MIDDLE EAST AND ARAB WORLD

INTRODUCTION TO THE SUBJECT

Islam is not a new religion; it is the last of the revelations. Islam was the Arabisation
and later islamization of Christianity and Judaism.

East is characterized by the conflicts that have happened since the crusades.
Geostrategic region because it is in the middle of the main sea routes to Asia.

Role language plays in the region: the main one is the Arabic. It is because it was
part of the elements of an empire along with customs and religion. Roman Empire,
Byzantine Empire and the Persian Empire have contributed to build the current
Middle East region.

Arab is not the same as Muslim:

● Arab (who speak Arabic) is not the same as Muslim (practice Islam religion).
Panarabism vs Panislamism.
● Muslim: someone who practices Islam.
 1. FORMATION OF AN EMPIRE, THE MAKING OF
A WORLD (7TH-10TH CENTURY)
We must look at pre-Islamic Arabia in order to contextualize the coming of Islam and
the genesis of Muslim Civilization.

❏ Time: 6th Century.

❏ Political setting: Confederation of tribes

Untouched by the civilising influence of the two grand empires of the region,
Byzantium and Persia, the migrants formed a tribal society, based on pastoral
nomadism.

1. PRE-ISLAMIC ARABIA
● Culture based on oral transmission.
● Changes in society by 6th century ACE:
⮚ Growth of population and sedentary life in the oasis. E.g: Mecca.

The main economic activities were trade by camel and sea.

CHANGES IN SOCIETY BY 6TH CENTURY ACE:

Mecca sacred city guarded by the Quraish tribe.

➔ Arabs were polytheists → ubic structure or ka’ba.

➔ Pilgrimage once/year.

Prosperity brought tensions: The divide between rich and poor increased..

2. MUHAMMAD AND THE ADVENT OF ISLAM

Muhammad is born in Mecca in the 570 at the tribe of Quraysh. During the VII century
he started to spread the first verses of Koran. He had to migrate to Medina (Hijra). It
is the start of the Muslim calendar. When he died in 632 the Arab expansion began.
Muhammad was not just a religious leader, but a political revolutionary.

When Muhammed started to spread the new religion there were two big empires: The
Sassanid Empire and the Persian Empire → weak politically, economically and
militarily. The Arab took advantage of these and they rapidly managed to invade
these empires.

What we have of the Coran is a compilation made some years after Muhmmad death.
Muhammad considered the Koran to be the last scripture revealed by God before the
end of time while Muhammad himself would be the final prophet.

The essential message registered in the Koran was clear:

● There is only one God, and Muhammad is His Messenger.

● 140 chapters which don’t follow a chronological order but a size order.

● God’s message to His creation to steer believers on the Right Path.

Other points of doctrine are:

1. The creation-the cosmos- belongs to him and man was put at the vortex of
His creation.
2. Man’s earthly life is a test.
3. Man will stand before the divine tribunal on the Day of Judgement.
4. Reform yourself and your society before it is too late.
Islam is a reformist and revolutionary movement → attempted to reform society.
Ideology shapes society influenced by the interest of those who spread the message and
establish their new foundational principles: soldiers and land aristocracy. 

FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM:

1. Declaration of faith.
2. Obligatory prayer.
3. Compulsory giving.
4. Fasting in the month of Ramadan.
5. Pilgrimage to Mecca.
Muhammad and the Advent of Islam

While Muhammad was building his community in Medina, Meccan hostility increased
and demanded the extradition of Muhammad.
Muhammad strategy: “defence through attack” = to raid Meccan trade caravans.

Battle of Badr against the Quraysh (Future inspiration for Muslims going to war):
Psychological turning point for the Muslims. Strengthened the position of Muhamad
as leader. God was on their side.

Treaty of Hudaybah: Meccans accepted Muhammad’s truce. The end of the treaty by
Meccans forced Muhhamad to march on Mecca with an army. Meccans surrendered,
accepted Muhammad’s leadership and submitted to Islam = “Year of Deputations”

In 632, by the time of Muhammad’s death, the entire population of Arabia

had become Muslim.

