Summary of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt - Essay Example

Summarizing Kemal Artaturk Kemal Artaturk, also known as Mustafa Kemal in his original was the first president of Turkey, who reigned between 1923 and 1938. Kemal was a soldier and a statesman, who also turned out to be an ardent reformer (Kemal, 1). He is responsible for modernizing the country’s educational and legal system, as well as introducing the European culture in the country, such as having the Turkish language written in Latin alphabet, as well as having the Turks adapt European names. He was born in 1881 of a militant father who died when Kemal was just 7 years old, but nevertheless, he had managed to instil militarism in Kemal’s personality (Kemal, 2). His mother did everything to ensure that he gained education that would give him a bureaucratic career, and Kemal excelled in school where he was nicknamed as such, to mean the perfect one, since he was bright and excellent in mathematics (Kemal, 3). After his school, he joined the military training college in 1899 and starting 1919, he embarked on a mission to save his country from the European invasion. He was selected as a loyal and professional officer of the Turkish army and he headed to Anatolia on May 19, 1919, where he offered a famous speech against the European invasion (Kemal, 4). Having got no ample support due to opposition from the Sultan, Kumal resigned from the military on July 7 1919 only to join another wing of the military that allowed him to gain an official status. This position he applied to his advantage and fought for the independence of Turkey from the Greeks who had occupied their territory, and eventually Turkey gained independence after a series of battles. Despite their immense wealth, the Saudis are not happy Although money can buy many things, Saudi Arabia is one of the countries in the world with immense wealth, yet its people, even the very rich ones are not happy (The Economist, n.p.). While they may have as much money, which can be reflected in the enormous country’s GDP which runs into $745 billion, the structure of the society, in form of the social, political and religious structures have remained one of the most stifling (The Economist, n.p.). This means that the people in Saudi Arabia, whose population is approximately 30 million, have less freedom to enjoy their wealth. The government stifles this freedom either with money or threats. The influence of the Saudi regime has also been extended to its neighboring countries, where the country has become erratic and assertive in supporting its perceived friendly regimes, while opposing the regimes it finds threatening (The Economist, n.p.). Saudi also perceives its strong relationship with the west as diminishing, and has rejected a post in the UN Security Council, in protest of the failure of USA to act on Syria, after it used chemical weapons on its people. The crescent and the company; A scholar asks some profound questions about why the Middle East fell behind the West There has always been a fundamental question in relation to why the East did not compete with the West even after the end of colonialism (The Economist, n.p.). Many reasons have been flaunted in answering this question, among them being the fact that Islam is hostile to commerce, and that the Middle East has not been able to formulate and develop suitable commercial institution that would reinforce its competitiveness. Most especially however, the fact that business in the Middle East has largely remained a state affair without much inter-state or regional connectivity has meant that the region has not been able to compete with both Europe and America, despite its immense wealth (The Economist, n.p.). Further, the long divergence of ideology, especially religious and political ideologies between the East and the West has served to hinder the competitiveness of the East. Saudi’s Lonely, Costly Bid for Sunni-Shiite Equality The fight for equality for the Sunnis and the Shiites in Saudi Arabia has become a costly affair, which has seen one of the most vocal advocates of this equality, Mikhlif Al-Shammari, jailed, chastised and ruined financially (Worth, n.p.). Worse still, he has even been shot four times by his own son over the same deepening sectarian hatred in the country, and the conservative Saudi government has labeled him as consorting with dissidents, for his role in protecting the Shiites which he has played over the last 8 years (Worth, n.p.). Since he has been active in defending the Shiites in media and in print, he has been banned from talking to the media. Nevertheless, he has remained committed to his cause of advocating for the termination of the violence between the Sunni and the Shiite (Worth, n.p.). While he may not be one of the most popular human rights activist in the country, his role in advocating for human rights and equality of treatment between these two Muslim religious groups is unique, considering that he is the only vocal amongst the followers of the majority Sunnis, set to advocate openly for the rights of the Shiites (Worth, n.p.). The Shiites have been