...Background The Defeat of the Ottomans During World War 1, a British High Commissioner, Henry McMahon, convinced Hussein Ibn ‘Ali, the Ottoman governor of Mecca and Medina, to lead an Arab revolt against the Ottoman empire which was aligned with Germany against France and Britain. McMahon promised that if the Arabs supported Britain, the Arab areas that were ruled by the Ottoman empire would be supported by the British government. A British army officer, Thomas Edward Lawrence and Faysal, Hussein’s son, led an Arab revolt which defeated the Ottomans successfully. McMahon and Hussein exchanged a series of letters from 1915 to 1916. The Arabs claimed that in the letters, the British had promised that Hussein would rule as King over an Arab...
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...exacerbated tensions between the Arabs living in Mandate Palestine and the Jews who emigrated there during the Ottoman period. Signed in January 1919, the Faisal–Weizmann Agreement promoted Arab-Jewish cooperation on the development of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East, though this event had little to no effect on the conflict. In 1920, the San Remo conference largely endorsed the 1916 Anglo-French Sykes–Picot Agreement, allocating to Britain the area of present day Jordan, the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, and Iraq, while France received Syria and Lebanon. In 1922, the League of Nations formally established the British Mandate for Palestine and Transjordan, at least partially fulfilling Britain's commitments from the 1915–16 McMahon–Hussein Correspondence by assigning all of the land east of the Jordan River to the Emirate of Jordan, ruled by Hashemite king Abdullah but closely dependent on Britain, leaving the remainder west of the Jordan as the League of Nations Mandatory Palestine. While the British had made promises to give both Arabs and Jews land, the British claimed they had never promised to give either side all of the land. Rising tensions had given way to violence, such as the 1920 Nebi Musa riots, and Jaffa riots of 1921. To assuage the Arabs, and due to British inability to control Arab violence in the Mandatory Palestine any other way, the semi-autonomous Arab Emirate of Transjordan was...
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...During the time of this Declaration, Palestine was still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Although the British had promised Jews a home, their promises were not worth much. In 1916, a year prior to the the Balfour Declaration, the British had secretly promised the French that they would divide up the Arab countries that the British would maintain control over Palestine. A year prior to their promise to the French, in 1915, the British had promised Sharif Hussein, the ruler of Mecca that he would preside over an Arab state (including Palestine) if he led an Arab revolt over the Ottomans. The British promised Palestine to Zionists, to themselves and to the Meccans simultaneously. This would obviously lead to issues and in no way could result in a peaceful resolution. Shortly following the war, the British established a colony in Palestine. The did this under the idea that they would rule until the Palestinians were able to govern...
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...Religion and religious organizations assert a most important impact on international conflicts. To date, religious, ethnic and nationalist conflicts remain ignored in the study of international relations and peace. The end of The Cold War brought an escalation of nationalist violence and many expected an additional escalation of religious conflicts. Despite the attention given to the religious element of conflicts, it exists as an under-inquired subject. No critical study of the impact of religious organizations on conflict behavior or comparative research of peace-making and peace-building efforts of different religious organizations can document the facts we know in our hearts and should execute as human beings. World religious conflicts continue to affect global peace at a rate exceeding economic or political gains. Even the illustrious United States of America avoids engaging in war for “real reasons” of persecution. Using the veils of ability, lack of enemies, volunteer military, entrenched positions of foreign policy and a steady usurpation of power from Congress to the Presidency since the end of The Cold War (Huffington Post), our great nation engages for reasons of employing democracy as an assumption of our historical position. Regardless, the most disturbing form of conflict remains those of religiously tempered ancient struggles. In particular, the enduring and explosive struggle between the Israelis and the Palestinians remains front and center on the world stage...
