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6
The Middle East and North Africa
Chapter Outline
Objectives
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Key Terms & Concepts
Chapter Summary
The “Middle East” is a Eurocentric vernacular region developed by the British, who along with
the French in the Sykes-Picot Agreement, created many of the region’s boundaries after
defeating the Ottoman Turks in World War I.
Misleading stereotypes about the environment and people of the Middle East and North Africa
are common, as people outside the region often associate the region solely with military conflict
and terrorism.
The region has bestowed on humanity a rich legacy of ancient civilizations and the three great
monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Middle Easterners include Jews, Arabs, Turks, Persians, Berbers, people of sub-Saharan African
origin, and other ethnic groups who practice a wide variety of ancient and modern livelihoods.
The Middle Eastern ecological trilogy is made up of villagers, pastoral nomads, and urbanites.
Their interdependence has been mainly symbiotic, but there are also tensions between urban
governments and nomads. Villagers are the cornerstone of the trilogy because urbanites and
nomads depend on their food production.
Arabs are the largest ethnic group in the Middle East and North Africa, and there are also large
populations of ethnic Turks, Persians (Iranians), and Kurds. Islam is by far the largest religion.
Jews live almost exclusively in Israel, and there are minority Christian populations in several
countries.
Population growth rates in the region are moderate to high. Sixty percent of the region’s people
are less than 25 years old. The number of youth (people ages 15-24) in the region is estimated to
grow to 100 million in 2035. This “youth bulge” is a huge challenge for the region’s
development, and has played a major role in the Arab Spring and general discontent.
The Middle East has served as a pivotal global crossroads, linking Asia, Europe, Africa, and the
Mediterranean Sea with the Indian Ocean. These countries have historically been unwilling hosts
to occupiers and empires originating far beyond their borders.
The margins of this region are occupied by oceans, high mountains, and deserts. The land is
composed mainly of arid and semiarid plains and plateaus, together with considerable areas of
rugged mountains and isolated “seas” of sand.
Aridity dominates the environment, with at least three-fourths of the region receiving less than
10 inches (25 cm) of yearly precipitation. Great river systems and freshwater aquifers have
sustained large human populations.
Many of the plants and animals on which the world’s agriculture depends were first domesticated
in the Middle East.
The Middle Eastern “ecological trilogy” consists of peasant villagers, pastoral nomads, and city
dwellers. The relationships among them have been mainly symbiotic and peaceful, but city
dwellers have often dominated the relationship, and both pastoral nomads and urbanites have
sometimes preyed on the villagers, who are the trilogy’s cornerstone.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are Abrahamic faiths that have coexisted rather peacefully, with
political events of the past century bringing them to blows, including over sacred places in
Jerusalem.
The split between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims developed because the prophet Muhammad named
no successor to take his place as the leader (Caliph) of all Muslims. Some of his followers
argued that the person with the strongest leadership skills and greatest piety was best qualified to
assume his role. These followers became known as Sunni, or orthodox, Muslims. Others argued
that only direct descendants of Muhammad, could qualify as successors. They became known as
the Shi’ites. Three of the region’s countries, Iran, Iraq, and Bahrain, have Shi’ite majority
populations. There are significant minority populations of Shi’ites in Yemen and Lebanon.
Many Sunni Muslims revile Shi’ites as heretical, especially because of their iconographic
tendencies. Shi’ites seek the intercession of clerics, who are empowered to interpret God’s will
for them, whereas the Sunnis prize a direct and personal relationship with God.
Powerful currents of Sunni “fundamentalism” flow throughout the region and beyond.
“Salafists” adhere to an interpretation of Islam they believe is closer to the faith’s earliest tenets
and social norms and that most correctly follows sharia, or Islamic, law. Islamists favor
reordering government and society in accordance with sharia, but not all of them are terrorists,
meaning people who kill non-combatants.
About two-thirds of the world’s oil is here, making this one of the world’s most vital economic
and strategic regions.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Since World War II, several international crises and wars have been precipitated by events in the
Middle East. Strong outside powers depend heavily on this region for their current and future
industrial needs. Known as the “Carter Doctrine,” unimpeded access to Persian Gulf oil is one of
the pillars of U.S. foreign policy.
The region of the Middle East and North Africa is characterized by a high number of
chokepoints, strategic waterways that may be shut off by force, triggering conflict and economic
disruption.
Oil pipelines in the Middle East are routed both to shorten sea tanker voyages and to reduce the
threat to sea tanker traffic through chokepoints, but are themselves vulnerable to disruption.
Access to freshwater is a major problem in relations between Turkey and its downstream
neighbors, Egypt and its upstream neighbors, and Israel and its Palestinian, Jordanian, and Syrian
neighbors.
Al-Qa’ida and affiliated Islamist terrorist groups aim to drive the United States and its allied
governments from the region and to replace them with an Islamic caliphate. Al-Qa’ida is an
apocalyptic group that seeks to inflict mass casualties on its enemies, particularly on Americans
in their home country.
ISIS is another apocalyptic group that developed in Syria and Iraq in the wake of the 2003 U.S.
invasion of Iraq and subsequent withdrawal from the region. Unlike al-Qa’ida, ISIS targets
include Shi’ite Muslims, and ISIS persecutes and executes a wide range of enemies. It has
created what it calls the “Islamic Caliphate” in the heartland of the Middle East and with
effective PR and military tactics has greatly expanded its area of control and range of influence.
