Western Imperialism in the Middle East 1914-1958
Western Imperialism in the Middle East 1914-1958

Author: D. K. Fieldhouse

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2006-04-06

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 0191536962

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The term 'Fertile Crescent' is commonly used as shorthand for the group of territories extending around the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates. Here it is assumed to consist of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Palestine. Much has been written on the history of these countries which were taken from the Ottoman empire after 1918 and became Mandates under the League of Nations. For the most part the histories of these countries have been handled either individually or as part of the history of Britain or France. In the first instance the emphasis has normally been on the development of nationalism and local resistance to alien control in a particular territory, leading to the modern successor state. In the second most studies have concentrated separately on how either France or Britain handled the great problems they inherited, seldom comparing their strategies. The aim of this book is to see the region as a whole and from both the European and indigenous points of view. The central argument is that the mandate system failed in its stated purpose of establishing stable democratic states out of what had been provinces or parts of provinces within the Ottoman empire. Rather it generated basically unstable polities and, in the special case of Palestine, one totally unresolved, and possibly unsolvable, conflict. The result was to leave the Middle East as perhaps the most volatile part of the world in the later twentieth century and beyond. The main purpose of the book is to examine why this was so.

The Third Reich and the Arab East
The Third Reich and the Arab East

Author: Łukasz Hirszowicz

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-11-10

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 1315409399

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This book, first published in English in 1966, is a comprehensive guide to, and analysis of, the Third Reich’s policy towards the Arab world. Based on German archive material, the records of the Nuremburg trials, published collections of American, British, French, German and Italian documents, and on European and Arabian diaries and memoirs, it provides an essential reading of the history of the region at a key point in time.

Jews and Palestinians in the Late Ottoman Era, 1908-1914
Jews and Palestinians in the Late Ottoman Era, 1908-1914

Author: Fishman Louis Fishman

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2019-11-27

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 147445402X

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Uncovering a history buried by different nationalist narratives (Jewish, Israeli, Arab and Palestinian) this book looks at how the late Ottoman era set the stage for the on-going Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It presents an innovative analysis of the struggle in its first years, when Palestine was still an integral part of the Ottoman Empire. And it argues that in the late Ottoman era, Jews and Palestinians were already locked in conflict: the new freedoms introduced by the Young Turk Constitutional Revolution exacerbated divisions (rather than serving as a unifying factor). Offering an integrative approach, it considers both communities, together and separately, in order to provide a more sophisticated narrative of how the conflict unfolded in its first years.

Empires of the Sand
Empires of the Sand

Author: Efraim Karsh

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2001-04-02

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 0674039343

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Empires of the Sand offers a bold and comprehensive reinterpretation of the struggle for mastery in the Middle East during the long nineteenth century (1789-1923). This book denies primacy to Western imperialism in the restructuring of the region and attributes equal responsibility to regional powers. Rejecting the view of modern Middle Eastern history as an offshoot of global power politics, the authors argue that the main impetus for the developments of this momentous period came from the local actors. Ottoman and Western imperial powers alike are implicated in a delicate balancing act of manipulation and intrigue in which they sought to exploit regional and world affairs to their greatest advantage. Backed by a wealth of archival sources, the authors refute the standard belief that Europe was responsible for the destruction of the Ottoman Empire and the region's political unity. Instead, they show how the Hashemites played a decisive role in shaping present Middle Eastern boundaries and in hastening the collapse of Ottoman rule. Similarly, local states and regimes had few qualms about seeking support and protection from the infidel powers they had vilified whenever their interests so required. Karsh and Karsh see a pattern of pragmatic cooperation and conflict between the Middle East and the West during the past two centuries, rather than a clash of civilizations. Such a vision affords daringly new ways of viewing the Middle East's past as well as its volatile present.

British Policy in Mesopotamia, 1903-1914
British Policy in Mesopotamia, 1903-1914

Author: Stuart A Cohen

Publisher: Garnet Publishing Ltd

Published: 2022-07-01

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0863724655

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British imperial interests in Iraq during and after the First World War are well known and have often been studied. But what of British policy towards the Mesopotamian provinces before 1914? In this well-documented study, Stuart Cohen provides the first coherent account of growing British interest in these provinces, in which the defense of India, commercial considerations, the protection of Shia Muslim pilgrims, and fear of a German-dominated Berlin-to-Baghdad railway all had a vital role to play. First published in 1976 and now available in paperback for the first time, this book is essential reading not only for an understanding of the making of British policy towards the Arab provinces of the Ottoman empire, but also of the last days of Turkish rule in Iraq itself.

Conflict and Peace in the Middle East
Conflict and Peace in the Middle East

Author: Hatem Shareef Abu-Lebdeh

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9780761808121

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The Middle East plays a significant role in world affairs, as the region continues to experience political, economic, and military upheavals that have international implications. The daily developments in Middle East issues influence both regional and international affairs. In Conflict and Peace in the Middle East, Dr. Abu-Lebdeh traces the origins of current conflict by analyzing historical events and formative issues in the Middle East. He details, from the turn of the 20th century, the impact of the Ottoman Empire, the Anglo-French alliance, the two World Wars, and foreign intervention in the region, as well as more recent events such as the fall of the Soviet Union and the Persian Gulf War, relating these to the present situation and the Middle East peace process. As a foundation for this analysis, Dr. Abu-Lebdeh explains selected approaches to the study of bilateral relations: system analysis, influence, national interest, and national perceptions. Using the perceptual approach, the book examines the impact of national perceptions on the Arab-Israeli conflict and inter-Arab relations. It highlights U.S. interaction with Middle Eastern countries, particularly U.S.-Jordan relations, in demonstrating how perceptual changes affect national policies. Dr. Abu-Lebdeh also examines relationships between perceptual changes and policy modifications. The book analyzes the Arab-Israeli conflict and the crucial role of the United States as mediator and facilitator in the Middle East peace process. Within the perceptual framework, the book discusses such developments as the Oslo agreement, the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, and the incremental steps toward comprehensive peace accords. With its thorough historical background and solid political scholarship and analysis, this book helps illuminate the origins and complexity of, and current responses to, Middle East conflict and peace.

The Birth of Saudi Arabia
The Birth of Saudi Arabia

Author: Gary Troeller

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-23

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1135162050

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First Published in 1976. Today the name Sa'udi Arabia evokes images of desert wastes, limitless reservoirs of oil and economic might. When one thinks of the predominant foreign power concerned with the desert kingdom, one thinks of the United States. Forty yean; ago, oil had yet to be discovered, ibn Sa 'ud had just unified the greater part of the Arabian Peninsula and Great Britain exercised paramount influence at the Sa'udi Court. This book deals with the drama of the immediate pre-oil era and sets the stage for the Sa'udi Arabia of today. The following pages examine in detail the unification of Arabia and British policy towards ibn Sa'ud during the early twentieth century when he laid the foundations of present-day Sa'udi Arabia.