Middle East/Gulf Region the Middle Essay

Significant cultural, scientific and political developments are to be observed in this period in virtually the entire Greater Middle East.

The fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 brought the Arab world into a great disappointment as the territories of the Empire were shared by the English (Egypt and Cyprus and strong influence in Iraq, Palestine and Saudi Arabia) and the French (Syria, Lebanon) occupants. Arab unity cracked down and separatism from the perceived oppressor became one of the key political statements of the Arab countries. The great divisions between the Greater Middle East continued in the following years as international politics and oil began to have a more important say than any discussion on Arab unity. Following the effects of the Second World War of de-colonization and the rise of the state of Israel within the Arab world, the Greater Middle Eastern region faced another type of profound change. Faced with a perceived common enemy, many newly formed of older Arab states began to unite again and join forces for the elimination of Israel in the numerous following conflicts of the last 50 years.

Israel started to be, a very important method for the West to negotiate with the East, as Truman created a movement on the international chessboard that forced the U.S.S.R. To do the same in recognizing Israel. Authors like Calvocoressi or Nye argue that the survival of the Israeli state from elimination between the 1945-1985 wars was its alliance with the U.S.

The Greater Middle East region has had an enormous amount of political and social change in the last 1700 years. With a single item uniting them, the Muslim religion, these countries have passed in the last 50 years through an identity search that has taken them from the 1967 Six Days War or the 1973 war against the common enemy, to the recent revolutions towards another common enemy: authoritarianism. As if connected through an invisible thread, these countries that were for hundreds of years under one or another empire, seem to react the same towards common external forces.

Bibliography

Calvocoressi, P. (2009) World Politics since 1945 Essex: Pearson Education Limited

Nye, J. (2002)…