...The Iranian Revolution and its contribution to Islamic Political Revival Sisy M. Orobitg INR3274: International Relations of the Middle East Professor Alla Mirzoyan December 8, 2008 The Iranian Revolution and its contribution to Islamic Political Revival The Pahlavi Dynasty was for many Iranians a constitutional monarchy turned corrupt that plagued them with economic frustrations, rising unemployment and an overwhelming feeling of anxiety that began during 1975s oil crisis. Lack of government accountability and increasing political unrest among the middle class exacerbated the crisis and allowed the religious clergy to take advantage. Thus, this disillusionment with the governing monarchy paved the way to a revolution that has proven to be unprecedented. The advent of a new Islamic revival proved successful upon the birth of the Iranian Revolution and with the overwhelming consent of its people came the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as its ruler. With a new political mind-frame, came an authoritarian regime, which volubly conceded to no one, and consolidated itself through each governing tenet. The resilience of this regime brought about terror.( Mehran Kamrava; A Modern Middle East: A Political History since the First World War (2005)) The author of this new political revival which has impregnated into other areas of the Arab World is The Iranian Republic. All Western world influences that attempted...
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...Middle East Assignment Humanities 412 Syria 1.) Provide a map of the region. 2.) What year did Syria become independent and from who? Syria became independent on various different dates. It first was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1516 till the first world war, as the Empire collapsed Syria became a mandated territory in 1020 administered by France with Lebanon. They first tried a declaration of independence in 1944 but the French resisted this. On April 17th 1946 independence was finally achieved and the French forces withdrew. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3580.htm 9.) Hot off the presses: a current dispatch about the situation in the country. Currently in Syria there is a widespread antigovernment protests, the Syrian authorities have been trying to stop these protests with military force. So far 1600 people have died and 10,000 have started to flee the country and move to Turkey. These protests were inspired by the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. In March people started participating in rallies wanting freedom in the southern border town of Deraa. Things escalated when security forces opened fire on unarmed crowds. This single act created much unrest in Deraa, which spread onto other towns and cities. The president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad responded by sending in tanks and troops with the goal to restore order. Once again tanks and snipers fired on unarmed protesters, at night men were rounded up and electricity and communication lines...
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...Introduction The world has undergone significant technological advancement and strategic landscape evolution since the start of this century. Globalisation has shrunk the spaces between states and nations. The world is now intricately connected and nations are hence more vulnerable to the impacts and effects of threats posed by others. With the transformation of the global security landscape, militaries have to cope with a wider spectrum of threats – traditional and non-traditional. Non-traditional threats are transnational by nature. They are not restricted by international boundaries or nationalities. Often, the threats are unpredictable and intricately woven into our traditional threats. Such combinations posed greater danger and risk in damaging the states or nations. The primary purpose of the military outfit is to defend the nation’s sovereignty and independence against traditional threats from other nations. The marrying of non-traditional and traditional threats imposed greater responsibilities on the military forces. It also fundamentally challenges the relevance, construct and employment of the military force. This essay seeks to explore how the global security landscape has changed and its impact on the world. It also aims to identify if military forces are successful in coping with the current landscape. Global security landscape and its impact Liberal trade and rapid advancement of technology has resulted in a greater degree of interconnectedness and interdependence...
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...Baghdad city was one of the wonders of the world. ... It is [our] hope that the aspirations of your philosophers and writers shall be realized and that once again the people of Baghdad shall flourish, enjoying their wealth and substance under institutions which are in consonance with their sacred laws and their racial ideals.[1] The government of Iraq, and the future of your country, will soon belong to you. ... We will end a brutal regime ... so that Iraqis can live in security. We will respect your great religious traditions, whose principles of equality and compassion are essential to Iraq's future. We will help you build a peaceful and representative government that protects the rights of all citizens. And then our military forces will leave. Iraq will go forward as a unified, independent, and sovereign nation that has regained a respected place in the world. You are a good and gifted people -- the heirs of a great civilization that contributes to all humanity.[2] Britain's 1917 occupation of Iraq holds worrying parallels with today.[3] After the euphoric 1917 capture of Baghdad and expulsion of the Ottoman Empire, Iraq soon became an ever deepening financial drain and graveyard for Britain. The same situation faces the US and to some degree...