3. THE “RIGHTLY GUIDED CALIPHS”

When Mohammed died with no clear successor started a crisis of succession. The
new leader was a religious leader and also a political and military leader.

His followers were divided upon the issue:

1. Those who asserted that both Muhammad and the Koran had remained silent.

2. Those who believed that Muhammad had appointed Ali, as his successor.
They became the shi’at or “party” of Ali.

FIRST CHALLENGE: PUT DOWN TRIBAL INSURRECTIONS AFTER MUHAMMAD’S

DEATH. BEDOUINS STARTED TO ABANDON ISLAM.

Wars of Apostasy: Abu Bakr had crushed the insurrections.

The caliphate of Umar (634-644)

Abu Bakr designated Umar to succeed him. Opposition by the supporters of Ali
continued.

They were able to overthrow the Persian Empire and conquer all of the Eastern
Mediterranean territories of the Roman empire.

➔ He sought the loyalty of the new subjects by not oppressing them.  

 ➔ The conquered were also allowed to practice their own religion upon payment
of a poll tax named the jizya.

Uthman’s caliphate

Uthman was elected as third caliph, but he lacked unanimous support (Ali’s
supporters)

He advanced further into North Africa after fighting against the Byzantines. Creation
of the first Muslim fleet designed to guard the Mediterranean against Byzantine naval
attacks.

Uthman attempts to establish the definitive version of the Koran.

Uthman’s political ineptitude caused discontent and led to his assassination and
downfall in 656.

Ali’s caliphate

657 Ali and Muawiya forces met at Siffin, upper Euphrates.

The battle ended with arbitration, but a large group of Ali’s supporters outraged that
Ali put the fate of the community in the hand of a human tribunal. They became the
Kharijites with their own movement, theology and political ethos. Ali defeated them.

Muawiya proclaimed himself caliph with the support of the governor of Egypt and his
loyal Syrian forces. 661 Ali is assassinated by a Kharijite.

The “rightly guided caliphs” era came to an ignominious end.

⮚ Shias were the ones who believed that the successors of Mohamed were
more legitimate. Sunnis argued that the leader should not be a successor of
Mohammed. The schisma occurred: Sunnis and Shias

Muawiyah founded a new Empire.

Muslims (Sunni) look at this era as the Golden Age. It was the age in which:

● God’s final message found expression in the creation of an Islamic

community-state.

● The definitive reading of the Koran emerged.

 ● Arab conquests took Islam halfway round the known world.

The Classical Era: The Umayyads

Muawiya founded the Umayyad dynasty and moved the capital to Damascus.

Revolts (civil wars in two regions):

● Medina.
● Kufa (Ali’s former capital).
The old tribal attitudes and traditions that they had to dealt with were:

1. Faction fighting.
2. Arabism. Being an Arab was considered more important than being a Muslim.
Arabism was a cause and a consequence of this divisive social structure and
in many places was accepted as a norm sanctioned by Islam itself.
The Abbasids

Almost the entire Umayyad dynasty was killed.

Main achievements in Islamic learning during the Abbasid dynasty:

• Jurisprudence
• Islamic philosophy
• Translation movement
Causes of the decline of Baghdad’s caliphate:

1. Growing influence of the Turkish mercenaries.

2. Inability to create an effective government.
3. Invasions: Crusades and Mongols
The Abbasid power declined, and new dynasties appeared. As a consequence, the
empire would be divided into 3:

1. Moghul
2. Safavi
3. Ottoman

Shiism
Shiism major themes:

1. The battle of the forces of good (shii) against those of evil (anti-Shii)
2. The establishment of righteous rule and social justice is its main goal.
 3. Protest and martyrdom in God’s way is its model for political action
4. Its model for political leadership is the Imam
The main difference between Shii and Sunni Muslims is the Sunni doctrine of the
caliphate vs. Shii doctrine of the Imamate.

The Crusades
Military enterprises conducted by western European Christians between 1095 and
1291. Following the First Crusade there was an intermittent 200-year struggle for
control of the Holy Land. Threatened by the new Turkish power, the Byzantines
appealed to the Pope, Urban II for military aid.

