The Middle East

 

  • I. The U.S. After 9/11
  • II. Natural Characteristics of the Middle East
  • III. The Middle East Before Islam
  • IV. The Spread of Islam, 610-1500
  • V. Main Tenets of the Islamic Faith
  • VI. Islam and Europe, 1500-1800
  • VII. European Colonialism and the Middle East, 1800-1950
  • VIII. The Contemporary Middle East
  • IX. Israel and Palestine
  • X. Iraq
  • XI. Conclusions and the Future

I. The U.S. After 9/11

  • A. Consequences for the U.S. of 9/11
  • 1. ______________________ consequences: loss of family and friends, loss of a sense of security and safety
  • 2. ______________________ consequences: business disruptions, job losses, U.S. and global recession
  • 3. ___________________ consequences: potential loss of personal freedoms, backlash against Arab-Americans and others
  • 4. Long term involvement in ___________________ that have already been underway for decades and that will not be solved quickly or easily, including more attacks on the U.S.

 

  • B. Violence and Terrorism in the U.S.
  • 1. Historically, the U.S. has been relatively free from internal and external _____________________________
  • 2. Other than the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, wars against the indigenous peoples, and Pearl Harbor, we have not had warfare in the U.S. against _______________________
  • 3. _______________________________ also relatively rare since the Civil War: a few small groups in the 1960s and 1970s (Symbionese Liberation Army, Puerto Rican independence movement) and in the past decade (Waco and the Branch Davidians, Oklahoma City bombing)
  • 4. Violence to accomplish ____________________ has always seemed remote to U.S. residents; airplane hijackings, Beirut Marine barracks, Khobar Towers, and U.S.S. Cole bombings, and other violence happened in other countries
  • C. Politics, Warfare and Terrorism
  • 1. _______________ can be understood as simply an extreme form of ______________________ between nations (e.g. WW II and the Axis vs. the Allies) or between different groups inside one nation (U.S. Civil War, military coups and wars in Africa)
  • 2. ______________________ can be understood as warfare between a country and a group of people who oppose that country’s actions and/or control over what the group believes should be their territory but who do not have their own country (Irish Republican Army against Great Britain, American colonists and Boston Tea Party and battles of Lexington and Concord against Great Britain)
  • a. this often involves attacks on ____________________________ (World Trade Center, courthouses, embassies, foreign businesses)
  • C.2.b. attacks by governments against their own people or people they control considered "_____________________________" (Belgian King Leopold’s genocide in the Congo, the apartheid government in South Africa against the black majority)
  • D. Why did 9/11 and the subsequent U.S. "war on terror" happen?
  • 1. at one level, the U.S. is seen as ______________________ by many groups and nations around the world; we will return to this issue several times, since many Americans, including many of our leaders, do not understand the causes of this hatred or how difficult it will be to change these ______________________________________________

 

II. Natural Characteristics of the Middle East

  • A. Lack of _________________
  • 1. most of region is _______________
  • 2. very little ________________
  • 3. land suitable for _________________________ at oases (springs in the desert), along riverbanks, along the coast, and where groundwater is near the surface for wells
  • 4. most land is not suitable for ________________________ because of the lack of water; small groups of _____________________________________ move through the region’s desert and historically _____________________
  • B. Geography: The ___________________________ of Asia, Africa and Europe
  • 1. the Middle East includes parts of all ___________________
  • 2. for several thousand years, the _________________________________________ have passed overland and around via the Mediterranean, Black, and Red Seas, and Atlantic and Indian Oceans
  • 3. ____________________ very difficult in most of region because of the lack of ___________

III. The Middle East Before Islam

  • A. High Degree of __________________________________-
  • 1. ________________________ links brought in groups from surrounding areas
  • 2. difficulty of ________________ meant relative _____________________ for many groups for extended periods
  • B. Repeated Waves of __________________
  • 1. ____________________________________ Invasions
  • 2. Romans dispersed _________________ population of Palestine to Europe and Asia
  • C. Invasions ___________________ Large Societies in Egypt, Iraq and Iran
  • 1. based on large ___________________________ (Nile, Tigris, Euphrates) with highly productive _____________________
  • 2. invaders exploited existing societies for _________________ (taxes paid to conquerors)
  • D. Relatively ______________________ Political Organization in Other Areas
  • 1. ________________________ (extended families based on common ancestors) __________________ town and nomadic political organizations