rebuked and considered unwanted in the Saudi community, where they form only 10% of the population. However, this sectarian divide that has been promoted by the government has served to tear down dissent in the kingdom (Worth, n.p.). Nevertheless, despite the fact that this activism has hurt both him and his family, he has sworn to continue with the fight, even if it means paying with his own life. History of Egypt Egypt still remains the cradle of human civilization in the middle east, where the first traces of early man were found over 700,000 years ago (History of Egypt, 1). Egypt and the ancient Canaan must have served as the gateway through which the waves of human development starting with Homo erectus to Homo sapiens, moved from Africa to both Mesopotamia and Europe. Monuments, tombs and pyramids form part of the unique Egyptian history, and the religion of Egypt has always centered on the afterlife (History of Egypt, 1). River Nile has been the basis of Egyptian economic prosperity where Egypt was founded and built because the country has shortage of rain. The silt from the banks of the Nile River has been the basis of the countries flourishing agriculture. The era of Akanton between 1379 and 1326 BC is a period in the Egyptian history when the country did not flourish, since the king neglected the empire and suppressed the institution of religion in Egypt that worshiped the Sun (History of Egypt, 3). However, the fortunes of the country that had suffered then were revived during Ramses II rule from 1279 to 1212 BC. Despite a series of battle that the country had to go through during the period and the subsequent periods, including the late period and the Moslem conquest era, which installed Arab dynasty rule in Egypt, he rebuild Egypt’s infrastructure again (3). The last Arab dynasty to rule Egypt was the Memulekes in 1248, after which the Ottoman rule was established when the Turks conquered Egypt in 1517 (History of Egypt, 4). Nevertheless, it is the French invasion of Egypt that brought in civilization and adoption of the European culture, with the Napoleonic invasion introducing new civilized European culture, military techniques and technology that revolutionized Egypt (History of Egypt, 4). Later, the British invaded Egypt and defeated France, thus paving the way for the introduction of the first Egyptian ruler in the civilized nation, Mohamed Ali in 1805, and the subsequent self-rule was established. Saudi Arabia and the Rise of the Wahhabi Threat The Wahhabism is a violent Muslim doctrine that represents the modern day Al-Qaeda, which rejects any form of non-Muslim religion, and is the basis of the modern day Saudi Arabia, commonly referred to as the Saudi-Wahhabi state (Schwartz, n.p.). It is an expansionism movement that seeks to eliminate the Shiite sect of Islam which is regarded as perverted worship, as well as Christianity, Hinduism and Jewish religion in their holistic forms. As a matter of fact, the doctrine of Wahhabism does not seek to overcome these faiths, but to destroy these faiths completely, and it is an issue of great concern, which then requires that more attention is paid to this threatening development (Schwartz, n.p.). The movement emerged slightly over 250 years ago as an advocacy of Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and sought to instill the non- Wahhabi extinction movement after the formation of the Saudi-Arabia state, through defeating and enslaving any element that was perceived to be non- Wahhabism (Schwartz, n.p.). The extremist doctrine took advantage of the fall of Mecca in 1924 to use the oil wealth obtained from the region to spread this doctrine globally, in “tactics reminiscent of Al-Qaedas calculated savagery” (Schwartz, n.p.). This doctrine is the core of the Muslim extremism that is now the basis of the modern day Muslim insurgents, and the Saudi-Arabia wealth is the ultimate foundation of the Al-Qaeda, which could not survive otherwise. The doctrine is spread based on blatantly false Muslim religious principles, which serve to create divisions and hatred between Islam and other religions, and remains the bottom-line of the Saudi-Arabia culture. Works Cited History of Egypt Kemal Artaturk Schwartz, Stephen. “Saudi Arabia and the Rise of the Wahhabi Threat”, February 27, 2003 Retrieved March 19, 2014 from http://www.meforum.org/535/saudi-arabia-and-the-rise-of-the-wahhabi-threat The Economist. “Schumpeter: The crescent and the company; A scholar asks some profound questions about why the Middle East fell behind the West”, Jan 27th 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2014 from http://www.economist.com/node/18008627?story_id=18008627&fsrc=nlw|hig|01-27-2011|editors_highlights The Economist. “No satisfaction: Despite their immense wealth, the Saudis are not happy”, Feb 1st 2014. Retrieved March 19, 2014 from http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21595480-despite-their-immense-wealth-saudis-are-not-happy-no-satisfaction Worth, Robert F. “Saudi’s Lonely, Costly Bid for Sunni-Shiite Equality.” The New York Times, March 14, 2014. 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