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...The Colonial Period: The Root Cause of the Politically Unstable State of the Sudan Introduction Between the 1870s and 1900, Africa faced a process of European aggression, invasion, and eventual conquest and colonization. The European imperialist push to take over Africa was driven by the industrial revolution and the hopes of becoming a world power. After two world wars, countries that had previously been colonized agitated for independence, and eventually colonial powers withdrew their administrators from Africa. For each African state, becoming independent meant something far more than simply gaining back territory. For some, it was the beginning of a stable government, a local economy and a cultural comeback. For others such as the Sudan, it was the start of tragic consequences driven by political conflicts and civil wars. Through the process of decolonization that began, African leaders worked to shape the character of their postcolonial state, usually either against the continued European cultural and political predominance, while others worked with European powers in order to maintain an economically and politically stable state. As the success of each nation and region of Africa widely varied after their independence, their progress also varied. Unfortunately, some are still struggling to overcome these crucial instabilities preventing them from being at peace within their own state, and internationally. By examining Sudan and the decades leading up to its...
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...shape the Middle East in today's world. This paper attempts to examine this history arguing how the Ottoman Empire declined and eventually dissolved at the end of WWI. It shows that the internal problems of the Empire, such as its backward political and economic system, failed to compete with the increasing influence of the Western European countries, whose government was more efficient and more industrialized than the former, in the Middle East. The paper starts with a discussion of the contemporary situation in the Empire, and then deals with the problems that led to the conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the European powers over the Middle East during WWI. It finally analyzes how the defeat of the Ottomans and the increasing British and French dominance in the Middle East laid the ground for today's conflicts in the region between the Arabic states and the Jewish nation, which is supported by the West. Since 1600s the Ottoman Empire had controlled a large territory extended from Persian Gulf to Atlantic and from Hungary in the north to Egypt in the south. For about two hundred years, it enjoyed prosperity and power. By 1800s, many sultans became corrupted. They had more interests in running the empire through surrendering authority to their grand viziers. Their...
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...The recent affair in Israel seems to be escalating everyday as the Israelis and Palestinians are clashing over the costs of past events and the conflict has been one of the most unstable and constant wars in modern world history. The Israeli military have continued to occupy Palestinian Territories and on a daily basis, inhabitants of those lands have been killed, injured or kidnapped. Despite recent major Israeli violence, Palestinians have created pacific marches and demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza, to retaliate. There have been attempts by other nations such as neighbouring Arab nations, the USA, Britain and USSR, to solve the crisis, although, their intervention have seemed to make the situation even worse. According to Theodore Herzl, an Austrian Jew living in Paris in 1896, he feels that the Jewish should have a homeland. This source is useful because historically, the Jews do have a rightful claim to Israel; however, it is biased because he is a Jew, after all. The Jewish (Israelis) claim Israel due to Israel, itself, becoming a nation two thousand years before the rise of Islam. The Jews of modern day Israel share the same tongue and traditions of ancient Israel, formed by the Jewish custom and religion, descended from the founding father, Abraham. They believe that Israel is their “Promised Land” as it is stated in the Bible, in the Book of Deuteronomy 1:8, from Moses that the Israelites should, “Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would...
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...was populated by nomadic tribal societies in the inhospitable desert.[38] The Islamic prophet, Muhammad, was born in Mecca in about 571 A.D. In the early 7th century, Muhammad united the various tribes of the peninsula and created a single Islamic religious polity. Following his death in 632, his followers rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering huge swathes of territory (from the Iberian Peninsula in west to modern day Pakistan in east) in a matter of decades. In so doing, Arabia soon became a politically peripheral region of the Muslim world as the focus shifted to the more developed conquered lands.[39] From the 10th century to the early 20th century Mecca and Medina were under the control of a local Arab ruler known as the Sharif of Mecca, but at most times the Sharif owed allegiance to the ruler of one of the major Islamic empires based in Baghdad, Cairo or Istanbul. Most of the remainder of what became Saudi Arabia reverted to traditional tribal rule.[40][41] In the 16th century, the Ottomans added the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coast (the Hejaz, Asir and Al-Ahsa) to the Empire and claimed suzerainty over the interior. One reason was to thwart Portuguese attempts to attack the Red Sea (hence the Hejaz) and the Indian Ocean.[42] Ottoman degree of control over these lands varied over the next four centuries with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the Empire's central authority.[43][44] The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal...