IV. The Spread of Islam, 610-1500

  • A. The _______________- of Islam, 610-632
  • 1. Muhammad receives divine revelations that become the basis for Islam and its holy book, the ______________
  • 2. Muhammad and his followers, drawn from the _____________________________, expelled from Mecca by ________________________- in 622 and move to Medina
  • 3. Muhammad left no clear instructions about ________________________________ as combined religious and political leader of the Muslim group
  • B. The Growth of the ____________________
  • 1. Muslim leaders in the __________________________ elected an elderly leader as first _________________ to succeed Muhammad
  • 2. a minority sought to make Ali, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, imam (____________________________)
  • 3. Ali became fourth caliph, but split became _____________________, creating Sunni and Shiite ________________________ within Islam
  • B.4. caliphs formed Muslim ________________ that conquered an _____________ from the Nile in the west, to Central Asia in the north, and to India in the east by 750
  • 5. Muslim armies __________________________________ into eastern and southern Europe (including conquering large parts of Spain until the late 1400s), farther into Central Asia, farther into India, and even to Southeast Asia between 750 and 1500
  • B.6. Major ______________: the Mongol empire, Chinese empire, and Europe during the Crusades (late 1000s to 1200)
  • C. The __________________ of the Islamic Empire
  • 1. ________________ linked Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Central, South and East Asia (from South and West Africa to Russia in the north and to China in the east)
  • 2. Islamic _____________________ developed many of the institutions of ____________________: banks, checks, receipts, accounting, bookkeeping, letters of credit
  • C.3. sophisticated ___________________ systems based on large scale ____________ technology
  • D. __________________ in the Islamic Empire
  • 1. most advanced ____________________ in the world (e.g. indoor plumbing)
  • 2. most advanced ________________ technology
  • 3. created modern _____________________ (numbers, the concept of zero)
  • 4. created the sextant, compass, and other tools and knowledge about _____________
  • D.5. created ________________ and the world’s largest _________________
  • 6. at the same time, Europe spent a millennium in the "Dark Ages" with little ______________________________________
  • E. The Rise of the __________________________
  • 1. __________________ nation converted to Islam by earlier Islamic empires __________________ the empire in the 1400s
  • 2. Ottomans the major _____________ to _____________________ nations from the 1400s through 1800, with repeated invasions into ___________________

 

V. Main Tenets of the Islamic Faith

  • A. Islam, Christianity and Judaism
  • 1. Christianity ___________ on Judaism (incorporating the _____________________, the ________________________, and other parts of Judaism into the ____________ and religious practice)
  • 2. Islam builds on both ______________________________ (incorporating _______ and ______________________ from God and their teachings; Islam does not accept that Jesus is ________________)
  • A.3. the ______________ (Islamic holy book) and the _______________ (the sayings, teachings and practice of Muhammad) provide a ________________ set of revelations for earlier revelations in the Christian Bible and Jewish Torah that Muslims believe have been _____________________________________
  • 4. other shared characteristics of the three religions: belief in _________________, importance of religion in providing ____________________________________
  • B. The Five ___________________ of Islam
  • 1. the confession of _______________: "I testify that there is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God"
  • 2. _____________ five times daily facing in the direction of Mecca, the holy city
  • 3. _______________ during the daylight hours of the month of Ramadan, the month of Muhammad’s first revelations
  • B.4. ________________________: giving not less than 2.5% of one’s income to the community to help the poor
  • 5. ____________________ required at least once in one’s lifetime to the House of God in Mecca
  • C. The Sunni-Shiite Division in Islam
  • 1. began with the dispute over the ________________ to Muhammad as leader of Islam
  • 2. _______________ followed the choice of caliph via election by the Mecca community
  • C.3. ___________________ wanted Ali, Muhammad’s closest male relative, to be leader as an ___________________________
  • 4. Ali was elected fourth _______________, but the split between Sunnis and Shiites led to Ali’s _______________________ by a Sunni extremist group, creating a permanent division within Islam
  • D. Main Differences between Sunni and Shiite __________________________
  • 1. 80-90% of Muslims are ________________
  • 2. ______________ dominate politics in most Middle Eastern countries except ______
  • D.3. ________________ (dying for one’s religious beliefs) is a very important belief for ________________, based on the death of Muhammad’s grandson Husayn in a battle against much __________________________
  • 4. Shiites advocate the concept of ___________________: religious and political guidance by a _______________________ leader, an authoritative teacher in all religious matters, who is endowed with _________________________________ from sin and error; each Imam is appointed through the _____________________________ by Divine Command
  • D.5. __________________ between Allah and human beings: ________________ believe the Imams can intercede between people and Allah, but ____________ do not
  • 6. _______________, because of the role of the Imams and their ability to intercede between people and Allah, have a more elaborate ___________________________ than do _____________
  • D.7. in _______________ nations, _______________ leaders are appointed by and funded by the _____________________, but in ______________ nations, ___________ leaders are appointed by Shiite religious officials and are more independent of the _____________________
  • 8. Shiite religious leaders play a much larger _______________________ than do Sunni religious leaders
  • E. The Concept of ______________
  • 1. the most common ______________________ people have in the U.S. about Islam is of fundamentalist fanatics who are willing to die to carry out a _______________
  • 2. this stereotype reflects a lack of ______________________ of Islam and the effects of our long _____________________ against the Arab states in the Middle East
  • 3. _________________ is defined differently by different Islamic groups: "sacred struggle"; "striving of the individual to carry out God’s will"; "holy war against the enemies of Islam"
  • E.4. our __________________ focuses on the holy war against Israel, the U.S., and other core nations as Islamic groups struggle to escape ____________________ and ___________________________ that threatens to replace Islamic beliefs and behavior with _________________________________________
  • 5. ______________ also can mean struggle against other Muslims who do not follow the ___________________________________________ (e.g. the assassination of Sadat in Egypt)
  • E.6. Jihad has also been appropriated as part of _________________ efforts to establish truly _________________ by striving for justice to eliminate governments dominated by the ___________
  • 7. ______________ can also mean peace, tolerance and cooperation to show others the correct way to believe and behave, rather than using violence
  • 8. this stereotype about Jihad and violence is a major problem for our understanding of the Middle East and the possibilities for _______________________ and improving _________________________ in the region

