The Middle East Issues - Essay Example

Midterm Examination: Middle East Issues Jason K. Washburn Contemporary Middle Eastern History Dr. Katz December 28, 2008 Midterm Examination: Middle East Issues A. The difficulties faced by the Middle Eastern empires in adapting to the intellectual, technological, economic, political and social challenges presented by the West in the 18th and 19th centuries. The first part of Khater’s anthology deals with the various intellectual, technological, economic, political and social challenges presented by the West and the difficulties faced by the Middle Eastern empires in adapting to these. The first two chapters deal specifically with the 18th and 19th centuries. For example, the Ottoman Government Decree defined the Official Notion of the "Modern" Citizen on June 19, 1870 based on western concepts of citizenship. This posed a great political challenge. At a cultural level, there were many changes relating to the role of women in society. For example, the Egyptian magazine Anisal-Jalis defined a vision of women and their role in society not long afterwards in 1899. Again, this was based on western concepts of the role of women in society and therefore challenged the traditional concepts. Articles in Iranian magazines wrote on the importance of the education of girls in 1907 and 1909. This defied the traditional education system, which was geared towards educating only boys, by arguing for the link between the education of girls and the advancement of Iranian society. The Bahithat al-Badiya also in 1909 advocated economic rights as well as educational rights of Egyptian women. To take things further, the comments on the unveiling and veiling of women by the Egyptian feminist Nazira Zein el-Din in 1928 not only had socio-cultural implications but also created challenges on religious grounds. Important economic changes also created challenges for the Ottoman empire. The Treaty of Balta Liman on August 16,1838 gave the British economic advantages within the Ottoman Empire, and the Convention on Free Navigation of the Suez between the European Powers and the Ottoman Empire on October 29, 1888 significantly changed the way navigation was allowed through the Suez Canal. (Khater, A) Trade involving the tobacco product led to a great number of problems for the Middle East from the 1890 onwards. In the third chapter of The Modern Middle East, James Gelvin identifies the commercial revolution that began in Europe as early as the sixteenth century as significant in defining “the global environment in which the Middle East would evolve”. (Gelvin, J) This change in trade practices redefined the Middle East though it did not originate in the Middle East itself. The revolution was aided in particular by technological breakthroughs, new institutions for trade and banking, the introduction of new crops such as tobacco mentioned above, the introduction of massive quantities of New World gold and silver into Europe, and the establishment of overseas colonies etc. This “set off a chain of events that would culminate in the establishment of the modern world economy”. (Gelvin, J) The Middle East was simply unable to adapt itself to these developing changes by the 18th and 19th centuries as well as to the development of the modern nation state system. It was too enmeshed in the older systems of commerce to take any real advantage of the changing times as Europe did. Moreover, European states naturally had no interest in assisting the Middle East in modernizing itself to adapt to the technological and economic challenges because “Europeans opposed policies that did not serve their [own] immediate economic or strategic interests “. (Gelvin, J) B. The various reactions of the people of the Middle East to western incursion, which approaches were successful, which failures and why; whether the people of the Middle East could have done anything different to protect themselves from western encroachment. The 1800s laid the foundations for many French and British incursions into the Ottoman Empire. The period between the arrival of General Bonaparte’s expedition in Egypt and the fall of the Ottoman Empire witnessed the course of events in the Middle East being “profoundly influenced, and in times of crisis dominated, by the interests, ambitions, and actions of the European Great Powers.” (Lewis, B) The people also reacted by engaging in wide-ranging debates on the nature, desirability and direction of the various reforms that were engendered by these incursions. However, the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1924 brought about a greater presence and incursion of the Europeans into the Middle East. This finally gave the Europeans the control that they desired over Muslim lands and resources. Mainly the British and French had their heyday in dominating the Middle East region until after the Second World War when many states became independent though subjected to further exploitation by the United States and then Soviet Union. In 1927 Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) outlined his vision for his country of Turkey and its future in the aftermath of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. This was successfully implemented because in writing nowadays the Arabic script has been replaced by the Latin script. This was neither inevitable nor necessary as many other countries today continue to use the Arabic script and have seen no need to adopt the Latin script. One of the failures was Egyptian Religious Scholar Ali Abd al-Raziq’s argument for the separation of state and religion in 1928 because Islam unlike Christianity offers a complete way of life that does not allow for this separation. Elsewhere, in Egypt in 1938, Taha Husayn wrote of his country as a mixture of Pharaonic, Arab, and Western Cultures. This made the Egyptians no longer see themselves as detached from their Pharaonic roots as well as consolidating the more recent Western incursions into their culture. Despite many Middle Eastern nations having since gained independence, one of the reactions of western incursions has been the formation of various militant forms of Muslim groups. This is a natural reaction to the present day western incursions into Middle Eastern lands seen as a continuation of the same colonial incursions of the past. C. Description and analysis of the great power competition over Persia before 1907; the effectiveness in keeping stability in the area after considering the Anglo-Russian Entente. The British influence in Persia in the 19th century aimed to develop Persia economically “as a bulwark against Russian expansionism” (Encyplopaedia Iranica). Thus, Persia was intended to be made into a buffer state. At the eve of the Regie, Henry Rawlinson in the 1860s and George Curzon in the 1890s put this Persian question forward. However, the idea of a buffer state was ended following the secret agreement in 1907 that partitioned Persia into two zones of influence. This was then reaffirmed by the 1915 agreement, which effectively eliminated the buffer concept advocated by John Malcolm and Lord Palmerston. The great power competition over Persia thus saw Great Britain encroaching from the south being pit against