In 1095, Urban II appealed to the monarchs of the Christian west urging them to go
forward under Christ’s banner to conquer Jerusalem and the “Holy Land” from
Muslim control with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to holy places in
and near Jerusalem.

The Pope saw in this a means of diverting the rulers of Europe from their inner
struggles, as well as reuniting the western and eastern Churches.

This crusade brought to prominence and world renown one of Muslim’s greatest
heroes: Salahal-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub.
 2. The Ottoman Empire and its Legacy in the
Middle East

The Ottoman Empire

Osman I was the founder of the Osmanli dynasty and Ottoman empire.

Orhan I set in motion a process of state building and settlement of conquered

territories that was to consolidate military strength and ensure the dynasty longevity.

The creation of a new empire had started.

Murad I, expansion westward continued and was the first ruler to lead Ottoman
forces into Europe.

In 1366, the city of Edirne was established as the Ottoman’s European capital. From
there, they defended against the Serbians and occupied most of Macedonia.

In the mid-1380s, Sofia and Nis were captured, providing the Ottomans with a firm
foothold in the Balkans. At the battle of Kosovo. Murad’s forces won the battle
against the Serbs although Murad I was killed in the battle. 

Murad's reign was important as it marked the transition of the

role of the Ottoman ruler.

Under Murad’s son, Ottoman expansion continued and within three years he had
conquered the rest of Bulgaria and parts of Serbia, Macedonia and Thessaly.

The empire was restored by Mehmed I and enhanced by Murad II who advanced as
far as the Danube and rooted out Christian rulers of Serbia and Bulgaria replacing
them with Ottoman officials and administrators.

Murad II: Three great expansions:

⮚ 14th century
⮚ 15th century
⮚ 17th century

He conquered Constantinople in 1453 and renamed it Istanbul. The capture of this

city after a seven-week siege marked the end of the Eastern Roman Empire

INSTITUTIONS
Janissaries: elite infantry corps. They were originally recruited from among
prisoners of war. Recruits were converted to Islam and then given military training.
Without the Janissaries, the expansion of the Ottoman empire would not have been
possible.

Sulayman the Magnificent

Suleiman became a prominent monarch of 16th-century Europe, presiding over the

apex of the Ottoman Empire's economic, military, and political power.

Under his reign:

➔ Ottoman territories were doubled, bringing into existence a multicultural,

multilingual, multi-faith empire

Sulayman was also named the “lawgiver” on account of the systems of laws he
introduced and patronized an unprecedented flowering of art and architecture.

The Ottoman empire was the greatest power in the Eastern

Mediterranean since the Golden Age of Byzantium.

THE DECLINE OF THE OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

In the mid-seventeenth century, the three great

empires –Ottoman, Safavid and Moghul, were
all in the decline together.

Developments in the 16th century in the West

marked the beginning of the gap between
Europe and the Ottoman empire:

1. Growth of overseas trade and emergence of the middle class.

2. Science and technology. 

3. Empire’s domestic problems (rulers, viziers, administration, justice)

4. Slow decline of the Ottoman military machine.

5. Inflation and economic chaos.

Growth of overseas trade had enriched Western Europe with a prosperous middle
class which failed to emerge in the Ottoman empire as a source of support to the
ruler.

Ottomans also lagged behind in the fields of science and technology. European
innovations didn’t reach the Ottomans until two centuries later.

Empire’s own domestic problems:

1. Incompetent rulers unable to lead an empire.

2. Palace intrigue and in-fighting under the influence of the valid sultan –the
queen mother-.

3. The administration suffered from corruption and nepotism. The purchase of

an office became commonplace.

4. Justice too was available only at a price.

5. Slow decline of the Ottoman military machine. The Janissaries were

weakened in the process.

Causes of decline:

⮚ Inflation increased, fueling corruption and economic chaos. As the European

controlled new sea trade routes bypassing the routes of the Middle East, the
Ottoman trade balance worsened.

In the later part of the 17th century there were efforts by the enlightened in the court
in order to halt the decline.

● The albanian Koprolu family of viziers strove to strip out corruption and
brought certain degree of efficiency to the administration and the military. 