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...Should the U.S. take Military Action in Syria? Syria, a country in the Middle East bordering Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon has experienced growing civil unrest since 2011. The current government, led by Bashar al-Assad, has responded with violence and human rights abuses. In September 2013 the United Nations (UN) (United Nations, 2013) confirmed chemical weapons were used against civilians in Damascus on August 21st. These actions have generated an outcry for intervention. Arguments Some believe taking action is the only way to stop the killing of civilians and end human rights abuses perpetrated by the military. These pro-interventionists conclude Assad continues his oppressive actions because he doesn’t believe anyone will take action to stop him. Assaults on Syrian civilians are documented by many sources. Since January 2011 it is estimated over 100,000 citizens protesting against the Assad regime have been killed by military forces (Table, 2013). A report commissioned by the UN in June 2013 estimated 5,000 were killed each month since July 2012. This number exceeds reported deaths in Iraq at the height of war in 2007. In a September 2011 report many atrocities against children were documented. Over a hundred children were killed in connection with protests, many others reported injured. A group of children in the town of Dara’a, as young as 8, were taken into custody in connection with anti-government graffiti on a schoolhouse wall. These children...
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...The Iraq War: An Avoidable Situation Introduction Iraq has generally never been a nation at peace, but that did not stop the United States from exacerbating those problems. Following the attacks of September 11 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 the United States’ actions and counter terrorism strategy created an insurgency that set them up for a long and arduous war. Through what appeared to be a rushed planning process the United States entered Iraq and acted as if they wanted to worsen their situation. This paper will look at how the ordinances passed during the first year in Iraq, due to Paul Bremer’s lack of knowledge concerning counter-insurgency, made the United States government reconsider their strategy in Iraq. These actions combined with a growing resentment towards United States occupancy and Shi’a and Sunni insurgencies caused the United States to change its course of action towards counter-insurgency. The civil war that was beginning only added to the problem. Quickly, they wrote two new field manuals on counter-insurgency and with successful campaigns, led by General Petraeus, regained some stability in the war-torn nation. Background A decade before the War on Terror and the subsequent invasion of Iraq under the Bush regime, there was the Gulf War. Following the Iraqi defeat at the hands of a USA led, United Nations backed force there were strict sanctions placed on weapons, the military, and oil reserves in Iraq. Also, following this conflict, a wealthy...
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...studies DEPARTMENT: International relations and Diplomacy with IT COURSE: Middle East in International Relations COURSE CODE: DIR 307 LECTURER: Ms Cyprine Aduogo YEAR OF STUDY: 3rd year, 1st semester TASK: Group Work DATE OF PRESENTATION: 1st October 2012 QUESTION: DESCRIBE THE GENERAL OUTLOOK OF IRAQ GROUP MEMBERS NAMES REG NO SIGNITURE 1. Tari Elizabeth Qabale DS/0002/010 2. Sessia Sammy Kipyegon DS/3005/010 INTRODUCTION Country formal name: Republic of Iraq and the local long form is (Jamhuriyyat al-Iraq) Convectional short form: Iraq and the local short form is al-Iraq Continent: Asia Country Motto: Allahu-Akbar (God is the Greatest) National Anthem: Mawtini (My Homeland) National symbol: Golden Eagle Terms for citizens: Iraqi(s) Capital city: Baghdad which lies in the center east of the country and actually the largest city. Current president: Jalal Talabani Current Prime Minister: Nouri Al-Maliki Year of independence: From United Kingdom on 3rd October 1932 and was declared a republic on 14th July 1958. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Historically, Iraq was known in Europe by the Greek troponin ‘Mesopotamia’ meaning the land between the rivers. Iraq has been home to numerous civilizations since 6th century BC. The ruins of Ur, Babylon and other ancient cities are situated in Iraq as well as the legendary location of the Garden of Eden. The region between Tigris...