The United Nations Partition Plan of 1947 attempted a two state solution to the dilemma Britain
had created by promising land to both Arabs and Jews in Palestine. It envisioned geographically
fragmented states, making each side feel vulnerable to the other. War prevented the plan’s
implementation. The Arab-Israeli conflict has continued from that time, with Israel gaining
more territory and the indigenous Palestinians failing to acquire a country of their own. Principal
obstacles to peace between Israelis and Palestinians are the status of Jerusalem, the potential
return of Palestinian refugees, the future of Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories, and
Israeli construction of a security barrier that penetrates into portions of the Palestinian West
Bank. Israel’s eastern neighbor, Jordan, has a majority Palestinian population.
The Arab Spring of 2011 was a wave of revolutions against autocratic regimes across the region,
notably in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen. It has been followed by an “Arab
Fall” that has seen even more authoritarianism and numerous civil wars and international
entanglements.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Masdar is a “carbon-neutral” city under construction in Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab
Emirates. The neighboring emirate of Dubai has capitalized on its geographical situation to
become a hub for aviation, financial services, and other profitable ventures beyond fossil fuel
exports. Dubai’s wealth has transformed the landscape and seascape with towering buildings
and with artificial islands threatened by poor design and rising sea levels.
Two-thirds of the world’s proven petroleum reserves are concentrated in a few countries that ring
the Persian-Arabian Gulf. Saudi Arabia controls more than one-fifth of the world’s oil.
Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq squandered its oil wealth on military misadventures, including
invasions of Iran and Kuwait. The Kuwait invasion led to an enormous U.S.-led counterattack
that devastated the country’s infrastructure and subjected it to years of economic sanctions. The
U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 resulted in Saddam Hussein’s downfall and death, and an
eventual rise of ISIS, and an uncertain future for this ethnically diverse country (with large
Shi’ite Arab, Sunni Arab, and Kurdish populations) engaged in civil war. The rise of ISIS in
Iraq and Syria has presented the US with extremely difficult strategic challenges.
Iran’s oil revenues were used to modernize and Westernize the nation during the Pahlavi
dynasty. Rapid social change and uneven economic benefits precipitated a revolutionary Islamic
movement, which forced the Shah to abdicate and flee in 1979. Iran’s conservative, theocratic
Shi’ite government pervades all aspects of everyday life. Iran’s young population is agitating for
change, but the ruling clerics are resisting.
Iran has had difficult relations with the United States, most recently over its alleged nuclear
weapons program. US options for dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions are limited: strengthen
sanctions, strike militarily, or negotiate a settlement. Iran’s Sunni Arab neighbors, including
Saudi Arabia, are concerned about the U.S. strengthening Iran’s hand at their expense.
Turkey was formerly the seat of power for the Islamic Ottoman Empire. It is a secular nation
with membership in NATO and institutionally aspires to join the European Union. Turkey is at
odds with US over what to do about ISIS and did not actively join the U.S.-led coalition fighting
ISIS. Turkey is blessed with freshwater and good soil resources, and with its GAP project has
dammed Tigris and Euphrates watershed, aiming to create the “breadbasket of the Middle East.”
Lecture Outline
6.1 Area and Population
• Uneven distribution
• Youth bulge
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
• Axis of Evil/Axis of Resistance
Lecture Topics
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
• Characterize an Arab based on information from the text and other sources.
• How is the Middle East a cultural hearth?
o Birthplace of three major monotheistic religions
• Sunni vs. Shi’ite: What is the difference?
• Explain Jerusalem’s religious quarters.
• Discuss chokepoints.
• Discuss the importance of freshwater and the problems associated with access
• Identify and discuss terrorist groups: Al-Qa’ida, ISIS, and ISIL
• What is the significance of these places?
o the Gaza Strip
o West Bank
o Golan Heights
• Discuss Kurdistan.
• Should Turkey be in the European Union? Why or why not?
• Give a detailed account of the Arab Spring.
Review Questions
1. What countries constitute the Middle East and North Africa?
The countries in the Middle East literally, in a physical sense, occupy the “middle” area
where Africa, Asia, and Europe meet and the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean meet.
Although many disagree on the actual interpretation of which countries are in the Middle
East, one thought is that this area is comprised only of the countries around the Arabian
Peninsula. However, others state that the Middle East and North Africa region spans from
Morocco in northwest Africa, to Iran in central Asia, and from Turkey on Europe’s
southeastern corner, to Sudan, which adjoins East Africa. The Middle East and North Africa
region is often referred to by the acronym MENA, and others prefer to call the region
southwest Asia.
The Middle East and North Africa region includes 21 countries, the Palestinian territories of
West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the disputed Western Sahara.
The three most populous countries in the region are Turkey, Iran, and Egypt.
Yemen, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, which consist of the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, have the fastest population growth rates in the Middle East region. These are
actually some of the highest population growth rates in the world.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
b. What economic resources do the least and most populous countries have, and how
do internal growth and international migration affect the countries’ development?
The MENA countries rich in oil tend to have relatively small populations, whereas the
most populous nations have few oil reserves (Iran is the exception). Altogether, the Gulf
countries have about 800 billion barrels of proven reserves of crude oil (by comparison,
Canada has 173 billion; the United states 20 billion; and Mexico 10 billion). Natural gas
is another significant fossil fuel resource in the region. Iran has MENA’s largest
reserves, with 16 percent of the world’s total.