 

VI. Islam and Europe, 1500-1800

  • A. Islamic Empire Far More _________________ in 1500 than Europe
  • 1. large and very profitable ______________________ linking Africa, Europe and Asia to the Middle East made the Middle East much ______________ than Europe
  • 2. Islamic __________________ much more developed: mathematics, libraries, architecture, medicine, navigation
  • B. The Dominance of the ________________________
  • 1. Islamic empire based in ________________
  • 2. by mid-1400s, Ottomans had conquered most of _______________________ (Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania) and _______________ the rest of Europe
  • 3. Ottomans were _________________________ than France, England, Russia, Austria and other European nations
  • 4. first __________________________ by Europeans over Ottomans in Spain in the late 1400s
  • B.5. during the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s, European nations ______________ became more ____________ and better able to ____________ the Ottoman Empire, due in large part to ___________________________________
  • 6. _______________________ conquered Egypt in the early 1800s, taking over what had been a key part of the Islamic empire for _________________
  • 7. __________________________ gained independence from the Ottoman Empire with Western European help during the 1800s
  • B.8. by the late 1800s, ___________________________________ Revolution had made Europe much more developed economically, technologically and militarily

VII. European Colonialism and the Middle East, 1800-1950

  • A. From the perspective of the Ottoman Empire, what had ___________________? Competing explanations:
  • 1. God had decided it was time for the _______________________, leading to the decline of Islam
  • 2. Muslims had not been ______________________ and followed the obligations of their religion
  • 3. Islam itself had to be "___________________________________________ to suit modern conditions...so as to overcome _______________________________"
  • B. European Colonialism in the Middle East
  • 1. this reversal of __________________________________ led the European imperial powers to ______________________________ parts of the Middle East during the 1800s, just as they would do with all of ____________ in the 1880s
  • 2. British used the Ottoman Empire as a _____________________ most of the Middle East and to keep _________________ from expanding into the region, rather than ________________________
  • B.3. during World War I, the Ottomans had ___________________________
  • 4. the British used ___________________________ and their supporters and troops from other parts of the British Empire to defeat the _________________________
  • 5. final collapse of the Ottoman Empire took place at the end of _________________:, _________________ defeat allowed the other European powers to _______________ of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East between themselves
  • C. ___________________ to European Colonialism in the 1920s
  • 1. Arab groups that had been ______________ during World War I with promises of the ________________________________ did not accept European efforts to carve the Middle East into ___________________________
  • 2. _______________________________ threatened British and French control over the conquered territories
  • C.3. potential wealth of the region’s ____________ was just being recognized, so the British could not simply afford to withdraw or permit real independence
  • 4. British eventually set up a network of ___________________ (nations with partial independence but dependent on Britain economically and militarily and led by rulers chosen by the British)
  • C.5. British drew up ____________________________ (just as was done at the Berlin Conference on Africa forty years earlier) that satisfied the leaders of the ____________________________
  • 6. division of land between Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the 1920s by a _____________________________ to satisfy these client states became one cause of the Gulf War of the 1990s
  • D. What could the peoples of the Islamic colonies of Europe do to change their subordinate position?
  • 1. Middle Eastern states that gained complete formal independence after World War II sought to promote _____________________________ by adopting Western technology and accepting Western assistance, but trying to maintain the _________________________
  • D.2. Iran after the _____________________________ and Islamic movements in other Middle Eastern nations over the last twenty years have sought to reestablish the Islamic community as Muhammad envisioned it and reduce or eliminate the ____________________________
  • 3. these efforts are the source of what the U.S. considers "_______________" and the conflicts between the ______________________________________ over the last twenty years