Under its influence, the Ottomans were able to besiege Vienna for the second time in
1663.

In 1699 the Holy League of European states obliged the Ottomans to sign the Treaty
of Karlowitz, in which they surrendered territories in the Balkans and established the
Habsburg Monarchy as the dominant power in Central and southeast Europe.
It was the first time the Ottomans signed a peace treaty as
the defeated and it marked the beginning of the actual
decline.

Later on, Russia inflicted a series of defeats culminating in the humiliating Treaty of
Kuchuck Kainarji (Bulgaria) by which the Ottomans lose control of a large part of the
Black Sea and were forced to relinquish political control over a wholly Muslim
people.

The treaty’s commercial provisions gave Russia the right to establish consulates in
the Ottoman Empire, to navigate freely in Ottoman waters through the Straits of the
Bosporus, and to enjoy commercial privileges in Ottoman lands.

The gradual political decline of the Muslims in the 17th and 18th centuries provided
the background for the growth of a revivalist movement, fuelled by a spirit of
religious renewal and regeneration.

The common thread of the movement was the idea that the cause of the decline of
the Muslim world is the decline of Islam itself.

To halt this decline, Muslims must return to the first principles for guidance, thus
reviving the pure faith of the Prophet and his companions.

The first major manifestation of the Islamic revival in the 18th century was the
Wahhabi movement.

Ultimately, however, the challenge was too great. For not only did Muslims have to
deal with its own internal demons and contradictions , they also had to face another
even greater threat from outside: the spectre of European colonialism.
 3. The Colonial Period in the Middle East

THE DAWN OF EUROPEAN COLONIALISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST

European presence was felt before the collapse of the Ottoman Empire with the
landing of Napoleon’s army in 1798. This showed the ease with which Europe could
survert Ottoman authority, and symbolised the shifting global balance of power
towards the Europeans and away from the Ottomans. Prior to World War I there
were cases of colonial intervention primarily in the territories of North Africa.

Algeria
The specific model employed by the French that consisted on incorporating the
territory of Algeria was different from other colonial models.

Algeria was a colony established by the French. Between 1830 and 1870, the
French limited their authority in Algeria to the urban areas and operated largely
through existing authorities. They also implemented a policy of land acquisition in the
main agricultural producing areas of the Tellian Atlas Mountains. French colonialism
led to the collapse of the local economy and the education system, and a systematic
dismemberment of local cultural traditions.

At first, the French limited their colonial presence in Algeria, but later on they
implemented a policy of “total colonisation” by 1970. With this, they wanted to
incorporate Algeria to the French metropole. It not only included colonial domination
and the settlement of Europeans in North Africa but the migration of the large
number of Algerians To France. It was this community, the working-class Algerian
émigrés, that started to agitate for Algerian independence.

Egypt
Initial British colonial intervention had the goal to control strategic points to facilitate
contact with their vast colonial holdings in India, so they needed access to the Suez
Canal.
The British had control over the Suez Canal and Egypt. This led to the creation of
opposition movements under Ottoman General Ahmed Urabi. He founded the
Egyptian Nationalist Party and eventually gained control over the Egyptian army and
launched a rebellion. Urabi planned for the establishment of a parliament that would
limit the power of the viceroy. In response the British and the French took action
against the nationalist forces.

After 1882, the British formalised their influence with the establishment of the
position of Consul-General. Through the “Organic Law'' (1883-1913), a two-chamber
parliament was established. However, it operated only in an advisory capacity and
the ultimate decision-making was left to the British and the Consul-General.

There was a group called the Wafd (Delegation) Party that called for the end of the
British occupation. Its highest point was during the 1919 Revolution, which aimed for
independence. However, the British arrested Wafd leader, prompting the eruption of
civil unrest across Egypt. In response, the British offered qualified independence, in
which they would retain effective control over Egypt's security and foreign policy.

The other important source of opposition was the Muslim Brotherhood. It was
founded in 1928 in the Suez Canal region. The movement sought to counter the
British vision of a superior Western culture bringing a “back-ward” Islamic culture to
the era. It was a means to criticise the actions of roreign companies and their
government sponsors in the exploitation of Egyptian workers.

