Modern Middle East Research Paper

Before WW1, the Middle East was dominated by outside powers. Egypt was under British control and Persia was divided in to Russian and British spheres of influence. The Ottomans tried to promote change with the Tanzimat reforms which allowed some industrialization and modernization. However, in 1908, the Young Turks took over and

Edmund Burke once said “Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.” Unfortunately, it seems that many people who have impacted the world have had a bad history teacher, as history continues to repeat itself to this day. One of the most prime examples of this is seen in the Middle East; where the Palestinian people are fighting against the Israelis over territory in which they both believe belongs to them. It has been a dispute which has resulted in loss of homes, loss of life and loss of money. However, this is nothing new. Eugene O’Neill’s statement, “There is no present and no future, only the past happening over and over again, now” applies strongly to the situation of the past 70 years in the

The Middle East is a region centered on Western Asia and Egypt the region has generally been a major center of world affairs as the major religions of Islam and Christianity and Judaism were also established within the region. The region is made up of 18 countries and has vast reserves of crude oil. In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.

The Middle East was under the control of the Ottoman Empire for many centuries. It was declining but still in control until World War 1. World War 1 impacted the modern Middle East a tremendous amount. Who controlled the Middle East changed because of oil, resources, and the relationships between Israelis and Palestinians also changed drastically.

With the shah still sick, it was hard to manage what was back in Iran. The speed of change in Iran was too hard to get command. “The shah was in trouble, reaping the harvest of years of brutal and unpopular policies, including the use of secret police that controlled dissent with arbitrary arrests and torture.” It was obvious that the shah had lost all control of his people of Iran, but the president had hoped for an alliance of opponents to be formed. A man

The complexity of America’s relationship with Iran increased steadily beginning in 1908, when Iran struck oil. The Shah, the king or emperor of Iran, after taking the place of his young predecessor Reza Shah Pahlavi with the help of the CIA, led Iran into a period of extreme wealth and prosperity, the likes of which the Iranian people had never experienced. However, with the growth of wealth in Iran came the growth of Iranian resentment towards the West, specifically the United States. The Iranian’s resented the uneven distribution of wealth that they felt existed and the United State’s influence in “westernizing” their society. In 1963, this growing hatred led to a conflict with the Islamic clergy. The conflict was quickly settled by the Shah, but he was unaware that this dispute was the beginning

According to Mark C. Carnes and John A. Garraty’s “The American Nation: A History of the United States”, “During World War II, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and later the United States occupied Iran and forced its pro-German shah into exile, replacing him with his twenty-two year old son, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi” (Carnes and Garraty). In the early 1950’s, executive power was relocated to the leftist Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadegh.

The Iranians from 1925-1979 lived under the oppressive regime of the Pahlavi Dynasty. During this time, the Shah, Reza Shah Pahlavi also known as Reza Khan, took the first step in consolidating power. Reza Shah was appointed prime minister by the last Shah of the Qajar Dynasty, Ahmad Shah Qajar and quickly moved to consolidate his power by removing his fellow conspirators and quashing threats

The US and its allies were very intimately involved in the politics and economics of Iran from the days preceding World War II. Prior to World War II, Iran was led by Reza Shah Pahlavi, who became monarch by way of a coup. He was sympathetic to the Nazis. The Allies removed him from power and installed his son Mohammad Reza Shah

The Pahlavi dynasty in Iran lasted from 1925-1979. In 1925 Reza Shah Pahlavi was appointed and reined until 1941 when his son Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi succeeded him after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi was considered pro – Western, who worked closely with many U.S. Presidential administrations. In 1951 the European educated Mohammed Mosadegh, Prime Minister of Iran wanted to nationalize Iran’s oil industry. This political, economic and ideological conflict resulted in Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi being forced into exile for a short period of time. Mosadegh’ s policies would have adversely affected the British and American governments who had previously been in control of Iran’s oil. Therefore the Intelligence

In addition to Afghan mujahidin, people fro other Muslim countries volunteered and one of the prominent figures was Osama bin Laden who came from Saudi Arabia to join mujahidin and fight against the Soviets. Also, fighters from Chechnya rushed to join the Mujahidin movements, the Soviets were officially atheists and detrimental to the Islam at large. The mountainous terrains of Afghanistan, the ethnic and linguistic differences among the mujahidin faction made it difficult for the groups to cooperate. However, by 1985 the corporation between the resistance groups improved and a network of alliance was created the Seven Party Mujahidin Alliance of Peshware Seven. Some of the prominate of the mujahidin commanders was Ahmed Shah Massoud, who was assassinated by the Taliban in 2001.

As Michael Axworthy states on the back cover of his book, A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind, Iran is a “land of contradictions”. As this is true these contradictions is what makes Iran, Iran. Iran today is looked as the pinnacle of the Islamic faith in the form of a Government structure. Since 1979, Iran has been known as the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iran will continue being an Islamic Republic for centuries to come. Iran has a rich history of intellectuals and scholars. Iran is known for its vibrant culture that dates back longer than the Western Ideals were even conceived. However Axworthy asks a question about Iran and its impact on the world’s history and the current events that we see in Iran today, Axworthy asks “Is Iran an aggressive power, or a victim?” This statement is a true paradox, can Iran be the next Nazi Germany, the next Soviet Union or the next Great Islamic Caliphate or is Iran just fighting to keep its culture alive from a vast array of attacks from foreign entities and internal struggles.

Some background information about the Islamic regime and the Shahs of Iran comes from the book, “In the twentieth century, Iran entered a new phase. Reza Shah decided to modernize and westernize the country, but meanwhile a fresh source of wealth was discovered: oil. And with the oil came another invasion. The West, particularly Great Britain, wielded a strong influence on the Iranian economy. During the Second World War, the British, Soviets, and Americans asked Reza Shah to ally himself with them against Germany. But Reza Shah, who sympathized with the Germans, declared Iran as a neutral zone. So the Allies invaded and occupied Iran. Reza Shah was sent into exile and was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was known simply as the Shah” (p.1-2). Which leads up to the reason why the shah seemed to have the worse policies.

Before the revolution, Shah Reza Pahlavi was the ruler of Iran. Under his leadership power was clustered and concentrated among his close allies and networks of friends and others with whom he had close relations. By 1970s, the gap between the poor and the rich was widening and huge distrust about his economic policies grew. Resentment towards his autocratic leadership grew fuelling people to dissent his regime further. Shah now was considered an authoritarian who took full control of the Iran government preventing the Iranians from expressing their opinion. The government has transformed from the traditional monarchial form of government to authoritarian with absolute authority replacing individual freedom of the Iranians. This transformation to Iranian was unacceptable because they needed to control their own affairs. They wanted self-government where they could take control as opposed to what Shah was doing. Shah was seen as a western puppet for embracing authoritarian form of government (Axworthy, 2016).

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is known as a very important idealist in Turkey, which had become an idol for Turks. One of the most important reasons he was that crucial for Turkey was that him being a nationalist founder and leader, and the first president of the Turkish Republic. Ataturk was born in Salonika (then known as the Ottoman Empire), in 1881. The real truth is that, Ataturk, still being at his young ages, started to think about making reforms for his country and society, and eventually had reached his goals making Turkey a 'free' and 'civilized' country, by also being the first president of Turkey. There are several policies and revolutions of Ataturk, which make him a really known, loved, and respected person worldwide, such as Republicanism,