The era of continually expanding OPIC oil production, sales, and profits seemed to come
to an end in the 1980’s. After 1973, the high price of oil stimulated oil development in
countries outside of OPEC. Oil conservation measures such as a shift to more fuel-
efficient vehicles and factories were introduced. Decreased business activity reduced the
demand for oil.
Oil prices have risen and fallen ever since, but the immense oil and gas reserves still in
the ground guarantee that the Gulf region will continue to have major long-term influence
in world affairs and will remain prosperous as along as these finite resources are in
demand. The oil-driven construction booms taking place on the Arabian Peninsula are
responsible for the largest regional migration in the world, from South and East Asia to
the Gulf.
In the Middle East and Africa, aridity dominates, as at least three-fourths of the region
receives less than 10 inches of rain each year on average. This vast area of aridity includes
the world’s largest desert, the Sahara. Near the Mediterranean Sea, where 15 to 40 inches of
precipitation fall each year, a different climatic pattern is noted. In this area, a Mediterranean
climate pattern, which usually entails a warm and dry summer with the majority of
precipitation falling in the wintertime, allows for some type of crop growing. Another type
of climatic pattern in this region is referred to as the monsoonal climate, which brings
summer rainfall and autumn harvests to areas in the southwestern Arabian Peninsula.
a. Where are the principal mountains, deserts, rivers, and areas of high rainfall?
In the Middle East and North Africa region, there are three primary mountainous regions,
including the northwestern Africa between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara, the
Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia which reach over 13,000 feet, and a
mountainous range on both sides of the Red Sea in Yemen.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Mountainous areas in the region, like the river valleys and the margin of the
Mediterranean, are important to the area since due to elevation, this area receives much
more rainfall than the surrounding lowlands. Ultimately, this increase in precipitation
amounts enables this area to better support human populations and national economies.
The world’s largest desert, the Sahara, is located in the northern portion of Africa. In
addition to this desert, the region also has many other arid areas, such as the sand seas,
which are located on the western side of Egypt and on the Arabian Peninsula.
The major rivers of the area include the Nile, Tigris, Euphrates, and Jordan. The area
connecting the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to the Nile River is often referred to as the
Fertile Crescent.
A heart is a place where something begins, so a culture hearth is the birthplace of culture.
This could include many cultural traits: language, religion, agriculture, customs, etc.
Cultures originate in a hearth and then diffuse or spread outward.
Yes, Egypt and Mesopotamia are among the world’s great culture hearths.
The Middle East is the origin of three major monotheistic religions: Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam. In addition, the area is home to multiple innovations in
agriculture, including domestication of many plants and animals between 5,000 and
10,000 years ago. The list includes wheat, barley, sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs whose
wild ancestors were processed, manipulated, and bred until their physical makeup and
behavior changed to suit human needs.
4. What are the major ethnic groups, and in which countries are they found?
Arabs are the largest ethnic group in the Middle East and North Africa, and there are also
large populations of ethnic Turks, Persians (Iranians), and Kurds. The section below details
each ethnic group including the countries in which they are found.
a. What is an Arab?
An Arab is a person of Semitic Arab ethnicity whose ancestral language is Arabic. Arabs
were originally inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, but conquests after their majority
conversion to Islam took them as far west as Spain and Morocco.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
b. A Jew?
Originally, Jews were both a distinct ethnic and linguistic group of the Middle East who
practiced the religion of Judaism. However, many Jews do not practice their religion but
still consider themselves technically or culturally Jewish, as this ethnicity has a strong
and resilient identity.
c. A Turk?
Found in great numbers in Turkey, a Turk who speaks Turkish, which is a member of the
Altaic language family and comprises a large population of non-Semitic ethnic groups
and languages in the region.
d. A Kurd?
A Kurd is an individual living in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, or Armenia who speaks
Kurdish, which is an Indo-European Language. This group consists of approximately 30
million people.
e. A Persian?
A person of Iran, who speaks the Indo-European language family of Persian. This group
consists of approximately 41 million people.
f. A Muslim?
A follower or believer of the religion of Islam, which is a monotheistic faith, built on the
region’s earliest faith of Judaism and its offspring Christianity. Islam is the dominant
religion in the Middle East and North Africa. Only Israel has a non-Muslim majority.
5. What are the components of the Middle Eastern ecological trilogy, and how do they
interact?
The Middle Eastern ecological trilogy is made up of villagers, pastoral nomads, and
urbanites. Their interdependence has been mainly symbiotic, but there are also tensions
between urban governments and nomads.
Villagers are the cornerstone of the trilogy because urbanites and nomads depend on
their food production.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
b. What is the geographic pattern of the classic Middle Eastern medina?
In the traditional Middle Eastern medina, there was no large public space where large
numbers of people could gather. However, spacious traffic hubs that doubled as
public squares were established in the post-colonial modern Middle Eastern cities.
6. What are the principal beliefs and historical geographic milestones of Jews, Christians,
and Muslims?
All three are Abrahamic traditions; they regard Abraham as their patriarch, and they share
many fundamental beliefs. The first to emerge was the faith of Judaism, which is practiced
by about 14 million people worldwide today. It was the first significant monotheistic faith.