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...University of San Diego 5 December 2011 Since 2006 Iran has been making a serious push to gain nuclear weapons. Iran has been disregarding President Obama’s requests to cease the nuclear weapons program that is becoming a larger threat to international security. A realist would see the Iranian nuclear struggle as a push to challenge the power of the United States. Countries that have nuclear weapons legally through the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are major world powers in regards to economic, military, and global influence. Realism suggests that if Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons that they could create hegemonic stability in the Middle East. Throughout history the Middle East has been a very unstable area. In recent years there has been effort to overthrow the dictatorial governments in the area, which created political unrest. Iran’s push to obtain nuclear technology could possibly bring peace to that area. Iran’s nuclear program has been developing since the 1960’s and was recently revived in 2006. Iran plans to have the nuclear technology ready by 2015. Iran could become a global superpower in years to come. Venezuela, Russia, the AQ Kahn network, and several other countries contribute to the Iranian development of nuclear weapons. These countries have aligned, and exchange information about WMD’s. Although aligning with these countries is an act of liberalism, Iran is merely using those countries to obtain the data necessary to create nuclear weapons...
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...The New World Order: Not Built in a Day Luke Nosko 2011-04-02 David Tabachnick Word Count: 3028 The end of the Cold War, marked by the collapse of the Soviet Union, was the beginning of an unprecedented geopolitical scenario in modern times, namely the existence of a lone superpower nation which easily dominated the other countries of the world in terms of military strength and international economic and political influence. With this never-before-seen position of power in the modern, globalized world came the heightened importance of American foreign policy decisions, and the world waited to see how the US would react to being thrust abruptly into this role of the unipole of world power. The first test of US foreign policy as the sole superpower would actually come before the official dissolution of the USSR (though it had been in steep economic decline for some time), when Saddam Hussein lead the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. US President George H. W. Bush would place this conflict into perspective for the countries now looking to the US for leadership in his address to a joint session of Congress and the nation on September 11, 1990, and it was then that he most famously claimed that the US would strive to establish and protect the concept of a New World Order (NWO): “We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these...
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...Foreign policy, whether for or against, seems to be the center or major problem in most of the international incidences, that have occurred recently. A) Two or three (2-3) international events from the past five years that can be traced back to a foreign policy created after the Civil War. 1. Sri Lankan government policy towards India against support of China - Sri Lankan government had a foreign policy towards India that was not supportive of China and that has led to a strained relationship between these two Nations. Tamilian issues were not completely addressed by Sri Lankan foreign policy and the recent atrocities against Tamil provoked the Tamilnadu state to pressurize the central government though this is Sri Lanka internal policy but in its foreign policy they couldn’t relate to the sentiments of Tamil people in India. The Indian government did not attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) Summit which was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The protest of the Sri Lankan Government towards the Tamils of Sri Lanka forced the Prime minister of India to stay away from the CHOGM summit. The long civil war with Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka did not patch up the relations between Sri Lanka and Tamilnadu and Tamil people forced Prime minister of India to boycott CHOGM. 2. Somalia’s foreign policy influenced by Muslim fundamentalism - In Somalia, the foreign policy...
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...with Israel designates the foreign policy of the United States in regards to the rest of the Middle East. This thereby impacts foreign policy throughout the world. “The centerpiece of U.S. Middle East policy has been its relationship with Israel. The combination of unwavering U.S. support for Israel and the related effort to spread democracy throughout the region has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardized U.S. security.” (Mearsheimer and Walt, 1) The United States did not take an overly "sympathetic" position on the Zionist movement until the second decade of the 1900s. One main reason for their new support was the establishment in 1914 of the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs. On September 21, 1922, the United States Congress passed the Lodge-Fish resolution, which lent the support of the United States for Zionists to establish a homeland in Palestine. In May of 1942 at the Biltimore Conference, the Zionists made the declaration that Palestine needed to be recognized as a "Jewish Commonwealth." (Oren, 442) The end of the Second World War brought about two changes in the Middle East. The first of these changes was the decolonization of the Middle Eastern states; Britain and France withdrew from some of their colonies early on, but remained in others for more years to come. The second of these changes was the involvement of the Middle East in the Cold War. “The most controversial of all withdrawals, Brown 2 however, was that from Palestine:...