THE ARAB REVOLT AND THE HUSSEIN-MACMAHON CORRESPONDENCE

During the war, the British were active in the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant in
agitain anti-Ottoman sentiment amongst Arab elites. This agitation was based on
appeals to Arab national identity to promote Arab unity under the leadership of the
Hashemites, the custodians of the Holy Cities during the latter period of the Ottoman
Empire.
In the 19th century, an Arab nationalist sentiment emerged as a result of the
hardening of the Turkish national identity, primarily through the Young Turk
movement.
The Ottoman entry into World War I saw the arrest of many Arab nationalist leaders
who were accused of collaboration with the British and the French. As a response,
the custodian of the Holy Cities began a correspondence with the then British High
Commissioner in Egypt. This led to an agreement in June 1916 where the British
would cooperate with Hussein’s Arab forces to overthrow Ottoman rule in exchange
for British sponsorship of Arab independence.

The Arab Revolt started and got the support of the British and French armed forces.
It continued until the defeat of the Ottomans at the end of World War I, raising hopes
for the fulfilment of a large, independent Arab state in the Levant and the western
Arabian Peninsula.

Balfour Declaration
In November 1917, British Foreign Secretary issued a communiqué supporting the
creation “in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people''. The Balfour
Declaration was viewed as a government policy in support of the cause of Zionism
(understood as the movement for the re-establishment of Jemish life on a national
basis). This caused great antagonism amongst those involved in the Arab Revolt.

Sykes-Picot Agreement.
There were secret negotiations between a British delegation and a French
delegation in 1916 to define the political map of the modern Middle East. This was
the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which formally divided the eastern Arab world into
spheres of British and French influence.

The Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations Mandates.

The Versailles Treaty of June 1919 that ended World War I also saw the creation of
the League of Nations, an effort to create an international organisation to help
prevent another global conflict. It had a wide range of duties, including what it called
“just treatment of native inhabitants” for territories previously under control of those
states defeated in World War I, including the Ottoman Empire. These were deemed
as “Class A Mandates'' and they could only gain independence when they were able
to stand alone, so it depended on the European powers. The division of the region
was formalised in five new entities.

The Republic of Turkey.

Between 1911 and 1922, the Ottoman Empire was in an almost constant state of
warfare facing internal and external insurrections and external threats. The final
Ottoman defeat came in 1918 with the removal of the Sultan and the installation of
the Grand National Assembly that ruled during the transition to the establishment of
the Republic of Turkey in 1923.

The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres was the initial postwar settlement dealing with the
Ottoman Empire. The treaty sought the full partition of the Ottoman Empire.
Turkey emerged as a different political entity, and one that sought to avoid
involvement in any major military engagement, including opting for neutrality in World
War II.

COLONIES, PROTECTORATES AND CLIENT STATES.

The most intense period of colonial activity took place between World War I and
World War II, with the division of the former Ottoman Arab territories. The political
map of the Middle East, the creation of the modern-day states, was drawn and has
remained largely unchanged to this day.

The European powers were concerned about the implications for regional stability
that could make the Empire collapse. They consciously maintained the territorial
integrity of the core of the Empire whilst at the same time taking control over the
economy of the region. This created a form of domination that permeated the
political, social, economic and cultural discourses of the region.

The Interplay of Ottoman and Colonial Legacy.

The most direct manifestation of European control was the territorial definition of the
new political entities.
The combination of Ottoman and colonial rule left a vast array of social, political,
cultural and economic legacies from the Middle East. The contemporary state
system in the region captures many of these legacies.
Centralised Rule.
Efforts at establishing centralised rule were a key feature of European actively. New
entities were created. European powers sponsored the development of centralised
bureaucracies with a focus on the establishment of security services, primarily the
armed forces, with little focus on the development of public education systems,
health services and the other state functions that have traditionally been the drivers
of integration. The military is an important part of what forms the Middle East.

Control of the Religious Sphere.

