Transcript Conflict in the Middle East


Umayyad Dynasty 661-750 CE
› Damascus Syria—Center of the empire
› Emphasis on Arab culture
› Discrimination toward non-Arab
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Abbassid Dynasty 750-1258
› Overthrew Umayyad
› Moved capital to Baghdad
› Prospered—Art, Science, Medicine, Etc
› Very tolerant of other religions/ethnic groups
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Seljuks 1055
› Took Baghdad
› Weakened Byzantine Empire
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1200s Mongols swept through
› Hulagu (Grandson of Genghiz)
› Brought trade but destroyed cities and killed
people
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1300s Ottomans in Anatolia
› 1453 captured Constantinople ending the
Byzantine Empire
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Suleiman (1520-1566)- The “Lawgiver”
› Ruled 50 million people
› Height of the 500 year rule
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Slaves– conquered peoples who gained
freedom by converting to Islam
› Christian boys taken, converted and
developed personal strengths
 If athletic– Military (highest Janizary corps)
 If intellectual– political leaders (highest grand
vizier)
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Millets- Non-Muslim communities ruled
themselves but loyal to Sultan
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1500s the Safavids waged war on Ottomans
› Iran
› Safavids Shiite
› Led by Shah (King)
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Abbas the Great 1587-1629 Shah (King)
› European helped him to fight agains Ottomans
 Trained in Musketry and Cannonry
› Encouraged trade
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 Brought Chinese to Capital
Shahs ruled till 1979 thought the Safavids were
gone by 1736
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In the 19th century, the Ottoman empire
began losing control to Russia and Britain
› Britain and Russia were both showing interest
in the Middle East.
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US Foreign policy= not
much interest in the race
for territory in the east
› Monroe Doctrine
Ottoman Empire =Central
Powers (Germany and
Austria Hungary)
 Sykes-Picot Accord– Secret
treaty between Britain and
France to divide up the
Arab empire
 Balfour Declaration---The
British supported the
creation of a Jewish state in
Palestine
 Promises to support an
independent Arab state
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Movement to
reestablish Israel in the
holy land
Theodore Herzl
Due to antisemitism in
Eastern Europe and
Russia in the late 1800s
› Pogroms
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Gained momentum
during WWI
Realized after the
Holocaust

Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points, League of
Nations and “Self-Determination”
(decolonization/autonomy)
› British and France opposed
 Why?
› US never joins
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What did this mean?

Britain and France
carve up the Middle
East.
› Britain took Iraq,
Kuwait, The Arabian
Peninsula, Jordan and
Palestine
› French took Morocco,
Algeria, Syria Lebanon
and Tunisia

Broken Promises

Lack of independence
of Arab nations

New Jewish Nation

Shift from Coal to Oil
› US had some interest but
produced 60% of worlds
oil prior to WWII (1940)

During WWII– Soviets
British must not allow
Nazis to gain
foothold

Post WWII US
changes stance on
oil

1948 UN led by US
creates Jewish nation
of Israel

US dependence on
Middle East for oil

Stop spread of
communism

After WWII the British
could not afford to
remain in control of
the Suez
› The United States
took over to prevent
the Soviets from
doing so

US needs Saudi Oil

US supports Israel

Saudis oppose Israel

US needs to stop Soviets

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United Nations—Israel is
a sovereign state
Immediate responses
› Egypt, Syria, Jordan,
Lebanon and Iraq invade
Israel.
› Israel succeeds and
extends territory
› 750000 Palestinian
refuges were now without
a home and the Arab
world was enraged

Egypt’s Gamal Abd al-Nasser takes the
Suez Canal from French and British
› He also makes deal with Soviets
› Block Israel’s ability to ship in Red Sea
› British and French support invasion by Israel
› Israel takes Sinai
› US intervenes forcing Israel to leave Sinai
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Egypt’s Gamal Abd al-Nasser
› Pan-Arabism

PLO formed– Palestinian Liberation
Organization
› Sought the formation of an autonomous
Palestinian state
› Refused to accept Israel’s legitimacy


Nasser orders UN troops to leave Egypt-Israel border
and restricts Israeli shipping through the Suez
Israel preemptively invades
 Occupies Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, W. Bank
 Said the would withdraw in return for recognition
 RESPONSE = NO