Judaism does not have a fixed creed or doctoring, in fact, Jews are encouraged to behave in
this life in compliance with God’s laws, which according to the Torah; God gave to Moses
on Mount Sinai as a covenant with God’s “chosen people”. In the Torah, the coming of a
savior is prophesied, but the Jews do not recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of that prophecy
and so do not accept the New Testament of the Christian Bible.
The Jews do however have a strong geographical connection with particular sacred places in
the Middle East, particularly with places in Jerusalem. Another geographic region that is
often associated with Jews is Palestine, the area now composed of Israel, the West Bank, and
the Gaza Strip. This area was identified in God’s command to Abraham and his kinspeople,
known as Hebrews (later as Jews), to leave their home in southern Iraq and settle in Canaan,
geographic Palestine. The command said that this Promised Land would belong to the
Hebrews after a long period of persecution.
Judaism’s First Temple was built in about 950 B.C.E. in Jerusalem and The Ark of the
Covenant was placed inside the Temple’s Holy of Holies. However, about 200 years later,
Empires based in Mesopotamia destroyed these states and several attacks were incurred. In
the midst of these attacks, the First Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people were exiled.
Then, about 520 B.C.E. the Jews who returned to Judah rebuilt the temple on its original site,
but a succession of foreign empires came to rule the Jews and Arabs of Palestine. The Jews
of Palestine revolted against this foreign Roman rule three times, resulting in sieges that
destroyed the Second Temple, leaving only the Western Wall or what the Jews refer to as the
Wailing Wall which is the most sacred site in the world accessible to Jews today.
Then, in the 1930s, anti-Semitism became state policy in Germany under the Nazis, led by
Adolf Hitler. During this time, Hitler initiated the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem”
by shipping Jews to prison camps and eventually murdering all of the Jews that could be
rounded up throughout the Nazi Empire. The Nazi Germans and their allies killed an
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
estimated 6 million Jews. Many of those who were able to flee before torment went to the
United States and others immigrated to Palestine.
Another distinction that sets Christianity and Islam apart from Judaism is that Judaism is not
a proselytizing religion; it does not seek converts. Jewish identity is based strongly on a
common historical experience shared over thousands of years. That historical experience has
included deep-seated geographic associations with particular sacred places in the Middle
East, particularly with places in Jerusalem, capital of ancient Judah (Judea), the province
from which Jews take their name. Tragically, the Jewish history also has included
unparalleled persecution.
Nearly a thousand years after Solomon established the Jews’ First Temple, a new but closely
related monotheistic faith emerged in Palestine. This was Christianity, named for Jesus
Christ (Christ is Greek for “Anointed One”, the equivalent of the Hebrew word for Messiah).
Jesus, a Jew, was born near Jerusalem in Bethlehem, probably around 4 BCE. Tradition
relates that when he was about 30 years old, Jesus began spreading the word that he was the
Messiah, the deliverer of humankind long prophesied in Jewish doctrine. A small group of
disciples accepted that he was the Messiah, the Son of God and a living manifestation of God
Himself. They followed him for several years as he preached his message. He taught that
the only path to God was through Him, and that faith in Christ as God’s Son and as the
redeemer of humanity’s sins was the key to salvation. Christianity is built upon a Jewish
foundation: the common scriptures of Judaism and Christianity are known as the Hebrew
Bible. Theologically, Christians would argue that Jews have the correct foundation but did
not accept God’s complete message, which continues beyond the Hebrew Bible to the new
covenant, or the New Testament.
Islam is by far the dominant religion in the Middle East and North Africa; only Israel, has a
non-Muslim majority. Because of Islam’s powerful influence not merely as a set of religious
practices but as a way of life, an understanding of the religious tenets, culture, and diffusion
of Islam is vital for appreciating the region’s cultural geography. Islam is a monotheistic
faith built on the foundations of the region’s earliest monotheistic faith, Judaism, and its
offspring, Christianity. Indeed, Muslims (people who practice Islam) believe that their
prophet, Muhammad, was the very last in a series of prophets who brought the Word of God
to humankind. Thus, they perceive the Bible as incomplete but not entirely wrong, Jews and
Christians merely missed receiving the entire message (just as Christians would insist that
Jews missed the entire message). Muslims do not accept the Christian concept of the divine
Trinity (God manifested in the form of the Father, his son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit) and
regard Jesus as a prophet rather than as God. Muhammad was born in 570 c.e. to a poor
family in the western Arabian (now Saudi Arabian) city of Mecca. Located on an important
north–south caravan route linking the frankincense-producing area of southern Arabia (now
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Yemen and Oman) with markets in Palestine (now Israel) and Syria, Mecca was a prosperous
city at the time. It was also a pilgrimage destination because more than 300 deities were
venerated in a shrine there called the Ka’aba (the Cube. Muhammad married into a wealthy
family and worked in the caravan trade. Muslim tradition holds that when he was about 40
years old, Muhammad was meditating in a cave outside Mecca when the Angel Gabriel
appeared to him and ordered him to repeat the words of God that the angel would recite to
him. Over the next 22 years, the prophet related these words of God (whom Muslims call
Allah) to scribes who wrote them down as the Qur’an (or Koran), the holy book of Islam.
Jews and Arabs recognize Abraham as their patriarch. Arabic is a Semitic language in
the same Afro-Asiatic language family as Hebrew, which is spoken by most of the 6.1
million Jewish inhabitants of Israel. Also, the accounts of Noah are shared between
all three religions.