Russia in its northern frontier. A similar situation was also in Central Asia. “With the virtual eradication of French power on the subcontinent, the greatest threat to that power came from the north-Russia. Hence, the Great Game, the competition between Russia and Britain for influence in Central Asia and Persia, considered by British strategists the gateway to India.” (Gelvin, J) The Anglo Russian Entente was an agreement between the governments of Great Britain and Russia in 1907 “to respect the integrity and independence of Persia, and sincerely desiring the preservation of order throughout that country and its peaceful development, as well as the permanent establishment of equal advantages for the trade and industry of all other nations” (Parliamentary Papers) This agreement sought to bring stability in the area. But the result as already mentioned was the bipartition of Persia into the British and Russian zones of influence. It may have been effective in stabilising the region but it only lasted until the outbreak of world war one. At the same time, an internal power competition in Persia was between the secular establishment and the religious elite in Persia. Mirza Malkum Khan made a famous satirical expression of this rivalry. The rule of the Shah was only displaced in 1979 by the Iranian revolution. D. Major problems faced by the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries. The reforms of such people as Mahmet Ali and the Young Turks; the extent to which they were successful in solving or alleviating the problems of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire had already been greatly weakened before the 19th century especially due to the wars for example with Persia and Russia. The sultans were very negligent and the earlier scientific advantage over Western countries had also greatly diminished. It is this state of affairs that enabled the imperialists to make their incursions into the Middle East. The Hatt-I-Serif Decree on November 3, 1839 initiated the Tanzimat reforms. This was a period in the Ottoman Empire that lasted until 1876 and these reforms “were designed to make the civil service more accountable and efficient. These reforms included the establishing of consultative bodies and the codification of law.” (New World Encyclopedia) However, these were ineffective measures that could not curb the corruption of the bureaucracy. Moreover, the empire had already become greatly weakened by the end of the 19th century for three main reasons. It was militarily unable to defend against its neighbors, the leadership was ineffectual and economically the empire was in a deep difficulty in repaying back loans to the European banks. In addition, nationalism was another influence that accelerated its breakup. The Young Turks who were in power from 1908 to 1918 believed that the empire was too dependent on non-Muslims and engaged in a series of coups. But their rule was too oppressive to be successful. The situation had deteriorated so much that the empire was being referred to as the “Sick Man of Europe”. This was a far cry from being described earlier as “the present terror of the world” and being the envy of Europe and the Christian world. A division of the empire was decided upon in The Treaty of Sèvres on August 10, 1920. E. The attempt of the people of the Middle East to copy western influences throughout the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries; the reason why, and what impact, they had. The introduction of Western ideas such as the separation of state and religion has already been mentioned. For example, in 1928 ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq, an Egyptian religious scholar argued for the separation of state and religion. (Khater, A) In addition, European political ideas of freedom seen as the key to Western superiority, and the parliamentary system of governance, “In time, even the Muslim peoples of the Empore – Turks, Arabs and others – lost their previous immunity and succumbed to the infection of European ideas – liberal, patriotic and nationalist.” (Lewis, B) The different cultural groups of Arabs, Turks, Persians and others had become too proudly conscious of their individualities and distinct customs that hastened their separation into different nations. A study of art, literature and music also shows an attempt to parallel Western forms. In short, “In cultural and social life [too], the introduction and acceptance of European ways went very far and persisted in forms which even the most militant and radical either did not perceive or were willing to tolerate.” (Lewis, B) The greatest change in society concerns the position of women. By the mid-twentieth century, more and more women were adopting a western style of clothing. Above all though, the western influences led to a granting of greater rights of equality with men in many areas of life including political rights, the right to education and earn a living etc. For example, as mentioned previously, the Bahithat al-Badiya Advocated greater educational and economic rights for Egyptian women in 1909. In chapter nine of The Modern Middle East entitled Secularism and Modernity, James Gelvin also describes in detail why the people of the Middle East attempted to copy western influences throughout the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries and the impact it had. It was simply seen as a way of progressing to be on par with the Europeans. After all, by this time the Middle Eastern countries had experienced enough of being ruled by their colonial masters to want to emulate their culture and ideas. It was perceived as the only way forward in the name of progress and modernity. This attention and fascination of the people of the Middle East towards everything western during the period in question has been described as Occidental Orientalism. The people perceived themselves as inferior, a feeling that still persists to date, and “saw little of merit in their own civilization” (New World Encyclopedia). They looked upon themselves as the west did as “backward, decadent, and static in contrast to the West”. (New World Encyclopedia) The new self-perception necessarily included westernization in the cultural make-up. For example, in 1938 Taha Husayn wrote of Egyptians as a mixture of Pharoanic, Arab and Western cultures. (Khater, A). References Encyplopaedia Iranica. Available at http://www.iranica.com/newsite/index.isc?Article=http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/v11f2/v11f2086c.html Gelvin, J.L. (2008). The Modern Middle East:  A history (2nd ed.) . New York: Oxford University Press.  ISBN 13: 9780195327595/ISBN 10: 0195327594 Khater, A.F. (Ed.). (2004).  Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East.  New York:  Houghton-Mifflin.  ISBN 0-395-98067-4 Lewis, Bernard. (1995). The Middle East. Weidenfield and Nicholson. New World Encyclopedia. Available online at http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ottoman_Empire#Decline_and_Reform Parliamentary Papers. (1908). Great Britain, Parliamentary Papers, London, 1908, Vol CXXV, Cmd. 3750. Available online at http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/The_Anglo-Russian_Entente. Read More