VIII. The Contemporary Middle East

  • A. Key Role in the World Economy: _________
  • 1. most of the world’s ________________________________ from the Middle East
  • 2. ________________________________ developed by British, French, Italian and especially U.S. oil companies beginning in the 1910s
  • 3. by the 1950s and 1960s, the Middle East was the center of the world ___________________, the world’s largest and most important industry
  • B. The Core’s Worries About ___________________
  • 1. ____________________________ in the Middle East has threatened the core’s oil supplies since the 1920s
  • 2. British and French ______________________ and, after World War II, U.S. ___________________ with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, _________ until 1979, and ______ in the 1980s exchanged ______________________________________ support for oil security
  • C. The _____________ Crisis of 1956
  • 1. Nasser of Egypt _____________________ the Suez Canal in 1956, the major oil route to Europe, ending British control
  • 2. British and French ________________ to maintain control over canal opposed by _______________________
  • 3. this cost Britain and France ___________________________ and made the U.S. the leading _____________________ in the Middle East
  • 4. _____________ sought to form alliances with Egypt and other Middle Eastern nations
  • D. The Formation of ___________
  • 1. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Middle Eastern _______________
  • _______________________________) formed in 1960 because major oil TNCs paid _________________ to producing countries and had complete control over ________
  • 2. OPEC sought to increase ___________________________________ of producing oil
  • 3. OPEC nations ________________ (government took away oil TNCs ownership rights) oil production inside their borders in the ________________
  • D.4. U.S. support for ______________ in 1973 war with Arab neighbors led to ________________________ by OPEC nations
  • 5. _________________________ leads to skyrocketing prices in core, high inflation, high unemployment, and recession

6. Iranian Revolution in 1979 causes second _______________________, creating another _________________ in early 1980s in the core

  • E. The Iranian Revolution of 1979
  • 1. Shiite religious leaders, led by exiled Ayatollah Khomeini, force the ___________________________
  • 2. Ayatollah Khomeini becomes ___________________________ for several years as new parliamentary government with laws based on ______________________________ is established
  • 3. Blame for ___________________ of most Iranians and the wasting of ___________________________ placed on the Shah and the U.S., the Shah’s main supporter because of his efforts to protect U.S. access to the region’s oil
  • E.4. After Shah is admitted to the U.S. for cancer treatment during his exile from Iran, militants seize the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and hold _____________________________________________________
  • 5. Rescue attempts and diplomatic efforts fail
  • 6. Hostages released on the day Pres. Reagan was inaugurated, and there is still controversy over whether this was to establish ________________________________________, or if there had been __________________ between the new administration and the Ayatollah
  • F. U.S. Middle East Strategy 1979-Present
  • 1. promote ______________ oil production, despite very _______________ (Alaskan oil10-15 times more expensive than Middle Eastern oil) and negative _____________ impacts (Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster, ecosystem destruction)
  • 2. ally with _____________ during Iran-Iraq War in 1980s, supplying Saddam Hussein with weapons, including the __________________________
  • E.3. ally with Saudi Arabia to keep _____________________________________ in power to maintain oil exports
  • 4. ______________________ Affair: secretly selling weapons to ___________, despite ___________________ and formal ban on relations with __________, to maintain balance of power in Iran-Iraq War and finance _______________________ in Nicaragua
  • 5. promote _______________ between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Palestinians, and other neighbors to repair damaged relations from 1973 War
  • 6. Support Islamic resistance groups fighting against __________________________________________; Osama bin Laden joined this effort and recruited thousands of Muslims __________________________ to fight the Soviets, forming the basis of his current network
  • a. resistance victory destroyed the _______________________________
  • G. Living Standards in the Middle East
  • 1. U.S. stereotype of a ________________________________________
  • 2. As the following table shows, the region is ________________________________, and even the ______________ nations are far below U.S., Japanese and European levels
    • GNP Per Capita                     Life Expectancy
  • a. Core    (US$)                                      Males/Females
  • U.S.                         30,600                                     74/80
  • Japan                      32,230                                     77/84
  • b. Semi-periphery
  • Brazil                      4,420                                       63/71
  • c. Periphery
  • Congo                    670                                          46/51
  • Rwanda  250                                          40/42
  • World Average    4,890                                       65/69
  • Middle East           2,060                                       66/69
  • Egypt                     1,400                                       65/68
  • Iran                         1,760                                       70/72
  • Jordan                    1,500                                       69/73
  • Lebanon                3,700                                       68/72
  • Pakistan 470                                          61/63
  • Saudi Arabia         3,000-9,000 (range)                               70/74
  • Syria                       970                                          67/72
  • Yemen    350                                          55/56
  • Source: World Bank World Development Report 200/2001: www.worldbank.org

