TheTheMiddle EastMiddle East

Middle EastOverview

Middle EastOverview

• Background• Culture and Religion• Economic and Social Issues • Politics and Government• Country snapshots

Middle Eastern CountriesMiddle Eastern Countries• AlgeriaAlgeria• BahrainBahrain• EgyptEgypt• IranIran• IraqIraq• IsraelIsrael• Jordan Jordan • KuwaitKuwait• LebanonLebanon• LibyaLibya

• MoroccoMorocco• PalestinePalestine• OmanOman• QatarQatar• Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia• SyriaSyria• TunisiaTunisia• TurkeyTurkey• United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates• YemenYemen

The Middle East An Overview

Middle Eastern PeopleMiddle Eastern People

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture

•Major ethnic groups in the Middle East today include Arabs, Iranians (also known as Persians), Turks, Jews, Kurds, Berbers, Armenians, Nubians, Azeris, and Greeks.

•Most of the countries in this region are multiethnic

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture

•The family is an important part of culture in the Middle East

•In traditional Arab societies the family unit is an extended family -- cousins, grandparents, second cousins, cousins-in-law, nieces, nephews, and more -- all living together

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture

•Difference between life in the village and life in the city

•Two men in Egypt can share the same language (Arabic), religion (Islam), and nationality (Egyptian)•One may live in an air-conditioned apartment with his immediate family and wear a suit to his government job•The other may live in a naturally cool mud-brick house surrounded by three generations of relatives and wear a traditional robe, called a galabiya, to work a plot of land.

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture

•Technology is beginning to change all of this•Today remote villagers are gaining access to all of the information and technology formerly available only in the city

•Satellite dishes•Cell phones

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture•Many languages, three families:

–Semitic (including Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic)–Indo-European (Kurdish, Persian, Armenian) –Turkic (Turkish, Azeri)

•The multiplicity of languages spoken in the Middle East reflects its ethnic diversity.

Primary Middle Eastern ReligionsPrimary Middle Eastern Religions

•Christianity•Judaism•Islam

•All have the following in common:• One God, in fact, THE SAME GOD!• Descendents of Abraham• Accept concept of judgment day• Existence of free will and human sin• Necessity of repentance

Christianity Prayer on an individual basis

Jesus is the savior

Based on divine scriptures, old & new testaments of Bible

Judaism Three sets of prayer daily

Messiah is savior, but not yet come

Based on divine scriptures, The Tanakh

Islam Prayers are five times daily

Jesus was prophet, but Muhammad was greatest prophet

Based on divine scriptures, the Koran (Qur’an)

Comparison of ReligionsComparison of Religions

Social Issues•The sense of shared identity and fate among Muslims is coupled with a Muslim perception that the non-Muslim world is united against Islam.

Social IssuesSocial Issues

•“Umma-itis” -- The growing tendency for younger Muslims to believe they are part of an embattled supranational community — the umma

•Dangerous currents, among both Muslims and Westerners, threaten to turn academic chatter about a clash of civilizations into a reality.

Social IssuesSocial Issues

•Causes westerners’ to view all Muslims as jihadists

•Causes Muslims to view all western actions as attempts to oppress Islam

•Indians in Kashmir•Russians in Chechnya•Israelis in Palestinian territory

Social IssuesSocial Issues•Muslims are now increasingly inclined to stress their religious identity.

•This globalization of Muslim identity is helping to fuel a revival of a shared interest

•North Africans are more likely to identify with the struggles of Muslims in Central Asia and European Muslims with conflicts in the Middle East.

•The extent to which this sense of common victimization gains traction, the more likely it is to feed the perception that there are, in reality, two civilizations in conflict.

Economics

• Official unemployment rates in the region Official unemployment rates in the region average 15%, with low female participation in average 15%, with low female participation in the labor force (26%). the labor force (26%).