Very early in the development of Islam, a schism occurred, which led to the split of followers
of the Prophet Muhammad because he had not named a successor to take his place as the
leader of all the Muslims. Therefore, some of his followers argued that the person with the
strongest leadership skills and greatest piety was the best qualified to assume this role. Those
in favor of this idea became known as Sunni or orthodox Muslims. However, other followers
argued that only direct descendants of Muhammad, specifically through descent from his
cousin and son-in-law Ali, could qualify as successors. This group of followers became
known as Shi’ite Muslims.
a. How and where do these differences play out in political and other aspects of life
in the region?
Only three of the region’s countries, Iran, Iraq, and Bahrain, have Shi’ite majority
populations (Azerbaijan is also majority Shi’ite). Iran’s government is a Shi’ite
theocracy. There are significant minority populations of Shi’ites in Yemen and
Lebanon as well as India and Pakistan. Conflicts between Shi’ites and Sunnis are
central features in the region’s modern political geography. When you talk with
Muslims about these sects, you may find that they downplay the differences and
stress the unity of Islam.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Mainstream Islamist movements are not military or terrorist organizations and have
distinguished themselves through public service to the needy. Many non-Muslims of the
West have suggested that ISIS is not Islam at all, but a “death cult” dressed in Islamic
guise.
Although not all Islamists are militant or terrorist, they all reject what they view as
the materialism and moral corruption of Western countries and the political military
support these countries lend to Israel.
c. What are Hizbullah, Hamas, al-Qa’ida and ISIS, and what are they seeking and
doing?
Hamas: (Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement) are Sunni Muslim
Palestinian members
ISIS: (Acronym for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) are Sunni-rooted and considers
every religion stripe but its own to be heretical and deserving of the most gruesome
death sentence.
Al-Qa’ida wants to control geographic space, especially sacred space. The ultimate
goal of al-Qa’ida is to reestablish the Caliphate—the empire of Islam’s early golden
age—and thereby empower a formidable array of truly Islamic states to wage war on
the United States and its allies.
For ISIS, the Caliphate is a precondition for all events in its career. Isis has an even
stronger apocalyptic vision than al-Qa’ida. This group believes that by terrorizing
civilian populations it can precipitate a military response by the “Crusaders” and
hasten the end time with a decisive battle at Dabiq. This will be followed by another
conflagration in Jerusalem and the appearance of Jesus.
Oil is concentrated around the Arabian Peninsula, and specifically the Persian or Arabian
Gulf area in the Middle East region. The oil bearing strata in this area is unusually thick
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
which results in a large quantity of oil in one area and the ability to maintain oil producing
wells for a longer period of time. These factors collectively make Middle East oil cheaper to
produce relative to oil in most other areas of the world.
The Carter Doctrine was a foreign policy statement by the United States in 1979, as a result
of the Soviets invading Afghanistan. The thought that the Soviets might use Afghanistan as a
launching pad to reach oil rich Iran was unacceptable to then president Jimmy Carter.
Therefore, this Doctrine explained in detail that any attempt by an outside force to gain
control over the Persian Gulf would ultimately be seen as a threat and would result in the use
of military force or other assault as seen fit.
11. What options does the United States have in dealing with Iran’s suspected nuclear
weapons development program?
In Western capitals, concern about “state-sponsored terrorism” has long focused on Iran.
Iran has extended both open and clandestine assistance to a variety of Islamist terrorist
groups, including Hizbullah and Hamas. There is great concern about Iran’s nuclear
weapons potential because such weapons might find their way to terrorist groups or be
delivered by Iran itself on its own missiles against Israel or another target. Iran insists that its
nuclear program is aimed only at electricity generation and medical research, and denies that
it is developing weapons. American and Israeli intelligence agencies, however, believe Iran
is on course to create nuclear weapons some time before 2016. Iran threatened to close the
Strait of Hormuz when Western powers imposed sanctions against Iran for ramping up its
nuclear program in 2012.
12. What are upstream and downstream countries, and which are usually the more
powerful?
Upstream and downstream countries refer to a country’s location along a stream or river
relative to other countries along the same river or its tributaries. Upstream means up river or
nearer the beginning of the river where as downstream means down river or nearer the end or
mouth of the river. Downstream countries at the mouth of the river usually have more
control over access to the river, who and what is shipped up and down the river. This more
prevalent on larger rivers and largely economical in impact. In contrast, upstream countries
have more control over water usage and pollution, often agricultural and urban wastes that
enter the river. This is more prevalent on smaller rivers and can have major impacts on
agricultural irrigation and drinking water.
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
a. What are the exceptions to this rule? What are the hydropolitical issues of the
Nile basin?
A useful way to think about the geography of hydropolitics is in terms of upstream and
downstream countries. Simply because water flows downhill, an upstream country is
usually able to maximize its water use at the expense of a downstream country (a
situation described as a zero-sum game, where any gain by one party represents an
equivalent loss to the other). However, the situation between Israel and the countries
upstream on the Yarmuk shows that this is not always true. Although downstream, Israel
is far more powerful militarily and can use the threat of force to wrest more water out of
the system. Historically, Egypt has also defied the norm of upstream countries exercising
their power over downstream countries. Egypt is the ultimate downstream country, at the
mouth of a great river that runs through five countries and sustains about 170 million
people (a population that is expected to double in about 20 years. However, it has long
been the strongest country in the Nile Basin and has threatened to use its greater force if
it does not get the water it wants. In 1926, when the British ruled Egypt and many other
colonies in Africa, 10 countries located on the Nile and its tributaries upstream of Egypt
were compelled to sign the Nile Water Agreement. This guaranteed Egyptian access to
75 percent of the river’s flow, even though barely a drop of the Nile’s waters actually
originates in Egypt.
b. According to Lester Brown, what three steps can be taken to avert conflict over
Nile waters?