Another key element was the effort to take control of the religious sphere through a
variety of means, such as official secularisation policies and reforms of religious
institutions. With some exceptions, religious institutions were a source of authority
and legitimacy that remained largely outside the control of these new regimes.
Therefore, installing secularism as a priority of the political process sanctioned
efforts to undermine religious authorities or establish state-sanctioned religious
institutions. The establishment of state-sanctioned religious institutions was one
means by which new states sought to manipulate popular religiosity for their own
ends.

THE CULTURAL CHALLENGE.

The most subtle and controversial impact was the cultural challenge to the people of
the region. It can be understood through the notion of the “civilising mission”, that
was used to justify the imposition of European dominance. Central to this idea was
an understanding of human societies as each of a path of “development”, with the
European states leading the way towards a more “civilised” future.The Mandate
system established by the League of Nation was based on this idea as the European
states would sponsor a “backward” culture on its search for “modernity”.

Orientalism
The notion of an uncivilised Oriente, or other, was a construction of stereotypes used
not to understand other cultures and peoples, but to claim the idea of “modernity” as
an exclusively Western possession. It was used to “define Europe” as modern,
rational and possession of a capacity for reasoned thought, as opposed to the
constructed “Oriental”.

THE BRITISH WHITE PAPERS AND THE ARAB REVOLT.

In the eve of the establishment of the Palestine Mandate in 1923 and the unrest
amongst the Arab community in Palestine during 1920 and 1921, the British colonial
policy became increasingly mired in confusion. So, Winston Churchill and the British
High Commissioner in Palestine released a White Paper in 1922 to clarify the British
stance.

It said that the British supported the Balfour Declaration and it sought to distance
themselves from the establishment of a separate Jewish state. In the White Paper,
“national home” referred to the guarantees for the protection of Jewish rights. Acting
on this, the British moved to formally separate these territories from the Mandate of
Jordan, leading to the creation of the two separate Mandates of Palestine and
Transjordan.

The Arab Revolt and the 1937 Peel Commission

The tensions between the two communities, and between both communities and the
British, grew throughout the 1930s. For the Arab Palestinian community, a severe
deterioration of the economic environment, particularly for the pooper rural
communities, combined with the increasing rate of Jewish migration and land
acquisitiion and a seming British deference to these issues, led to the outbreak of
conlifct in 1936. By 1937 the Arab Revolt had escalated into a full-scale insurrection.

The British government created the Peel Commission, and it recommended that the
Palestine Mandate be abolished and to be replaced by two new entities: a Jewish
state along the central and northern coast of the Mandate, and an Arab state with the
remaining territory.

The 1939 (MacDonald) White Paper

The British sought to quell the violence in the region through the convening of a
conference in 1939 with both Arab and Jewish leaders. But it failed and led to the
creation of a new White Paper in 1939. It said to detach the British government from
any move towards the establishment of a Jewish state, whilst still supporting the idea
of the Jewish rights enshrined in any post-independence arrangement. It also sought
strict limits on Jewish migration and land acquisition.
 4. The Cold War and the New International
Relations in the Middle East

World War I and its global repercussions

The First World War and its aftermath provoked the demise of 4 empires:

● The Austro-Hunagarian Empire

● The German Empire
● The Russian Empire
● The Ottoman Empire

The Second World War provoked the demise of the last European empires:

● The British Empire

● The Japanese Empire

World War II and the Middle East

World War II exacerbated the control of the European powers over the region (in
spite of the "philosophy" of the mandates to foster independence.

2 reasons:

1. Geostrategic location
2. Control of 2/3 world oil resources

Locals participated in WWII through the British and Free French forces occupying
Egypt, Lebanon and Syria. Iran was occupied by British and Soviet forces

World War II and its aftermath: The Cold War

THEMES, POLITICAL STRUCTURES AND CONTROVERSIES:

1. Cold War superpowers attempted at manipulating the foreign policy of smaller

states. This brings to the issue of "the agent-structure dilemma" in the Middle East:

➢ How global political dynamics have impacted on regional affairs?

➢ How events in the ME have shaped global politics?

