(MME) The Modern Middle East Module Overview

The Modern Middle East

Introduction 

We are going to continue to develop and research the themes we discussed in the Connecting Themes module throughout this course. We will take those themes and apply them to different regions of the world. First up we will begin with Southwest Asia also known as The Middle East. Take some time to consider that the first successful British settlement in America that paved the way for the creation of the United States happened in 1607. The last state to join the United States did so in 1959. This means that it took 352 years for the United States to become what it looks like on political maps today. Compare that to the Middle East. At the turn of the twentieth century, there were only two sovereign nations or empires in the Middle East. By the turn of the twenty-first century, there were fifteen. The Middle East was the site of the world's first civilizations, so it is safe to say that it has a very, very long history. When studying the history of the Middle East it seems that more changes have occurred in the past one hundred years in the Middle East than in the many previous centuries combined. With the Middle East springing up fifteen nations in such a short period, it is probably safe to say that this region has experienced severe "growing pains." In this module, you are going to learn just what those "growing pains" involved.

Module Lessons Preview

 In this module, we will study the following topics:

  • Conflict and Change -

    The Middle East region is often a hot topic on the news. It has a long rich history of the foundation of three of the major world’s religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Post-World War I, Great Britain and France divided up the region under a Mandate System. This caused new boundaries to be formed that has led to conflict throughout the post-war years.

  • Culture, Governance, and Human Environmental Interaction -

    The Middle East has different ethnic groups, but the prominent religion is Islam. The region has a rich history of culture-making up their language and customs. While Arabs are the vast majority of the ethnic groups, other non-Arab groups call the Middle East home as well such as the Kurds, the Turks, the Pashtuns, the Jews, and the Maronites. Each of these groups has a rich history and culture surrounding the Middle East.

  • Movement and migration -

    The Middle East is home to a variety of ethnic and religious groups. How to govern over that region has caused much dismay throughout history. Almost all of the governments in the region are unitary which means the power is held by one central authority.

  • Location -

    The Middle East is also known as Southwest Asia, but this region of the world is actually located on three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The unique location has allowed it to be influenced by all that have travel and traded historically causing the Middle East to be the gateway connecting major trade routes on the three continents.

Key Terms

  1. Constitution - a system of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state or group is governed
  2. Ulema - a body of Muslim scholars or religious leaders (an ulema guides the Saudi Arabian royal family in forming government policy)
  3. Theocracy - any government headed by religious authorities
  4. Shah - a former title of the ruler in Iran
  5. Iran-Iraq War - war between Iran and Iraq that started in 1980 and lasted a decade with no formal peace agreement
  6. Caliph - the former title of religious and political heads of some Muslim states
  7. Refugees - persons who flee for refuge or safety from their homes in times of persecution, war or disaster; usually they flee to another country
  8. Intifada - "the shaking off;" uprising of Palestinians against Israeli rule; there have been two major ones (1987, 2000)
  9. Radicalism - favoring of extreme changes or reforms, especially in politics
  10. Emir - an Arabian prince, chief or military leader
  11. Imam - Shi'a religious leader
  12. Star of David - six-pointed star used by Zionists as their symbol and now present on the Israeli flag
  13. Coalition - union
  14. Monarchy - government led by a king, queen, emperor (monarch)
  15. Parliamentary Democracy - democratic government led by a parliament
  16. Autocracy - government by a single person having unlimited power
  17. Oligarchy - form of government in which a few people have the ruling power
  18. Democracy - government that is run by the people who live under it
  19. Unitary Government - one central government for the entire nation
  20. Confederation Government - a government formed by the joining together or alliance of separate states or groups
  21. Federal Government - a government that divides duties between a large, central government and smaller local governments
  22. Presidential Democracy - a democratic government led by a president
  23. 6 Day War - the 1967 war between Arabs and Israelis
  24. Israel-Hezbollah War - 2006 war that lasted 34 days
  25. Hezbollah - political party in Lebanon well known for their disputes with Israel
  26. Shari'a- Islamic law
  27. Secularization - society's decreasing emphasis on religion in daily life
  28. Taliban - very conservative Islamic party that controlled Afghanistan prior to the United States invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 attacks in America
  29. Mandate - a region or territory under the management of another nation
  30. Protectorate - a weak country under the protection and partial control of a strong country
  31. Sovereign - independent of the control of other countries
  32. Nationalism - desire or plans for national independence
  33. Arabs - an ethnic group, a Semitic people now widely scattered over southwestern and southern Asia and Northern Africa; speak Arabic
  34. Arab-Israeli Wars - a series of four violent clashes between Arabs and Israelis over the existence of an Israeli state in the Middle East; spanning from 1948 to 1973
  35. Alienate - to drive others away
  36. Fundamentalism - strict following of orthodox religious doctrines that does not allow for personal interpretation
  37. Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO )- an organization created in 1964 with the intent to create an independent State of Palestine and serves as the representative of the Palestinian people
  38. Prime Minister - the chief minister in certain governments; the head of a parliamentary democracy
  39. President - the highest executive office in a presidential democracy
  40. Ethnic Group - a group of people who are united by various racial or cultural ties
  41. Religious Group - a group of people united by their religious beliefs
  42. Minority - a group within a country, state, etc., that differs in race, religion, national origin, etc., from the larger part of the population
  43. Zionism - movement that started in the 1800s to set up a Jewish national state in Palestine and that now seeks to help maintain and develop the state of Israel
  44. Balfour Declaration - the 1917 statement made by the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour in a letter to the leader of the British Jewish community announcing Great Britain's favor in establishing a national home for the Jewish people
  45. Holocaust - (when written with a capital "H") the wholesale destruction of the Jewish people living in Europe under Hitler's authority
  46. Genocide - the extermination of a cultural or racial group
  47. State - a group of people occupying a given area and organized under a government
  48. Bedouin - member of certain tribes of Arab nomads who live in the desert of Arabia, Syria and Northern Africa
  49. Nomad - member of a tribe which moves from place to place to have food or pasture for its cattle
  50. Arabic - language spoken by Arabs
  51. Sunni - the largest denomination of Islam, Sunni and Shi'a Muslims broke apart over the issue of who had the right to be the religious leader after Muhammad died
  52. Shi'a - the second largest denomination of Islam, Sunni and Shi'a Muslims broke apart over the issue of who had the right be the religious leader after Muhammad died
  53. Pashto - language of Afghanistan
  54. Pashtuns - an ethnic group living in Afghanistan that speaks Pashto
  55. Jews - a religious and ethnic group, persons who practice Judaism
  56. Hebrew -ancient Semitic language of the Jews
  57. Persian - the people of Persia, now known as Iranians (not part of the Arabs)
  58. Kurds - the ethnic group divided by the border of Turkey, Iraq and Iran; largest non-Arab minority living in Iraq; speak Kurdish
  59. Kurdish -the language is spoken by Kurds
  60. Farsi - language of Iranians
  61. Turkish - language of Turks
  62. Turks -an ethnic group originating in the area now known as Turkey
  63. Maronites - a religious group of Christians primarily living in the nation of Lebanon

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