The Middle East

What is the Middle East? The Middle East is actually South West Asia and parts of North West Africa The term “Middle East” is a sign of Western bias ( it is east of Western Europe & North America) Historically its oil & central location near trade routes (Euro, Asia, & Africa) made it a source of power

Arabia What who are Arabs? -live in Arabia -speak Arabic Ethnicity V. Religion -mostly all Arabs are Muslim but … Not all Muslims are Arab

Arabia Economics Oil discovered in Persia (Iran) in More oil discovered on the Arabian Peninsula in About 64% of world’s known oil reserves are in this region Oil makes up 25-50% of revenue in all Arabian countries (over 50% of Kuwait’s revenue)

Oil has urbanized the region. Foreign companies (Brit. & US) originally developed the oil industry here 25% urbanized in % urbanized today Jobs changed –shifted to workers who could read, write, and had technical skills Foreign workers were brought in to fill jobs natives could not (Qatar – only 1/5 workers are natives)

Saudi Arabia People- Arabian riches stereotype, most of the people in Saudi Arabia are not wealthy Have a lot of resentment towards their own government and the U.S. (15 of 19 Sept. 11 hijackers from Saudi Arabia) Government- Al Saud dynasty created Saudi Arabia in 1928 Osama Bin Laden and others have accused the monarchy of betraying Islam and serving as an agent of American imperialism in the Middle East

Prince Alwaleed of Saudi Arabia

Saudization: laws passed to give jobs to Saudi people that were previously held by foreign workers Population growth and depleting oil reserves could bring problems to the area segregation of women Attacks from Al-Qa’ida for rid the area of its secular and ‘imperialist’ influences and replace monarchy with Islamic government –Allowing tourists and encouraging foreign investment

Why is the U.S. involved again? 1990 Iraq forces invaded Kuwait claiming it was theirs *Gulf War Kuwait is a tiny country with with the worlds 4th largest reserve of oil –Also a great dependency on foreign workers and risk of depletion of oil reserves The U.S. was part of the world wide opposition to the Iraqi aggression and placed armed forces in the region Saudi monarchy is wary of internal and external threats

In your notes… Explain the relationship between the Saudi Arabian people, their government, and the United States Name at least 2 factors that have put a strain on these relationships

Iran

First middle eastern country to produce large quantities of oil Arid desert, rugged mountains, and very little rainfall makes it difficult the cultivate the land and make a living Influenced by modernizing efforts in Turkey,the new king (or Shah) set to modernize and westernize Iran during the 1940’s-70’s Agricultural reforms generally failed and poor people from the countryside came to the cities

So what’s the problem? Oil money funneled for development was mostly spent on military and arms (yes, from the United States) revolution overthrew the shah, mainly sparked Iran’s Shi’itte population –Religious sentiments, resentment of modernization, western imperialism, and exploitation of the underprivileged Authority is based on Shi’ite interpretation of Islamic Law Present day tug of war between moderate and extreme religious leadership who control the military and judicial branch of government

So why Iran considered so ‘evil’…? The young population of Iran is increasingly accepting of western culture and entertainment Iranian leaders have been accused of spreading extremist revolutionary Islam ideas and weapons across the Middle East (State-sponsored terrorism) - Hezbollah (Lebanon) -Hamas (Palestine)

In your notes… Explain the relationship between the Iranian people, their government, And other countries around the world Name at least 2 factors that have put a strain on these relationships