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...Afghanistan Diaz, Aida Helen Steinhofer April, 3, 2015 The War on Terrorism: The War in Afghanistan. It was this state of chaos and confusion from which extremist governments like Taliban and fanatics like Osama bin Laden emerged. 86). similarly, their policies about marriage, divorce and other legal proceedings are also derived from their religion (Aronoff, p. He wanted to give back Germany its past glory and respect in front of the world, and for that he wanted to create more living space for Germans and thus he conquered the surrounding German speaking areas and created hatred among the leaders of those countries. This is the only way to co-exist peacefully in today’s world. This is important because it is seen in the past that attempts to bring democracy and socialism in the Arab world have failed so badly that it has made the people of the Arab world to denounce these ideas altogether. This attack is important not only because of how widespread it was; but it is also important because of the way it changed the course of the West towards Islam. With that, the West needs to incentivize the Muslim world to adopt democracy and liberalism so that they see the benefits of these systems themselves. ISLAM AND THE WEST – AN INTRODUCTION Islam and the West are different entities in many ways, but because of the globalization in the world; we see that there is an increasing interaction between these two entities, which becomes a reason for conflict...
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...Research Paper May 3, 2015 Introduction The Syrian Civil War has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Since 2011, protests and attacks have been a daily occurrence, and the regime of Bashar Al-Assad has done what it believed was necessary to stop rebel forces and end protests. As such, Assad has committed many questionable, at best, and criminal, at worst, actions against the civilians of Syria in an effort to stop the rebels. The indiscriminate warfare Assad has used against Syrian citizens is shown in multiple international doctrines as illegal, and is thus a war crime, which should be prosecuted. The Statue of the International Criminal Court defines war crimes as “serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict” and “serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in an armed conflict not of an international character (ICRC 2016). Section IV of Rule 156 of the International Committee of the Red Cross, titled Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed During a Non-International Armed Conflict, lists use of prohibited weapons subject to criminal sanctions, and specifically references the Chemical Weapons Convention, Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and the Ottawa Convention as laying the groundwork for this guideline. This paper will address historical context of the Syrian Civil War, United Nations documents concerning indiscriminate weapons...
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...GULF WAR II-LESSONS FOR THE INDIAN ARMED FORCES INTRODUCTION 1. From time immemorial the land known today as Iraq has been the scene of conflict. Iraq has been, not only a strategic highway linking the Eastern Mediterranean lands with those of the Orient, but also the scene of frequent clashes between empires and great powers. It has seldom been the master of its own destiny, and in the numerous conflicts that stud its history, it has more often than not, been a pawn or the prize of other powers seeking regional hegemony. Until the beginning of twentieth century, most conflicts in the region were imperialistic in nature and involved Iraq because of its strategic important position. However, the discovery of vast oil deposits in the region in 1907 added another element to the equation, and conflicts, since have sprung from imperialistic motives as well as from a desire to protect or control sources of much of the world’s most important strategic resource. 2. Iran-Iraq war and the misadventure in Kuwait bear testimony to the misuse of power by Saddam Hussein. Saddam had always been labeled by the West as a producer of weapons of mass destruction. Ultimately a stage had reached where US and UK convinced themselves that Saddam was stockpiling these weapons. They demanded a change of regime and when threats were not taken seriously by Saddam, they launched Operation Iraqi Freedom or Gulf War II, despite all the opposition the world over, to attack and liberate Iraq. ...
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...reportR.LAKSHMI ANVITHA (1226213102) OIL TRADING - SUPPLY AND DEMAND ANALYSIS SUMMARY: Oil, also known as petroleum, is the most actively traded commodity in the world. The price is usually quoted per barrel. Oil trading is transacted on changes in the price of crude oil and does not involve a physical purchase of the commodity. The direction of the price movement determines whether a trader will profit or not. The two kinds of contracts that are traded are oil futures and options. The price of oil can be significantly affected by political factors, as well as environmental factors such as natural disasters. Other influencing factors include demand such as that driven by modernizing populations in India and China, as well as supply - that is, production rates in oil producing countries. In addition, technological advances in alternative energies may also affect the price of oil. In short, oil trading can involve significant price fluctuations making it an exciting and potentially profitable market. Oil prices also affect currency trading. Sometimes, a weakened US dollar may cause a rise in the price of oil. Other currencies that rely on commodity prices, such as CAD can also be affected by changes in oil prices. In this report we are analyzing the demand and supply , price factors of crude oil. INTRODUCTION: Until as recently as the early 1970s, the main channel for oil supply was the integrated system of the major oil companies. Each company had its own source of crude...
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