13. What precipitated the various conflicts between Israel and its Arab neighbors?
The Arab-Israeli conflict is above all a conflict over who owns the land, sometimes very
small pieces of land, and is therefore of extreme interest in the study of geography. It is also
a conflict that has repercussions far beyond the boundaries of the small countries and
territories involved. It has not been resolved, in part because the central issues are closely
tied to such life-giving resources as land and water, and to deeply held and unyielding
religious beliefs.
During World War I, British administrators of Palestine had made conflicting promises to
Jews and Arabs. They implied that they would create an independent Arab state in Palestine
and yet at the same time vowed to promote Jewish immigration to Africa Palestine with an
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
eye to the eventual establishment of a Jewish state there. The Palestinians, Arabs who
historically formed the largest majority of the region’s inhabitants, did not welcome the
ensuing Jewish immigration and rioted against both the migrants and the British
administration. Militant Jews attacked British interests in Palestine, hoping to precipitate a
British withdrawal. Placing themselves in a no-win position with these conflicting promises
and under increasing pressure from both Jews and Arabs, in 1947 the British decided to
withdraw from Palestine and leave the young United Nations with the task of determining the
region’s future. The United Nations responded in 1947 with the two-state solution to the
problem of Palestine. It established an Arab state (which would have been called Palestine)
and a Jewish state (Israel). The two-state plan was deeply flawed. The states’ territories
were long, narrow, and fragmented, giving each side a sense of vulnerability and insecurity.
When Israel declared itself into existence in May 1948, the armies of the neighboring
Arab countries of Transjordan, Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon mobilized. In what
Israelis call “the War of Independence” and Palestinians call “the Catastrophe” (al-
Nakba), the smaller but better-organized and more highly motivated Israeli army defeated
the Arab armies, and Israel acquired what have come to be known as its pre-1967
borders.
The Six-Day War of 1967 fundamentally rearranged the region’s political landscape in
Israel’s favor, setting the stage for subsequent struggles and the peace process. This
conflict was precipitated in part when Egypt, by positioning arms at the Strait of Tiran
chokepoint, closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping. Egypt’s President Nasser and
his Arab allies took several other belligerent but nonviolent steps toward a war they strike
on its Arab neighbors, virtually destroying the Egyptian and Syrian air forces on the
ground. Israel gave Jordan’s King Hussein an opportunity to stay out of the conflict.
However, Jordan went to war and quickly lost the entire West Bank and the historic and
sacred Old City of Jerusalem. The entire nation of Israel was transfixed by the news that
Jewish soldiers were praying at the Western Wall. The Israeli army (Israeli Defense
Forces, or IDF) also seized the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula (shutting down the
Suez Canal), and the strategic Golan Heights section of Syria overlooking Israel’s Galilee
region. These three pieces of land would henceforth be known to the world as the
Occupied Territories. Israel had tripled its territory in six days of fighting.
14. What lands did the peace process of the Oslo Accords yield to Palestinian control?
U.S. President Bill Clinton orchestrated a historic handshake between Arafat and the Israeli
prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, and the leaders signed an agreement known as the Gaza-
Jericho Accord (in its implementation, it came to be known as the Oslo I Accord, after the
© 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Norwegian capital where it was negotiated). It was designed to pave a pathway to peace by
Israel’s granting of limited autonomy, or self-rule, in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank
town of Jericho. Autonomy meant that the Palestinians were responsible for their own affairs
in matters of education, culture, health, taxation, and tourism. Israel also pulled its troops out
of these areas. Palestinians were allowed to form their own government, known as the
Palestinian Authority (PA), and they elected Yasser Arafat as its first president. The accord
established a five-year timetable for the resolution of much more difficult matters, the so-
called final status issues. These included the political status of Jewish and Muslim holy
places in Jerusalem and of the city itself, the possible return of Palestinian refugees (the
“right of return”), the future of Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories, and
Palestinian statehood (independence).
To this day, the final status issues are the ones that prevent the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
from being settled.
In the wake of a deal known as the Wye Agreement, or Oslo II Accord, three successive
Israeli prime ministers (Yitzhak Rabin, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ehud Barak) promised
to transfer more West Bank lands from Israeli to Palestinian control. Arafat promised
increased Palestinian efforts to crack down on Palestinian terrorists and so guarantee the
security of Israelis in the Palestinian territories and in Israel. If finally implemented, this
arrangement would have brought the total of West Bank lands under complete Palestinian
control to 17 percent, leaving 57 percent completely in Israeli hands and 26 percent under
joint control.
During his final year in office in 2000, U.S. President Clinton sought to solidify his
legacy as peacemaker by brokering a historic final settlement between Israelis and
Palestinians. PLO Chairman Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Barak huddled with
Clinton and his advisers in the residential retreat at Camp David, a site chosen because of
its historical significance in Middle East peacemaking. Over weeks of tough
negotiations, mostly over the “final status” issues, the two sides came close to a deal.
