Satrapi 43). He is referring to all the nations, such as Iraq, trying to take their oil away from them because Iran is weaker.
The ambition of the often autocratic leaders to acquire more land, which may bring them access to oil, water or arable land. The problem according to Sørli et. al is “scarcity” and “abundance” (147). Water is scarce, and oil is in abundance, but the access to both is limited. According to our text, the new “water wars” have emerged as a major source of conflict, in addition to the “oil wars” (Anderson et. al, 226). Water is scarce in the Middle East, and will continue to dwindle as the population rises. Not every country has the same access to the water sources, which will naturally cause problems. For example, Israel has control of the Golan, and Egypt of the Nile, and Kuwait of the Persian Gulf. Oil is in abundance, but only to a limited number of countries in the Middle East causing great economic disparity between those who have, and those who do not. Kuwait, having access to the Persian Gulf, produces a large supply of oil to international players. Given its high value internationally, and its worth, oil is much sought after.
Conflict over energy resources—and the wealth and power they create—has become an increasingly prominent feature for geopolitics particularly in the Middle East . The discovery of oil in the late nineteenth century added a dimension to the region as major outside states powers employed military force to protect their newly acquired interests in the Middle East. The U.S.’s efforts to secure the flow of oil have led to ever increasing involvement in the Middle East region’s political affairs and ongoing power struggles. By the end of the twentieth century, safeguarding the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf had become one of the most important functions of the U.S. military establishment. The close relationship between the United States and the Saudi royal family was formed in the final months of World War II, when U.S. leaders sought to ensure preferential access to Saudi petroleum. The U.S. link with Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region has demonstrated to be greatly beneficial to both parties, yet it has also led to ever deepening U.S. involvement in regional politics.
Middle East considers one of the most studied areas in the world due to its rich history of politics, social, economic, and its culture and civilization. Its borders are still arguable geographically, generally in the west it starts from morocco until Iran in the east, however, many scholars don’t agree on including Turkey either as a Middle Eastern or as a European country (Milton-Edwards, 2006. P: 4). The origin of the name was invented by the colonies as a necessity to describe the place geographically, which was the era of bringing “Middle East” the language of academic writings and political scientists. Changes, innovations, and new ideologies create gaps between the transformations of any perspectives to a different
Nor-and this is the most significant point-are most of us truly aware of the role the U.S. has played, for generations, overtly and covertly, in the world that was once the Ottoman Empire. As Professor Abou El Fadl has noted, the destruction of that culture at the hands of an advancing Western imperialism eventually laid much of the Islamic world bare for the attractions of a dogmatic, warlike, fundamentalist variant of Islam. At times we have connived at this development, most obviously in the now bitterly ironic fact that we supported Osama bin Laden and his allies in Afghanistan in the 1980s in their effort to expel Soviet forces. Indeed, our interest in the Arab world (apart from our desire for inexpensive natural resources and markets for our products) often seemed limited to any assistance we might wring from it in the war against communism. No wonder, as reported
Nothing happens in a vacuum; events and phenomena that take place in one region have effects on the rest of the world. In no region has this been more relevant than in the Middle East. Understanding the Middle East as it was and currently is requires an in depth analysis of the events that have so shaped the region. By peering into the premodern, early-modern, modern, and contemporary periods, a comprehension of the Middle East and how it is situated within the global framework will be realized.
The following thesis adopts a case study methodology, interrogating the nature of the Saudi state in response to the specific event of the Grand Mosque takeover . Through a multifaceted analytical narrative, this paper will study the nature of the Saudi-Wahhabi alliance, focusing on the way in which this symbiotic relationship enabled wide reaching social control during and after the mosque insurgency. Literature on the Grand Mosque takeover has generally limited the event’s significance to a mere illustration of the al-Saud’s instrumentalisation of religion for the purpose of preserving legitimacy . This thesis aims to extend this understanding, by applying a comprehensive social theory framework to the siege. By employing Ian Hurd’s three-tiered framework for social compliance, this thesis will
This project examines Arab novels of the previous decade (2002-2012) in the context of the postcolonial theory. The research aims to highlight the political changes that occur in these novels and the point of view and narration techniques. Moreover, it will address the following key issues in postcolonial theory; politics, religious radicalization (jihad), nationalism, attitude to the West, globalization. Aftermath, the attack of 11 September the world has known Islamophobia, which made the Arab world under the telescope. The leaders of the Arab world had made the dourness appellation of their regimes to stop the Islamist and the oppositions to take the lead. Meanwhile, the Arab writers ponder to social-culture and religious conflict social injustice and socio-economic level that the Arab countries had reached. Thus, they reminisce the revolution of 1952, nationalism, their beloved leaders and the old days when the politics were choosing its representatives. The Arab writers fictionalized the true lives of people who were living in poverty. The past decade, 2002-2012, has seen considerable development of literary works.Moreover, it has encompassed many writings that are no longer envision the allegiance to the current regime at that time which was characterized by chastisement. Additionally, they relinquish to the form and the literary techniques that previous novels were used to follow. These novels encounter the disenfranchisement and disappointment to Arab
To account for these factors, the course utilizes both a chronological approach to the historical development of US foreign policy toward the region, as well as including substantial background on the important regional actors with which the US interacts with. Finally, it includes a select few readings related to theoretical concepts in International Relations to provide a context for analysis of policy. All these elements should grant students a well-rounded comprehension of the various factors which influence the Middle East state system and related US foreign policy.