VIII. The Contemporary Middle East

  • G.3. Why is there so much poverty, despite many billions of dollars spent on oil products every year?
  • a. most nations do not have extensive ______________________________________
  • b. a significant share of oil revenue is diverted by __________________________________________________ in oil producing nations
  • c. from the perspective of most of the region’s residents, the explanation is a combination of the profits of __________________________________, low cost oil for U.S., European and Japanese ___________________, and theft by elites who do not _____________________________________________, meaning that very few benefits return to the vast majority of the region’s population

 

 

IX. Israel and Palestine

  • A. Fundamental Conflict: Both Groups Want The _____________________
  • 1. ______________ people expelled from homeland in Palestine by ______________ 2000 years ago
  • 2. some went to ____________ (Ashkenazi) and some to other parts of the __________________________ (Sephardim)
  • 3. ________________ people settled in region during periods of control by Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, and Ottoman conquerors
  • B. The Rise of __________________ in Europe
  • 1. long history of _____________________ (hatred and persecution of Jews) by European ______________________, other European ______________________ groups, and European nationalist movements and governments that blamed ___________________________________ problems (_________________)
  • 2. intensification of _________________ in late 1800s, including _______________ in France and pogroms (___________________________) in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe
  • B.3. leading Jewish intellectuals and businessmen began to believe that Jews could never ____________________ in Europe and proposed ________________: the movement to create a ________________________
  • 4. __________________________ movement considered creating the Jewish nation in _______________________________, in addition to in the ancestral homeland of __________________
  • C. Jewish __________________ to Palestine, Late 1800s-1940s
  • 1. Zionist leaders secure support of _______________, the leading colonial power in the Middle East, for _____________________ from Europe to Palestine in late 1800s
  • 2. thousands of Jewish __________________________________________ migrate to Palestine with support from Zionist movement in the first half of the 1900s
  • C.3. Nazi Germany’s _________________ efforts to murder all Jews in Europe in early 1940s kill six million Jews who were ___________________ for Germany’s poverty and military weakness after losing World War I
  • 4. British, U.S. and other Allies knew about the Holocaust by ____________, but did little to help ____________________________________
  • 5. British and U.S. _____________ about the Holocaust and fear of ______________ in the Middle East led the core powers to allow _________________________ of Jews into Palestine after World War II
  • D. The Founding of Israel
  • 1. ____________________ left Palestine in 1948 as part of United Nations effort to ________________ Palestine between Jews and Palestinians
  • 2. ____________________________________ Jewish militia defeated Palestinians and Arab nations in a war that began when the British left
  • 3. Jewish forces captured most of _________________ and forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to ___________ to neighboring nations via actual and threatened ____________________ of Palestinian villages
  • E. Israeli-Arab Conflicts
  • 1. Palestine is important to other Arab nations because it links eastern and western ______________ of the Middle East and because Jerusalem is the location of one of ___________________________
  • 2. Arab nations have not been ______________ in opposition to Israel because of ____________ between the Arab nations and difficult relations between other Arab nations and the __________________________
  • E.3. Arab nations united for __________________________ Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967, and 1973
  • 4. Israel ______________________ in 1982 to eliminate threat from Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and other groups based in Lebanon
  • 5. each conflict resulted in Arab __________________, large __________________ by Israel, and either Palestinian ____________________ the Israeli advance or being ______________________ by Israel (e.g. 1967 war captured West Bank, Gaza and Golan Heights)
  • E.6. Peace treaty with _________________ signed in 1979
  • a. Israel returned ____________________ captured in 1973
  • b. Egypt sells ___________________ to Israel at a discount and has established diplomatic and trade relations
  • c. President Sadat of Egypt _________________ for making peace
  • 7. Peace treaty with ____________ signed in 1994
  • a. Israel returned conquered areas of ________________
  • b. Israel agreed to share Jordan ________________ with Jordan, but reneged during current ______________
  • F. Israeli Politics: ___________________________ system with a large number of ______________
  • 1. _________________ movement to create a Jewish state and _________________ (Labor) government policies that focused on increasing ________________________ provided unity until 1970s
  • 2. divisions between major ___________________:
  • a. ___________________: Jewish in their traditions, history and faith, but modify their religious practices to conform to the demands of modern life and thought; the large _______________ of the population
  • F.2.b. _______________________: strictly observe the rules and social practices of Judaism and live in their own separate neighborhoods within cities; a _____________ of the population
  • c. _____________________ have been successful in imposing their values as ______ because their _____________________ have been essential to political ___________ that allowed the Likud party to defeat Labor in elections
  • F.2.d. Ashkenazi (_________________) more prosperous vs. Sephardim (_________________________) less prosperous and often treated _______________
  • e. East European (___________________) vs. West European (_______________ in Europe) Ashkenazi
  • f. long time _______________ vs. ___________________ groups, especially from ________________ who are reluctant to integrate into mainstream Israeli society
  • 3. 20% of population is ________________________ who are ________________ against by mainstream society
  • F.4. 200,000 Jewish settlers who live in areas that are supposed to become part of ______________ who oppose the peace process and __________________
  • 5. Jewish _______________________ who favor _______________ the Palestinians from all of Israel and Palestine
  • 6. The Palestinian Intifada (_______________): beginning in 1987, Palestinians in refugee camps conducted a sustained campaign of opposing Israeli occupation with both ________________ (refusing to pay taxes, strikes) and __________________ against the Israeli military and settlers