Tragically, within weeks, this historic opportunity for peace evaporated and was replaced
by a state of war.
President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel set the
precedent in 1979: Arabs could make peace with Israel on the formula of “land for
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publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
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qualche cosa in serbo per lui. Non teme il giudizio e la condanna?
forse non sarà altrettanto delle verghe; e infatti, a quella minaccia,
egli si arrende e paga a' decumani tanto quanto si chiede da lui [494].
In verità questa delle battiture, o minacciate o date, era un sistema
infallibile. Polemarco di Murgentia, che su cinquanta iugeri non
voleva dare settecento medimni di decima, chiamato nella stanza da
letto di Verre e preso a pugni ed a calci, finisce per darne mille [495].
Lo stesso trattamento doma ogni spirito ribelle in Eubulida Grospo di
Centoripae, ed egli si placa e dà tutto quello che si vuole [496].
Sostrato, Numenio e Nymphodoro della stessa città fuggono, non
volendo dare per decima più di quanto avean raccolto. Apronio
invade i loro poderi, mettendoli a sacco ed a ruba, e, quando
Nymphodoro va ad Aetna a pregarlo per ottenere la restituzione del
suo, lo fa sospendere all'olivo selvatico, ch'è nel fòro, tenendovelo
così, finchè gli garba [497].
Nè solo con i Siciliani, per la condizione loro, più esposti alle offese,
ma con gli stessi cittadini romani si trattava così. C. Matrinio,
cavaliere romano, è tenuto per due giorni a Leontini prigione e
digiuno [498]. Q. Lollio, a cui l'esempio di C. Matrinio e l'età di
novant'anni non hanno tolta ogni velleità di resistenza, è portato
innanzi ad Apronio ad Aetna, mentre, come di consueto,
banchettava nel fòro, e, lì stesso, in pubblico, è schernito, dileggiato
da' convitati, sin che non si arrende a' patti che Apronio
gl'impone [499].
A Leontini dove la moglie di C. Cassio, dell'ordine senatorio, avea
molte colture, i decumani portarono via tutto il ricolto [500].
Le città e il riscatto delle decime.
Ciò co' privati; rispetto alle città poi sarebbe stata escogitata un'altra
serie di espedienti, che menava a lucri più sicuri anche e più pingui.
Usando di frequente le città siciliane riscattare il tributo, col prendere
esse stesse le decime in appalto; entrava a licitare contro quelle uno
de' soliti satelliti di Verre. Ne seguiva allora facilmente che l'appalto
restasse a costoro, e, sia che gli avversarî, disanimati, recedessero
dalla gara, sia che, insistendovi, obbligassero quelli ad assumere
l'appalto ad alta ragione, in ogni caso non mancava loro materia
ingente di lucri. Infatti, nel primo caso, l'utile veniva dalla bassa
ragione dell'appalto; nel secondo caso, le vessazioni, fatte con ogni
sicurezza agli agricoltori, li compensavano del prezzo dell'appalto ed
assicuravano loro un guadagno non lieve. Oltre di che, assai di
sovente, le città stesse erano costrette a prendere in subappalto le
decime dall'appaltatore con grave loro danno.
Delle decime, dovute da Agyrium, era divenuto appaltatore Apronio;
e venne ad Agyrium, preceduto da minacce e dagli uscieri stessi del
governatore, promettendo d'altra parte d'andar via subito e senza far
piati, se gli fosse assicurato un lucro conveniente. Ma gli Agyrinensi
credevano di non doverlo temere, e di non doverlo placare; ed ecco i
loro magistrati ed i loro cinque primarî chiamati a Syracusae, per
rispondere di violazione dell'editto del pretore. L'accusa era vaga e
perciò stesso insidiosa; giudici i soliti: Artemidoro il medico, il pittore
Tlepolemo ed altri simili; pure niente spaventava gli Agyrinensi, e
restavano duri perfino di fronte all'offerta mediazione di Timarchide,
che, insieme, gl'invitava a transigere e faceva loro balenare innanzi
agli occhi l'ingente condanna. Ma, quando intesero dallo stesso
pretore la minaccia di essere fustigati sino a morirne, piangendo, si
arresero, promettendo di voler dare ogni loro cosa; e poterono dire di
essersela cavata a buon mercato riscattando le decime e dando ad
Apronio, a titolo di lucro, trentatremila medimni di frumento, un
sesterzio a medimno per l'esame del frumento e trentamila altri
sesterzî, come lucro, per le decime dell'orzo [501]. Allo stesso
trattamento fu soggetta Herbita per tre anni. Nel primo anno furono
costretti gli Herbitensi a dare trentottomila ed ottocento modii di
frumento, a titolo di lucro, ad Atidio, uno de' noti satelliti di Verre, che
aveva preso in appalto le decime di quella città per soli diciottomila
modii [502]. L'anno appresso, nella stessa maniera, furono obbligati a
dare, sempre a titolo di lucro, ventun mila modii di grano e duemila
sesterzî di giunta ad Apronio, che aveva preso l'appalto per
venticinquemila modii di frumento [503]. Nel terzo anno finalmente, al
modo stesso delle città asiatiche, destinate a fornire di ornamenti le
varie mogli del gran re, Herbita fu chiamata a dare un tributo a Pipa
e Terzia, le due vezzose amanti di Verre. Escrione, il marito putativo
di Pipa, e Docimo, il marito compiacente di Terzia, divennero gli
appaltatori, il primo della decima di frumento ed il secondo della
decima dell'orzo. Nella gara Escrione avea portato l'appalto ad
ottomila cinquecento medimni, una ragione così alta che Verre la
ridusse a settemila cinquecento. Gli Herbitensi intanto, trattando da
Siciliani a Siciliani, non temevano nè l'uno nè l'altro. Tratti allora in
giudizio a Syracusae, sono obbligati a dare ad Escrione i seicento
medimni, scemati da Verre all'appalto, e a Docimo dodicimila
sesterzî [504]. Altri seicento medimni di frumento furono fatti
guadagnare allo stesso Docimo sulla decima di Aceste, costretta a
prenderle in subappalto da lui [505]. I Liparensi, le cui decime, povere
e scarse, erano state affittate ad A. Valenzio, l'interprete di Verre,
furono costretti a riscattarle da lui, pagando in più trentamila
sesterzî [506].