• Close to 30% of the population lives on less Close to 30% of the population lives on less than two dollars per day. than two dollars per day.

• Rapid demographic growth only exacerbates Rapid demographic growth only exacerbates the numbers of unemployed and the numbers of unemployed and disenchanted youth. disenchanted youth.

• Youth illiteracy averages 13% for boys and Youth illiteracy averages 13% for boys and 24% for girls in the region, although it can be 24% for girls in the region, although it can be as high as 56% in Yemen.as high as 56% in Yemen.

Middle Eastern Middle Eastern EconomicsEconomics

103,552UAE56

129,273Morocco53

145,152Israel51

217,224Algeria38

282,333Egypt31

316,407Saudi Arabia27

518,789Iran19

529,629Turkey18

11,605,185United States1

11,723,816Europe—

55,654,621World—

GDP CountryRank

List by the International Monetary Fund, 2004 adjusted in PPP

Middle Eastern Middle Eastern EconomicsEconomics

14,613Bahrain123

18,328Yemen111

21,877Qatar104

22,146Lebanon103

24,697Jordan100

37,222Oman82

42,552Kuwait77

61,042Libya67

67,606Syria64

77,371Tunisia62

89,800Iraq58

GDP CountryRank

List by the International Monetary Fund, 2004 adjusted in PPP

Economics

World Proven Oil Reserves World Proven Oil Reserves (billion barrels)(billion barrels)RegionRegion BBBBNorth AmericaNorth America 4545Central, South AmericaCentral, South America 9999W. EuropeW. Europe 1717E. Europe, former USSRE. Europe, former USSR 8282Middle EastMiddle East 670670AfricaAfrica 7777AsiaAsia 3939

Source: U.S. Source: U.S. Department Department of Energy of Energy (from (from World World Oil) Oil) March 8, March 8, 20042004

• CanadaCanada 1,676 1,676• MexicoMexico 1,541 1,541• Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 1,449 1,449• VenezuelaVenezuela 1,391 1,391• NigeriaNigeria 1,130 1,130• IraqIraq 542 542• RussiaRussia 464 464

Where Does the U.S. Get Its Oil?(Top Seven, Thousand Barrels/Day, April 2005)

Scarcity of Water

•Ten countries in the region are consuming more than 100% of their renewable water supplies:

–Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Republic, Yemen, and Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza)

•The degradation of water quality is also a major issue

• By 2025, the following countries are expected to face “absolute water scarcity” (not enough water to grow 1990 levels of food, less than 500 Cubic Meters/Capita):Egypt IranIraq KuwaitSyria TunisiaSaudi Arabia UAEIsrael YemenJordan OmanLibya

Scarcity of Water

2025 Absolute Water Scarcity

Politics and Government•As with everything else in this region, religion plays a role in national and international politics as well.

•Turkey has a Muslim majority, but is officially a secular nation. •Other countries in the region identify themselves with a specific religion, mostly Islam

•The poor relations between Israel and most of its Arab neighbors are sometimes described in terms of a perpetual religious conflict between Jews and Muslims—this is not necessarily true

•Control over important historical sites of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is a factor in the Arab-Israeli disagreements•Many of the details that stall negotiations have more to do with control of land and access to water resources than religion •Furthermore, many Palestinians who demand restitution for their property are Christian, not Muslim•Egypt's historic treaty with Israel provides a model for how Muslim and Jewish neighbors can live peaceably.

Politics and Government

•Land- Both sides lay claim to land that has changed hands many times since biblical times.•Property- Both sides have owned property that is now under the other’s control.•Water- As we pointed out earlier, water is always a scarcity in the region. Control of the water is ultimately control over life.•Both sides also want a Nation to call their own, independent of the other, yet neither is willing to give up enough to make this happen.

What Israelis and Palestinians want

Middle East Middle East SummarySummary

Middle East Middle East SummarySummary

• Background• Culture and Religion• Economic and Social Issues • Politics and Government