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...goal of the Hezbollah is to dominate Lebanese politics in order to create a theocratic Islamic state out of Iran and to act as Iran’s (and Syria’s) substitute in confronting Israel and the US as a second front. Syria has suspected ties to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. However, Syria still rejects the terrorist categorization, denies involvement in the Hariri killing, and says it was Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups on its soil to be legitimate resistance movements aimed at beneficial Arab territory held by Israel. Reports claim that Syria was involved, and still is involved in supporting terrorist groups. The United States can’t trust a country that is supporting groups who are against our country and our democracy. Since Syria is considered a state sponsor of terrorism and supports terrorist groups, the U.S should not provide Syria with foreign aid. Before the World War II, Syria became an independent Arab Kingdom...
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...The Spring of 2011 in the Arab world was markedly different from its predecssors. “The Arab Spring” as it was called began in Tunisia and spread across the region (Al Jazeera). The protestors in this revolt wanted a myriad of things. Some wanted democracy, respect for civil rights, and some want Islamization of government and a movement to theocracy. Syria, once a province of the Ottoman Empire, is a small middle-eastern nation between Lebanon and Turkey. In March 2011, pro-Democracy Arab Spring protestors who were marching to decry the arrest and torture of teen graffiti artists were fired upon by police. After the shootings, many more protestors joined the public displays of defiance (BBC ). After nationwide unrest and a refusal by President Assad to abdicate, the protestors began to arm themselves (Semple). The violence in the country escalated so quickly that by June of 2013, 90,000 people had been killed in the fighting and that number moved to 250,000 by August of 2015 (BBC ). Into the fray came the self-stylized Islamic State. This terrorist group which is opposed to Assad is fighting to create a Muslim caliphate throughout Iraq and Syria. In June of 2014, the group claimed that it’s caliphate had been established, which lead to US airstrikes to destroy the group, thus entering another belligerent into the fight (BBC). The Syrian Civil War was killed more than 250,000 people and approximately 11-12 million of the nation’s 22 million people are displaced. Approximately...
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...Essay #1: Outline the reforms initiated in the Ottoman Empire by Selim III and how they were related to the reforms followed during the reign of Mahmud II? The reign of Selim III was a period of time of state-sponsored reforms. Some of the most important reforms was military reforms in which the Ottoman Empire tried to transform their armed forces in the image of many of the European countries. This was because when Selim became the sultan, the Ottoman Empire was fighting another losing war with Austria and Russia. For the sultan and his advisers, the lessons from the war was, if the military doesn’t improve the Ottoman Empire will crumble. Thus Selim III started a “series of reforms designed to reorganize the existing armed forces along European lines”. However one group was suspicious of the reforms, the Janissaries. The Janissaries were the most efficient military unit in the empire. The Janissaries were a slave army that numbered around 40,000 troops. They are known for their discipline, morale, and professionalism. And during times of peace they were used to maintain domestic law and order. So to appease the Janissaries and convince them to accept the new methods, Selim raised their salaries and rebuilt their barracks. However, that just made them more suspicious, and they “successfully resisted his moves toward reform”. Frustrated by this, the sultan tried to sidestep them by creating a new military unit called the Nazam-i Jedid to replace the Janissaries. They were trained...
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...TIMELINE OF PHILIPPINE HISTORY SUBMITTED BY: HIPOLITO, KRISTEL J. 10th century Year | Date | Event | 900 | | End of prehistory. Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the earliest known Philippine document, is written in the Manila area in Kawi script. | | | Rise of Indianized Kingdom of Tondo around Manila Bay. | 11th century Year | Date | Event | 1000 | | People from Southern Annam called Orang Dampuan establish trade zones in Sulu | 1001 | | Song Shih document records tributary delegation from the Buddhist Kingdom of Butuan on 17 March. | 12th century Year | Date | Event | 1175 | | Kingdom of Namayan reaches its peak. | 13th century Year | Date | Event | 1240 | | Tuan Masha'ika, an Arab, travels and introduces Islam to Sulu. | 14th century Year | Date | Event | 1380 | | Karim Al-Makhdum arrives in Jolo and builds a Mosque. | 1400 | | Birth of the Baybayin, Hanunoo, Tagbanwa, and Buhid scripts from Brahmi. | 15th century Year | Date | Event | 1457 | | Sultanate of Sulu founded by Sharif Al-Hashim.[1] | 16th century Year | Date | Event | 1500 | | Rise of Kingdom of Maynila under the Bolkiah dynasty | 1521 | 16 March | Ferdinand Magellan lands on Homonhon with three small ships, named the Concepcion, Trinidad and Victoria. Magellan calls the place the Arcigelago de San Lazaro since March 16 is the feast day of Saint Lazarus | | 28 March | Magellan reaches the Philippines | | 29 March | Blood Compact between Magellan and Rajah...