I Tissensi, in ugual modo, furono costretti a dare a Diogneto, servo
del tempio di Venere, pubblicano di nuovo conio, ventunmila sesterzî
nel secondo anno e duemila modii di frumento nel terzo; a Diogneto,
che, per la sua qualità e la povertà sua, non poteva essere, come
vuole Cicerone, che un prestanome di Verre [507].
Addette le decime di Amestratum a M. Cesio ad un'alta ragione,
Eraclio, uno de' legati, fu obbligato, senza mandato del suo senato e
senz'altro, a riscattarle con la perdita di ventiduemila sesterzî [508].
La stessa città dovette dare altro denaro a Sesto Vennonio, nel
secondo anno, con lo stesso pretesto. Appresso, aggiudicate le
decime a Bariobale, un altro servo del tempio di Venere, per
ottocento medimni di grano, gli Amestratini furono costretti a
riscattarle, dando un lucro di ottocentocinquanta medimni e
millecinquecento sesterzî, un lucro maggiore dello stesso prezzo di
appalto [509]. I Petrini furono obbligati a dare cinquantaduemila
sesterzî di lucro a P. Nevio Turpione su di un appalto di tremila
medimni, equivalenti a quarantacinquemila sesterzî, presso a
poco [510]. Halycia, dove solo gl'inquilini e non i cittadini pagano,
dovè dare allo stesso Nevio quindicimila sesterzî di lucro per una
decima di cento medimni [511]. A Segesta, dove era decumano un
altro servo di Venere, Symmaco, gli agricoltori, contro ogni norma di
legge, sono obbligati a dare sicurtà di stare in giudizio fuori del loro
fòro; Diocle Phime di Panhormus, che avea in fitto in quel territorio
un podere per seimila sesterzî, fu obbligato a pagare, per decime,
sedicimila sesterzî e seicentocinquantaquattro medimni di frumento,
non senza una giunta di battiture; lo stesso C. Anneo Brocco
senatore fu obbligato a dare danaro e frumento [512]. Per le decime
di Thermae un tal Venuleio, concorrente a posticcio, vinse nella gara
il legato della città, che voleva aggiudicarsele, portandole sino ad
ottomila medimni; e, perchè non andasse sul posto, la città stessa si
vide obbligata a dargli settemila modii di frumento e duemila
sesterzî [513]. Gli Imacarensi, dopo essere stati ridotti allo stremo,
dovettero dare ad Apronio ventimila sesterzî [514]. Gli Hennensi,
dopo che le loro decime furono appaltate per ottomila duecento
medimni, dovettero darne ad Apronio altri tremila con duemila
sesterzî per giunta [515]. I Calactini furono obbligati a dare a M. Cesio
in Amestratum le decime, date per lo innanzi sempre nella loro città,
anche sotto Verre nel biennio precedente [516]. I Mutycensi furono
così vessati da Theomnasto Syracusano, che, per dare le seconde
decime, dovettero comperare ii frumento; nè ciò accadde ad essi
soltanto [517]. Gli Hyblei finirono col pagare per decima al decumano
Cn. Sergio sei volte quello che aveano seminato [518]. Altre simili
soperchierie furono fatte a' Menaeni [519], agli Agrigentini, agli
Entellini, agli Heracleensi, a' Soluntini, a' Catinensi, a' Tyndaritani, a'
Cephaloeditani, agli Haluntini, agli Apolloniensi, agli Enguini, a'
Capitini, agli Innensi, a' Murgentini, agli Assorini, agli Helorini, a'
Ietini, a' Cetarini, agli Scherini, a tutte insomma le città siciliane [520].
Ad Aetna, ove insieme banchettava nel fòro e smungeva e
sberteggiava gli agricoltori, Apronio trasse un lucro di cinquantamila
sesterzî [521]. A Leontini lo stesso Apronio, su di un'estensione
coltivata di trentamila jugeri, prese in appalto le decime per
trentaseimila medimni, in concorrenza di Q. Minucio, che voleva
assumerla ad una ragione di cinquemila medimni di più; e,
prelevando tre decime invece di una, poi tre cinquantesimi e poi
ancora, per ogni medimno, uno o due sesterzî, giunse a fare un
guadagno di quattrocentomila modii all'incirca [522].
Le compere di frumento.