 

 

 

  • G. The Peace Process
  • 1. ______________ government of Yitzhak Rabin elected in 1992 after 15 years of Likud government
  • 2. Labor policy was to ________________________
  • 3. 1993 Oslo Agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) called for a gradual transition to _________________________ in West Bank and Gaza
  • 4. Rabin _____________________ by an Orthodox Jew in 1995 after an anti-Rabin campaign by ____________________ leaders; assassin applauded by _____________________
  • G.5. election of Likud government of Netanyahu in 1996 brought ________________
  • _____________ and intensified conflict between ________________
  • 6. ________________ of peace negotiations and what many Palestinians regard as the ________________________________ to gain independence by Yassir Arafat and the PLO (now the Palestinian Authority, PA) led to a return to _______________ by Hamas and other Palestinian groups who advocate _________________ against Israel and its supporters, including the ___________
  • H. The Current Crisis and the End of the Peace Process?
  • 1. Barak and One Israel (former Labor) Party won 1999 election on platform of __________________________________, but had to form coalition with _________ __________________ parties to get a majority in parliament
  • 2. transfer of _________, and especially of part of _______________, to Palestinians bitterly opposed by ________________________________________ parties
  • H.3. visit by Ariel ______________, leader of Likud, to Jerusalem triggered current wave of _______________
  • 4. most Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza still live in _______________ with poor sanitation, inadequate water supplies, and few ____________________ opportunities seven years after the peace process began, a source of ___________________
  • 5. ________________ Palestinians, mainly _______ members who returned to form the PA government, have _________________________________ than families that have lived in refugee camps for 30-50 years
  • 6. peace process has been _______________ for more than a decade despite several changes in political leadership in Israel and in the PA
  •  

 