States in the ME were not helpless, they rather were able to act with a high degree
of autonomy in pursuing their interest. Main interest: regime survival & perpetuating
the rule of those in charge (not the greater good of the people).
2. Political structures: Radical/Authoritarian Republics vs Traditional/ Absolute
monarchies. Resentment towards external powers became further entrenched and
fostered by local regimes

3. Controversies:
➢ Legitimacy of the state system
➢ Role of ideologies
➢ Role of the military
➢ The British mandate in Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict

WWII paved the way for a fundamentally new international system and new regional
political order =The Cold War and the bipolar system:

➔ Conservative monarchies vs. Radical nationalist republics

World War II and its Aftermath in the Middle East

Regional issues and its interaction with global political dynamics during this period:

● The formation of the State of Israel: One cardinal development that emerged
from the decolonization process which has influenced the dynamic of the
region hereafter has been the creation of the state of Israel in 1948.
● The Suez Canal Campaign
● The Yemen Civil War

ARAB-ISRAELI WAR 1948

When the State of Israel was declared in 1948, the Arab felt betrayed. Armies from
Egypt, Jordania, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon formed a coalition and attacked Israel. It
was the first Arab-Israeli war. The Arab coalition was defeated, and after a series of
armistices, Israel increased its territory nearly 23% more than what had been initially
assigned by the UN.

CONSEQUENCE = Start of the Palestinian Refugee problem.

The Suez Crisis 1956

Egypt challenged Britain, France and Israel and extended its influence all over the
Middle East throughout the panarabism (SOCIALIST+NATIONALIST) IDEOLOGY

Nasser implemented reforms aiming at economic centralisation, development and

industrialisation. They propagated a vision of Arab nationalism that questioned the
legitimacy of the new state system.

The US sought to attract Nasser into the Central Treaty Organization, originally
known as the Baghdad Pact. A military alliance formed in 1955 by Iran, Iraq,
Pakistan, Turkey and the United Kingdom

US pressure and promises of military and economic aid were key in the negotiations
leading to the agreement, but the United States could not initially participate. The
failure of US military aid to Egypt drove Nasser to negotiate an arms deal with
communist Czechoslovakian = First pro-soviet agreement in the Arab World.
The US sought to expand their influence in the Arab world through the Saudis
(opposed to the Hashemite monarchies in Iraq and Jordan). After the US
withdrawal, Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal gaining the status of regional hero.

Background:
➔ 26th of July 1956: block of free navigation to Israeli shipping.
➔ Blockade of the Straits of Tiran and Gulf of Aqaba
➔ Arab raids and violations of the armistice lines
➔ Militarization of the Sinai Peninsula
➔ October 1956: Signature of a military alliance between Egypt, Syria and
Jordan

THE EISENHOWER DOCTRINE (1957) → Under the Eisenhower Doctrine, a

Middle Eastern country could request American economic assistance or aid
from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression.

On the regional level, the doctrine's intent was to provide the independent
Arab regimes with an alternative to Nasser's political control, strengthening
them while isolating communist influence through Nasser's isolation.

An Arab cold war: egypt and saudi arabia in yemen

The Cold War logic was exploited by regional states for their own benefit. Egypt and
Saudi Arabia are good examples on how they leveraged their relationship with the
URSS and USA respectively to extend their influence through the region.

SOUTH YEMEN

● 1967: British abandoned his Aden colony in southern Yemen due to domestic
pressures and attacks by organizations backed by Egypt
● 1967: South Yemen became the first and only communist government in the
Middle East. It called for the overthrow of all monarchies in the region,
particularly Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia changed the pattern and acquiesced
with the republican North).
● 1990: Reunification of Yemen under the authority of the North.

The Yemen Civil War shows the interconnectedness of regional affairs marked by
the efforts of larger states to exert their influence over smaller states in search for
their own agendas and national self-interest.

CONCLUSION

Middle East inter-regional relations during the Cold War was not a replication of the
Cold War patterns at regional level but rather an excuse to foster regional ambitions
with ideology as a cover to expand national interest. Both Saudi Arabia and Egypt
exploited their super-power patrons in pursuit of this.

This pattern has been replicated more recently with Saudi Arabia-Qatar confronting
Iran after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.