Egypt and Syria invade
Israel on Yom Kippur (4th
Arab-Israeli War)
› Soviets supply Egypt and
Syria and US supports Israel
(Beginning of full US
support)
› Saudi Arabia cuts off Oil to
US = Crisis in US
 Realization of just how dependent
US is on Oil
 Doubled the unemployment
 Reduced GDP by 6%
Peace treaty between
Israel and Egypt
 Egypt’s Sadat recognized
Israel’s soverignty in return
for Israeli withdraw from
the Sinai Peninsula
 US gave 3 billion to Israel
and 1.5 billion to Egypt
 Sadat of Egypt became
hated because of his
negotiations and
eventually was
assassinated in 1981
Egypt was also expelled
from the Arab League
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Today the situation remains unstable
Palestinian push for statehood
Hamas refusal to Accept Israel’s sovereignty
Jerusalem remains a bone of contention
The 2002 wall of protection cuts through
Palestinian farmland
› Refuges remain homeless in bordering
countries
› Fight for scarce resources
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The United States had helped Iranian shah
(King), Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to gain control
of the Iranian government
The United States began sending more
“support” to Iran
By the mid-70s, 50% of all arms exports were
heading to Iran

Pahlavi popularity
declines
› Westernization
› Gap between rich and
poor

Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini takes control

Khomeini sought reform
based on Islamic
fundamentalism.
› Expel Western Ideas
›
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(Music, movies and
literature)
Women Covered
US=Great Satan
Soviet Union= Lesser
Satan
1979- Iranian students
seize the US embassy (8
soldiers end up dead)
Gas Prices in the US
soared due to the halt of
Iranian gas exports
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In September of 1980
Saddam Hussein of Iraq
invaded Iran
For 8 years the two
struggled against one
another.
› Iraq with more support
from Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait
› Iran more determined
with plastic keys hanging
from their necks
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US supports Saddam
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Reagan did not want
to see Iran win.
When Iran began
attacking Kuwait, the
US began supplying
Iraq with weapons
Simultaneously, the US
secretly sold anti-tank
weapons and spare
military parts to Iran

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Soviets invade
Afghanistan 1979
US supports
Mujahedeen and
Osama
› 1994 Taliban splits
from Northern
Alliance and takes
control of
Afghanistan
 New Fundamentalism
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More recent news:
Iraq executes Chemical Ali
Ali Hassan al-Majid was notorious for the
gassing of more than 5,000 Kurds in 1988
and other brutal campaigns
In 1988 Saddam
begins gassing Kurds
in the North of Iraq
› Kurds supported the
Iranians and hoped
for independence
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Iraq accuses Kuwait of
pumping oil from an area
claimed by Saddam Hussein
US warns Saddam not to use
force
Saddam invades Kuwait in
early August, 1990
Iraq’s chief supporter (Soviet
Union) immediately stopped
arms shipments
US gave Hussein a deadline
to pull out troops by
January 15, 1991. at the
same time positioning
540000 troops in the Middle
East
Support of Arab States
and European Nations
 US invasion in MidJanuary 1991 pushed to
Iraq Army back to
Bagdad .
 Bush (Sr.) decided that
completed destruction
may destabilize Iraq
 After the Gulf War, many
countries in the Middle
East relied on the US to
maintain stability.
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Coordinated attacks by al Qaeda on
the Pentagon and the World Trade
Center.
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Since the Gulf War most of our regional
focus has been on Iraq, Iran and the
Arab-Israeli conflict
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Since we have discussed the roots of the
Arab-Israeli conflict in depth, lets look at
Iran and Iraq
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After the Gulf War:
 Iraq oil exports were limited
 Saddam Hussein was allowed to remain in
power to keep country stable
 UN weapons inspectors were allowed to look
for weapons of mass destruction and also
destroyed stockpiles of biological and
chemical weapons
 In 1998, the US and British bombed Iraq when
they refused to allow weapons inspectors into
Iraq
 Iraq continued to refuse to allow UN inspectors
in until 2002
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In 2002 the United Nations put pressure on
Iraq to allow weapons inspections
Iraq agreed but resisted the UN inspections.
Colin Powell insisted the Saddam Hussein
had links to al Quaeda.
Britain and US saw action as necessary to
bring about regime change but France,
Germany and Russia did not agree with
action being taken
Turkey later refused to allow US to use its
territory to enter Iraq
The US moves forward with some support
from allies
 No WMDs were found
 Mass gravesites were found (Hussein)
 Hussein’s regime was toppled
 Order is far from being restored
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The UN believes that Iran has failed to
notify the UN that they have imported
Uranium
 It is clear that Iran has a well developed
Nuclear program
 Iran seeks permission from France
Germany and Britain to enrich Uranium
 US worries about the threat
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Plenty of evidence showing that Iran
support Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic
Jihad– 3 terrorist groups that seek the
liberation of Palestine
 Evidence of torture and killings of
opposition to the Iranian regime

US placed economic sanctions on Iran
 Any country who invests more than 20
million annually into Iranian fuel industry is
not allowed access to US markets
 The vacuum left by US in Iran’s fuel
industry has been filled by other
countries
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