Umayyad Dynasty 661-750 CE› Damascus Syria—Center of the empire› Emphasis on Arab culture› Discrimination toward non-Arab

Abbassid Dynasty 750-1258› Overthrew Umayyad› Moved capital to Baghdad› Prospered—Art, Science, Medicine, Etc› Very tolerant of other religions/ethnic groups

Seljuks 1055› Took Baghdad › Weakened Byzantine Empire

1200s Mongols swept through› Hulagu (Grandson of Genghiz)› Brought trade but destroyed cities and

killed people

1300s Ottomans in Anatolia› 1453 captured Constantinople ending the

Byzantine Empire

Suleiman (1520-1566)- The “Lawgiver”› Ruled 50 million people› Height of the 500 year rule

Slaves– conquered peoples who gained freedom by converting to Islam› Christian boys taken, converted and

developed personal strengths If athletic– Military (highest Janizary corps) If intellectual– political leaders (highest

grand vizier)

Millets- Non-Muslim communities ruled themselves but loyal to Sultan

1500s the Safavids waged war on Ottomans› Iran› Safavids Shiite› Led by Shah (King)

Abbas the Great 1587-1629 Shah (King)› European helped him to fight agains Ottomans

Trained in Musketry and Cannonry › Encouraged trade

Brought Chinese to Capital Shahs ruled till 1979 thought the Safavids were

gone by 1736

In the 19th century, the Ottoman empire began losing control to Russia and Britain› Britain and Russia were both showing interest

in the Middle East.

US Foreign policy= not much interest in the race for territory in the east

› Monroe Doctrine

Ottoman Empire =Central Powers (Germany and Austria Hungary)

Sykes-Picot Accord– Secret treaty between Britain and France to divide up the Arab empire

Balfour Declaration---The British supported the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine

Promises to support an independent Arab state

Movement to reestablish Israel in the holy land

Theodore Herzl Due to antisemitism in

Eastern Europe and Russia in the late 1800s› Pogroms

Gained momentum during WWI

Realized after the Holocaust

Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points, League of Nations and “Self-Determination” (decolonization/autonomy) › British and France opposed

Why?

› US never joins

What did this mean?

Britain and France carve up the Middle East. › Britain took Iraq,

Kuwait, The Arabian Peninsula, Jordan and Palestine

› French took Morocco, Algeria, Syria Lebanon and Tunisia

Broken Promises

Lack of independence of Arab nations

New Jewish Nation

Shift from Coal to Oil

› US had some interest but produced 60% of worlds oil prior to WWII (1940)

During WWII– Soviets British must not allow Nazis to gain foothold

Post WWII US changes stance on oil

1948 UN led by US creates Jewish nation of Israel

US dependence on Middle East for oil

Stop spread of communism

After WWII the British could not afford to remain in control of the Suez

› The United States took over to prevent the Soviets from doing so

US needs Saudi Oil

US supports Israel

Saudis oppose Israel

US needs to stop Soviets

United Nations—Israel is a sovereign state

Immediate responses› Egypt, Syria, Jordan,

Lebanon and Iraq invade Israel.

› Israel succeeds and extends territory

› 750000 Palestinian refuges were now without a home and the Arab world was enraged

Egypt’s Gamal Abd al-Nasser takes the Suez Canal from French and British› He also makes deal with Soviets› Block Israel’s ability to ship in Red Sea› British and French support invasion by

Israel› Israel takes Sinai › US intervenes forcing Israel to leave Sinai

Egypt’s Gamal Abd al-Nasser › Pan-Arabism

PLO formed– Palestinian Liberation Organization› Sought the formation of an

autonomous Palestinian state› Refused to accept Israel’s legitimacy

Nasser orders UN troops to leave Egypt-Israel border and restricts Israeli shipping through the Suez

Israel preemptively invades Occupies Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights,

W. Bank Said the would withdraw in return for

recognition RESPONSE = NO

Egypt and Syria invade Israel on Yom Kippur (4th Arab-Israeli War)› Soviets supply Egypt and

Syria and US supports Israel (Beginning of full US support)

› Saudi Arabia cuts off Oil to US = Crisis in US Realization of just how

dependent US is on Oil Doubled the unemployment Reduced GDP by 6%

Peace treaty between Israel and Egypt

Egypt’s Sadat recognized Israel’s soverignty in return for Israeli withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula