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...5/8/2014 Israeli–Palestinian conflict - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Israeli–Palestinian conflict From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Israeli–Palestinian conflict (Arabic: اﻟﻨﺰاع اﻟﻔﻠﺴﻄﯿﻨﻲ - اﻹﺳﺮاﺋﯿﻠﻲ al-Niza'a al'Filastini al 'Israili; Hebrew: הסכסוך הישראלי-פלסטיני Ha'Sikhsukh Ha'YisraeliFalestini) is the ongoing struggle between Israelis and Palestinians that began in the mid-20th century.[1] The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is sometimes also used in reference to the earlier sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine, between the Zionist yishuv and the Arab population under British rule. The Israeli–Palestinian conflict has formed the core part of the wider Arab–Israeli conflict. It has widely been referred to as the world's "most intractable conflict".[3][4][5] Despite a long-term peace process and the general reconciliation of Israel with Egypt and Jordan, Israelis and Palestinians have failed to reach a final peace agreement. The remaining key issues are: mutual recognition, borders, security, water rights, control of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements,[6] Palestinian freedom of movement,[7] and resolving Palestinian claims of a right of return for their refugees. The violence of the conflict, in a region rich in sites of historic, cultural and religious interest worldwide, has been the object of numerous international conferences dealing with historic rights, security issues and human rights, and has been a factor hampering tourism in and...
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...difference in public perception is a result of several key tenets of each organization’s strategy and structure. The IRA fights to protect and support the liberties of the Irish people, while Al Qaeda relies upon the religious doctrine of a radical Islamic minority to carry out jihad against Western infidels. Al Qaeda, while claiming to represent the entire Muslim world, has never had a real home or a consistent base to draw upon; inversely, a large proportion of the Irish people are steadfast in their support for the cause. Al Qaeda’s indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians has resulted in a falling out with a large percentage of its former supporters. Finally, the IRA had a distinct, tangible, and realistic goal of expelling the British from Ireland, while Al Qaeda seeks to establish a new caliphate based on Islamic fundamentalist rule, something that very few people believe can really happen. As a result, its ranks are disillusioned by this relative lack of achievement. This paper will show how the comparison of Al Qaeda and the IRA serves as an excellent case study in attempting to see why the latter has become a stalwart in the history of terrorism, and why the former is ultimately destined to...
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...«IS IT AN ARAB SPRING OR BUSINESS AS USUAL? RECENT CHANGES IN THE ARAB WORLD IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT" By Michael B. Bishku* INTRODUCTION What began in Tunisia in December 2010 and continues most violently in Syria today has been labeled by observers of and experts on the Middle East as the "Arab Spring," but is that the correct term? (It should be noted that Lebanon engaged in the Cedar Revolution in 2005 - following the assassination of Sunni Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri by Hezbollah operativeswhich resulted in the withdrawal of Syrian froops after 30 years.) While Tunisia seems to be emulating Turkey as a historically secular country with mildly Islamist politicians exercising the greatest amount of influence in their country's respective foreign and domestic affairs, Egypt, the birthplace of the Muslim Brotherhood, appears to be at the center of a struggle between the Islamists and the military, which has dominated politics in that country since the early 1950s, while secularists and the minority Copts feel as if they have been sidelined. Majority Shi'a in Bahrain were quashed in their attempt to have a minority Sunni government recognize their rights, while Yemen's longtime leader was replaced by that country's vice president. Libya toppled an erratic dictator, but has no experience with representative government and like in Yemen the population possesses tribal identities. Syria is now engaged in a brutal civil war in which at least 20,000 people have lost their lives by the...
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