IX. Iraq

  • A. Historical Characteristics
  • 1. site of first __________ more than 5,000 years ago
  • 2. center of _____________________ from 750-1258 A.D.
  • 3. seized from ___________________ by British in WW I
  • 4. British established an Iraqi monarchy in 1932 as a ___________________ to protect British _________________________
  • 5. Iraqi monarchy overthrown by ____________ in 1958
  • 6. Ba’th Party coup in 1968 established ___________________________; Saddam Hussein president since 1970s
  • B. The Iran-Iraq War
  • 1. Iraq _________________ Iran in 1980
  • 2. war resulted from:
  • a. historical _____________________________
  • b. longstanding __________________________ disputes
  • c. Shah of Iran’s support for ____________________________ in Iraq
  • d. Sunni (_______________) vs. Shiite (__________ after the 1979 revolution removed the Shah and Ayatollah Khomeini gained power)
  • e. hatred between Saddam Hussein and Khomeini
  • B.2.f. ________________ (Iraq) vs. __________________ (Iran) models of political authority and social development
  • g. ___________________ of Iran after Revolution
  • 3. repeated invasions and shifting _______________________ during the decade of war
  • 4. Iraq sought to stop Iranian oil exports by ________________________
  • 5. U.S. secretly supported Iran via _______________________________ to allow Iran to fight Iraqi efforts to stop oil shipments
  • B.6. long war ended in 1990 with _______________________ and millions of soldiers and civilians dead on both sides
  • a. Iran agreed to remain __________________ in Gulf War
  • C. The Gulf War
  • 1. Iraq ___________________________ Kuwait in August 1990
  • C.2. caused by long disputes over:
  • a. _______________________________ quotas (Kuwait routinely exceeded its OPEC oil quota, holding down oil prices)
  • b. ____________________________ from the jointly controlled Neutral Zone between Iraq and Kuwait that had been created by ______________________ 70 years earlier
  • c. repayment of _____________________ to Kuwait from borrowing to finance the Iran-Iraq War
  • C.3. __________________ divided between Iraq and Kuwait in the conflict
  • 4. Operation Desert Storm in January 1991 destroyed much of the ______________ in three weeks and freed Kuwait
  • 5. Former President Bush __________________________ without conquering Iraq or removing Saddam Hussein from power: Why?
  • C.5.a. U.S. was trying to maintain Iraq as a ________________________ to Iranian power in the region (fear of a potential spread of _________________________ against the core and its allies, especially Saudi Arabia)
  • b. U.S. assumed that the complete military defeat would lead to an _________________ of Hussein
  • c. U.S. badly underestimated the power of ______________________________ and its ability to ____________________ internal opposition
  • d. Hussein can claim that he ______________________________ and kept Iraq free from ___________________________
  • D. Iraq Since the Gulf War
  • 1. U.N. ___________________ on trade with Iraq imposed and maintained
  • 2. ongoing dispute over whether Iraqi ________________________________ programs and facilities have been eliminated has kept __________________________, with only limited oil sales to buy food, medicine and other essential imports permitted
  • 3. _____________, a distinct ethnic group in northern Iraq repeatedly attacked since 1960s, again sought and failed to gain independence
  • D.4. ___________________ established by U.S. and British in northern and southern Iraq, nominally to protect _____________ in the north and ___________________ in the south who opposed the Iraqi government but also to maintain _________________________
  • 5. U.S. and British Air Forces continue to _________________________ a decade after the end of the war
  • 6. U.S. has repeatedly tried to aid _________________________ to remove Saddam Hussein from power (Kurds, other ethnic groups, political rivals), but all efforts have failed
  • D.7. Hussein’s efforts to eliminate _____________________________ have killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in the past decade
  • 8. the U.N. embargo has caused ____________________________ for Iraqi children, and 500,000 have _______________________________ illnesses due to the embargo
  • 9. there was little prospect of Hussein ____________________ in the near future, or of the U.N. significantly _____________________________ before the current war
  • 10. Possible support for _______________________ bombing in 1993 suspected but not proven
  • 11. Iraq and Iran (and North Korea) were defined as the "_______________________" and Iran and North Korea may become the next military targets for the U.S. in the "war on terror"
  • E. The Current Situation
  • X. Iraq
  • E. The Current Situation
  • 1. little evidence of connections to ______________ groups and operations, and especially not to ________
  • a. Hussein was regarded as an _______________ (does not follow the teachings of Islam) in the eyes of bin Laden and many other Muslims because of the ______________ ideology of the Ba’ath Party and his violence against other Muslims and civilians
  • 2. our major ally, Great Britain, was the old ________________________ who created Iraq; how is this likely to be perceived by the people of the Middle East?
  • 3. an invasion can motivate even those who dislike a leader/political system to fight to defend them in the name of nationalism and independence against what is seen as an ___________________________ to take political and economic control
  • E.4. Iran, Syria, North Korea and other potential targets of this redefined “war on terrorism” are ____________________________ from war in Iraq
  • a. train and motivate _________________; hide as civilians; avoid mass battles; suicide attacks; _______________ your chemical, biological and nuclear weapons now before outside intervention occurs; use growing global anti-American/anti-imperialist sentiment to your advantage, especially in potential rivals in Europe, Russia and China; build underground facilities for protection
  • 5. most of the world views the U.S. invasion as imperialism to assert U.S. _____________________ (political, military and economic dominance) over the rest of the world, especially potential rivals
  • 6. the U.S. is clearly the world’s __________________________, but that does not mean all nations will agree with the U.S. about anything
  • 7. U.S. historically opposed ________________________ (helped end colonialism in Africa), and most Americans have opposed efforts to create a U.S. empire in earlier periods
  • 8. the age of imperialism ended in the ______________________________ (African decolonization, U.S. defeat in Vietnam)
  • 9. no nation will tolerate the loss of ________________________________________ that being taken over by a larger power brings, even if the or a major goal is to eliminate a dictator, create a democracy, end a long war, or some other goal that in the abstract most would say is a “good thing”
  • 10. the U.S. will be involved militarily, politically and economically in Iraq for a ___________________
  • a. our options for the future are ________________________: Iraq split into three states as it was under the Ottomans; Turkish seizure of Kurdish areas; Kurdish secession from Iraq and battles with Turkey and Iran for an independent nation; amalgamation politically with Jordan; U.S. and British military occupation and reconstruction; U.N. protectorate; long term guerrilla and/or terrorist armed resistance