US gave 3 billion to Israel and 1.5 billion to Egypt

Sadat of Egypt became hated because of his negotiations and eventually was assassinated in 1981 Egypt was also expelled from the Arab League

Today the situation remains unstable› Palestinian push for statehood› Hamas refusal to Accept Israel’s

sovereignty › Jerusalem remains a bone of contention› The 2002 wall of protection cuts through

Palestinian farmland› Refuges remain homeless in bordering

countries› Fight for scarce resources

The United States had helped Iranian shah (King), Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to gain control of the Iranian government

The United States began sending more “support” to Iran

By the mid-70s, 50% of all arms exports were heading to Iran

Pahlavi popularity declines› Westernization› Gap between rich and

poor

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini takes control

Khomeini sought reform based on Islamic fundamentalism.

› Expel Western Ideas (Music, movies and literature)

› Women Covered› US=Great Satan› Soviet Union= Lesser

Satan › 1979- Iranian students

seize the US embassy (8 soldiers end up dead)

› Gas Prices in the US soared due to the halt of Iranian gas exports

In September of 1980 Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded Iran

For 8 years the two struggled against one another. › Iraq with more support

from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait

› Iran more determined with plastic keys hanging from their necks

US supports Saddam

Reagan did not want to see Iran win.

When Iran began attacking Kuwait, the US began supplying Iraq with weapons

Simultaneously, the US secretly sold anti-tank weapons and spare military parts to Iran

Soviets invade Afghanistan 1979

US supports Mujahedeen and Osama› 1994 Taliban

splits from Northern Alliance and takes control of Afghanistan New Fundamentalism

In 1988 Saddam begins gassing Kurds in the North of Iraq › Kurds supported the

Iranians and hoped for independence

More recent news:Iraq executes Chemical AliAli Hassan al-Majid was notorious for the gassing of more than 5,000 Kurds in 1988 and other brutal campaigns

Iraq accuses Kuwait of pumping oil from an area claimed by Saddam Hussein

US warns Saddam not to use force

Saddam invades Kuwait in early August, 1990

Iraq’s chief supporter (Soviet Union) immediately stopped arms shipments

US gave Hussein a deadline to pull out troops by January 15, 1991. at the same time positioning 540000 troops in the Middle East

Support of Arab States and European Nations

US invasion in Mid-January 1991 pushed to Iraq Army back to Bagdad .

Bush (Sr.) decided that completed destruction may destabilize Iraq

After the Gulf War, many countries in the Middle East relied on the US to maintain stability.

Coordinated attacks by al Qaeda on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

Since the Gulf War most of our regional focus has been on Iraq, Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict

Since we have discussed the roots of the Arab-Israeli conflict in depth, lets look at Iran and Iraq

After the Gulf War: Iraq oil exports were limited Saddam Hussein was allowed to remain in

power to keep country stable UN weapons inspectors were allowed to look

for weapons of mass destruction and also destroyed stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons

In 1998, the US and British bombed Iraq when they refused to allow weapons inspectors into Iraq

Iraq continued to refuse to allow UN inspectors in until 2002

In 2002 the United Nations put pressure on Iraq to allow weapons inspections

Iraq agreed but resisted the UN inspections.

Colin Powell insisted the Saddam Hussein had links to al Quaeda.

Britain and US saw action as necessary to bring about regime change but France, Germany and Russia did not agree with action being taken

Turkey later refused to allow US to use its territory to enter Iraq

The US moves forward with some support from allies

No WMDs were found Mass gravesites were found (Hussein) Hussein’s regime was toppled Order is far from being restored

The UN believes that Iran has failed to notify the UN that they have imported Uranium

It is clear that Iran has a well developed Nuclear program

Iran seeks permission from France Germany and Britain to enrich Uranium

US worries about the threat

Plenty of evidence showing that Iran support Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad– 3 terrorist groups that seek the liberation of Palestine

Evidence of torture and killings of opposition to the Iranian regime

US placed economic sanctions on Iran Any country who invests more than 20

million annually into Iranian fuel industry is not allowed access to US markets

The vacuum left by US in Iran’s fuel industry has been filled by other countries