Transcript Slide 1

The
Middle East
Middle East Overview
•
•
•
•
Background
Culture and Religion
Economic and Social Issues
Politics and Government
Middle Eastern Countries
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Morocco
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
Yemen
Overview Video
Middle Eastern Culture
• Major ethnic groups in the
Middle East today include
Arabs, Iranians (also known
as Persians), Turks, Jews,
Kurds, Berbers, Armenians,
Nubians, Azeris, and Greeks
• Most of the countries in
this region are multiethnic
Middle Eastern Culture
• The family is an important part of
culture in the Middle East
• In traditional Arab societies the
family unit is an extended
family—cousins, grandparents,
second cousins, cousins-in-law,
nieces, nephews, and more—all
living together
Middle Eastern Culture
• Difference between life in the village
and life in the city
– Two men in Egypt can share the same
language (Arabic), religion (Islam), and
nationality (Egyptian)
– One may live in an air-conditioned
apartment
– The other may live in a naturally cool
mud-brick house surrounded by three
generations of relatives
Middle Eastern Culture
• Technology is beginning to
change all of this
• Today remote villagers are
gaining access to all of the
information and technology
formerly available only in the
city
– Satellite dishes
– Cell phones
Middle Eastern Culture
• Many languages, three families
– Semitic (including Arabic, Hebrew, and
Aramaic)
– Indo-European (Kurdish, Persian, Armenian)
– Altaic (Turkish, Azeri)
• The multiplicity of languages spoken in the
Middle East reflects its ethnic diversity
• Most of these languages come from three
major language "families"
Middle Eastern Religions
• Christianity
• Judaism
• Islam
– All have the following in common:
•
•
•
•
•
One God
Descendents of Abraham
Accept some concept of judgment day
Existence of free will and human sin
Necessity of repentance
Comparison of Religions
Christianity Prayer on
an
individual
basis
Judaism Three sets
of prayer
daily
Jesus is the
savior
Based on divine
scriptures, old &
new testaments of
Bible
The Messiah Based on divine
will come
scriptures, the
Tanakh
Islam Prayers
Jesus was
are five
prophet, but
times daily Muhammad
was greatest
prophet
Based on divine
scriptures, the
Koran
Social Issues
The sense of shared identity and fate among
Muslims is coupled with a Muslim perception
that the non-Muslim world is united against
Islam
Social Issues
• Dangerous currents, among both
Muslims and Westerners, threaten to
turn academic chatter about a clash
of civilizations into a reality
• “Umma-itis”—The
growing tendency for
younger Muslims to
believe they are part of an
embattled supranational community,
the umma
Social Issues
• Causes Muslims to view all
western actions as attempts to
oppress Islam
• Causes westerners to view all
Muslims as jihadists
Social Issues
• Muslims are now increasingly inclined to
stress their religious identity
– This globalization of Muslim identity is
helping to fuel a revival of a shared interest
• The extent to which this sense of common
victimization gains traction, the more likely it is
to feed the perception that there are, in reality,
two civilizations in conflict
Economics
• 2008 unemployment rates in the
region average 9.4%, with low female
participation in the labor force (22%)
• Close to 30% of the population lives
on less than two dollars per day
• Rapid demographic growth
only exacerbates the numbers
of unemployed and
disenchanted youth
Middle Eastern
Economics
Data from
International
Monetary Fund,
2009--% of world
GDP adjusted to
PPP
Country
United States
Turkey
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Egypt
Algeria
Israel
UAE
Kuwait
Morocco
GDP
20.022
1.340
1.203
0.878
0.658
0.339
0.292
0.278
0.210
0.204
Middle Eastern
Economics
Data from
International
Monetary Fund,
2009--% of world
GDP adjusted to
PPP
Country
Libya
Qatar
Iraq
Syria
Tunisia
Oman
Yemen
Lebanon
Jordan
Bahrain
GDP
0.168
0.163
0.159
0.138
0.123
0.101
0.080
0.068
0.046
0.039
Economics
World Proved Oil Reserves
(in billion barrels)
• North America
210
• Central, South America 123
• W. Europe
14
• Eurasia
99
• Middle East
746
• Africa
117
• Asia and Oceana
34
Source:
PennWell
Corporation, Oil
& Gas Journal,
Vol. 106.48
(December 22,
2008)
World Crude Oil Reserves
U.S. Crude Oil Suppliers—Thousands of
Barrels/day as of Nov 2009
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Canada
Mexico
Nigeria
Saudi Arabia
Venezuela
Iraq
Angola
1,984
951
948
837
809
458
408
Scarcity of Water
• Ten countries in the region are
consuming more than 100% of
their renewable water supplies
– Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait,
Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Republic, Yemen,
and Palestine (the West Bank and
Gaza)
• The degradation of water quality
is also a major issue
Scarcity of Water
• By 2025, the following countries are expected
to face “absolute water scarcity” (not enough
water to grow 1990 levels of food, less than
500 Cubic Meters/Capita):
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Oman
– Libya
– Syria
– Saudi
Arabia
– Tunisia
– UAE
– Yemen
Politics and Government
• As with everything else in this region,
religion plays a role in national and
international politics as well
– Turkey has a Muslim majority, but is
officially a secular nation
– Other countries in the region identify themselves
with a specific religion, mostly Islam
• The poor relations between Israel and most
of its Arab neighbors are sometimes
described in terms of a perpetual religious
conflict between Jews and Muslims—this
is not necessarily true
Politics and Government
• Control over important historical sites
of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is a
factor in the Arab-Israeli disagreements
• Many of the details that stall
negotiations have more to do with
control of land and access to water
resources than religion
• Furthermore, many Palestinians who
demand restitution for their property are
Christian, not Muslim
• Egypt's historic treaty with Israel
provides a model for how Muslim and
Jewish neighbors can live peaceably
What Israelis and Palestinians Want
• Land—Both sides lay claim to land that
has changed hands many times since
biblical times
• Property—Both sides owned property
that is now under the other’s control
• Water—Always a scarcity in the region;
control of the water is ultimately control
over life
• Nation—Both sides also want an
independent nation to call their own, yet
neither is willing to give up enough to
make this happen
Middle East Summary
•
•
•
•
Background
Culture and Religion
Economic and Social Issues
Politics and Government
The Middle East
• Questions
The Middle East
• Student Presentations
• Discussion