 

 

XI. Conclusions and the Future

  • A. Historical Legacies that Shape the Present
  • 1. Lack of __________ make this a focus of current (Israeli-Palestinian) and future conflicts
  • 2. High degree of ________________________________ often masked to outsiders by common Islamic faith, but these intergroup conflicts make the stereotype of the "____________________________" meaningless for understanding internal conflicts and conflicts with the U.S. and Europe
  • 3. The Islamic faith that is the region’s main unifying characteristic is interpreted ________________________- by various groups
  • 4. Split of Sunni and Shiite within Islam creates conflict between _______________________
  • 5. ____________ a powerful stereotype for the West, a powerful reality for many of the poor in the region, and a tool of many leaders in the region for _____________________________
  • A.6. __________________________ of the Islamic Empire and its subsequent decline relative to the West are key social facts for residents of the region; restoring the Islamic nations to their historical position is a _______________
  • 7. __________________________ created client states and ruling families to protect oil exports, but these states are not seen as ____________________ by their residents; many regard these states as having sold out to the West
  • 8. The Islamic faith provides a unifying force for _____________________ to reduce and eliminate what are seen as negative Western influences
  • 9. Importance of the _____________________ means that the U.S., Europe and Japan must remain deeply involved in the region
  • A.10. __________________ degree of control over their oil makes the West vulnerable to supply and price shocks
  • 11. ______________ Revolution and ______________________________ to governments of client states over the past two decades makes future conflicts very likely and stability uncertain
  • 12. U.S. strategies to maintain access to oil have involved conflicting, shifting alliances, often with governments and groups who later __________________________ of the U.S. or that are later _____________ because they lack public support
  • 13. Widespread ___________ and lack of support for ___________________ seen as profiteers and having sold out to the West creates the conditions for revolts, conflicts and terrorism
  • 14. Seemingly unsolvable Israeli-Palestinian conflict the _________________ against the U.S. because of its support for Israel
  • A.15. Ongoing conflict in _____________ is another grievance between the region and the West
  • B. The Current War Against Terrorism
  • 1. Reliance on allies threatened by _____________________: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
  • 2. Plethora of potential _________________ in the region: Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, many groups opposed to their own governments
  • 3. Difficulty of ____________________________ those involved in the attacks on the U.S., despite the war in Afghanistan
  • 4. _______________ of future terrorist actions: Sept. 11 attack likely to cost between $250,000 and $450,000; _________________________ will be difficult and not very likely to succeed
  • B.5. Many of the potential allies for the U.S. in this effort have their own ___________: e.g. Russia and China seeking to eliminate ________________________ they label "terrorists"