Julian Saurin @ Free University Brighton |
The regional Crisis and Imperialism : an introductory History
After introducing and discussing three key concepts - imperialism, geo-politics and orientalism - we examine the manner in which the Ottoman empire challenged, collaborated with, competed with and ceded to European empires and imperialism. This initial survey allows us to sketch out the genesis and formation of the regional crisis with which we're confronted today.
Thus we start with a brief history of the Middle East region and its enduring relationship with European empires and imperialism. The main focus here is on the historical predecessor of the current state system, namely the Ottoman empire. |
Taking a handful of, probably, unfamiliar terms we'll begin to explain the continuities and ruptures between the Ottoman-based Middle East and the territorial state system which came into being in the shadow of the first world war. The following terms will be explained and illustrated : Ottoman Debt, capitulations, minorities, millet, vilayet. We'll then consider how the creation of the modern state system came about and the relationship between modern imperialism and old empires, in the light of the First World War, the creation of the League of Nations and, especially, the creation of modern Turkey and mandate Syria and Iraq.
As with so many fields of human activity, the real difficulty we have is knowing how to speak about it. What words do we use ? What happens when our ordinary vocabulary is not enough or can't express what we want to say ? Take the following statement as an example: "Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all examples of religion." Then ask what is meant by religion. The OED gives four main definitions of religion : 1 'A state of life bound by religious vows; the condition of belonging to a religious order' ; 2 'A particular religious order or denomination' ; 3 'Action or conduct indicating belief in, obedience to, and reverence for a god, gods or similar superhuman power; the performance of religious rites or observances' ; and 4 'A particular system of faith and worship.' Note that the use of the word religion in English emerged in the 13th century, i.e, at the time of the crusades. Religion meant Christianity, it arose as a word within Christendom to distinguish Christianity. It was a word showing what was different about Christianity NOT what it shared with Judaism or Islam. So today when we say "Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all examples of religion" what exactly do we mean ? May be we need a different term or we need to modify what we mean : at any rate we have to be careful not to inadvertently confuse.
Broadly speaking, I shall propose the thesis that the current regional crisis experienced in the Middle East is the result of the failure to resolve deep rooted problems of modernisation at the end of the first world war compounded by the self-serving interests of imperialism. In other words, if one wants to understand today's conjuncture one has to look at the failures of one hundred years ago.
The purpose, then, of this first class is to (i) suggest an initial set of concepts that should help us sort through the problems; (ii) provide a survey history which will help familiarise ourselves with the region and its relationship to the wider world; and (iii) provide an example, not only the importance of historical familiarity to scholarly work, but also of how one might develop a 'thesis' or argument. In other words, we're trying to show that academic work and scholarship (should) value methodical and rigorous approaches to knowledge claims.
As with so many fields of human activity, the real difficulty we have is knowing how to speak about it. What words do we use ? What happens when our ordinary vocabulary is not enough or can't express what we want to say ? Take the following statement as an example: "Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all examples of religion." Then ask what is meant by religion. The OED gives four main definitions of religion : 1 'A state of life bound by religious vows; the condition of belonging to a religious order' ; 2 'A particular religious order or denomination' ; 3 'Action or conduct indicating belief in, obedience to, and reverence for a god, gods or similar superhuman power; the performance of religious rites or observances' ; and 4 'A particular system of faith and worship.' Note that the use of the word religion in English emerged in the 13th century, i.e, at the time of the crusades. Religion meant Christianity, it arose as a word within Christendom to distinguish Christianity. It was a word showing what was different about Christianity NOT what it shared with Judaism or Islam. So today when we say "Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all examples of religion" what exactly do we mean ? May be we need a different term or we need to modify what we mean : at any rate we have to be careful not to inadvertently confuse.
Broadly speaking, I shall propose the thesis that the current regional crisis experienced in the Middle East is the result of the failure to resolve deep rooted problems of modernisation at the end of the first world war compounded by the self-serving interests of imperialism. In other words, if one wants to understand today's conjuncture one has to look at the failures of one hundred years ago.
The purpose, then, of this first class is to (i) suggest an initial set of concepts that should help us sort through the problems; (ii) provide a survey history which will help familiarise ourselves with the region and its relationship to the wider world; and (iii) provide an example, not only the importance of historical familiarity to scholarly work, but also of how one might develop a 'thesis' or argument. In other words, we're trying to show that academic work and scholarship (should) value methodical and rigorous approaches to knowledge claims.
Class OneThe Regional Crisis and imperialism : an introductory history. Here you will find a set of slides that guide the first class [posted after class]
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General Reading MaterialsBelow you will find an occasionally annotated bibliography of materials, including video, for the course in general and for preparation for next week's class. (Wherever possible there is a hyperlink or linked downloadable file for each text listed).
Needless to say there is a vast literature on the Middle East. We shouldn't forget that the 'origin of civilisation' claim lies with, first, the claim to the Word of god and, second, that god's word took form in the Book. Not only is the story of civilisation to be found in the books but Truth - God's Truth with a capital T - was to be found, reported and acted upon from the Book. At least that is one very important story ... For those of you who think that the Middle East is defined by religious conflict then one can at least start with the Bible - in its Judaic 'Old Testament' and Christian 'New Testament' form - the the Quran or Koran. My own favourite edition for the Bible is the King James Authorised Version (which is a phenomenal piece of English literature in its own right and a marvel of translation). For the Quran, it is probably best to go for the Dawood-translated Penguin Classic edition. But here incidentally is a very informative essay on the difficulties and peculiarities of translating the Quran : 'A new translation of the Quran.' For general work on Islam see Reza Aslan's excellent 2005 work No god but God : the origins, evolution and future of Islam. But Islam is not, of course, the only religion of the Middle East and religion may not even be crucially significant ... we'll see. I do not think that there are any general introductory texts on the region as a whole that have much merit. There are, by contrast, some excellent texts on specific states or 'issues' or themes. Therefore probably the best place to start, and as mentioned in the class, is to appreciate the difficulties of studying the region, and fortunately we have a brilliant book by Zachary Lockman - Contending visions of the Middle East : the history and politics of orientalism - for that purpose. But you don't have to read the long history of orientalism to appreciate its significance nor do you need to take examples just from the Middle East. Here is an example of the orientalist discourse turned on its head and in reference to current events in France: Haydar al-Khoei 'parodied the language and sentiments often heard after an act of violence is committed by a Muslim - and in doing so made a salient point about how news from the Middle East is reported' by commenting on the football violence in Marseille at last summer's Euros. For the analysis of current events as well as discussion of historical work, the online journal Jadaliyya provides one of the best single sources of news and especially analysis of all things Middle East, in English, Arabic, Farsi and Turkish as well as other languages. Moreover you'll find a wide range of perspectives, approaches and disciplines presented in Jadaliyya. You'll find very good digests of news, newspapers and magazines organised by country. So if you want to find out what's been going on in Syria for the last month, for example, here's the best place to start. In my view the best general academic site for well-researched, well-written and relatively brief articles on the Middle East is the Middle East Report published by MERIP. You’ll find a wide range of articles in this monthly journal including special themed issues. (To view most articles you’ll need a subscription, but not all. It is worth checking. I believe that you can access this journal for free if you access it from within the University of Sussex library). In addition, although Le Monde Diplomatique is not a Middle East-only magazine, it is a high-quality publication dealing with international politics (though published originally in French, there is an English edition). Again Le Monde Diplomatique is a subscription magazine but its does have many open access articles and it can be fully accessed from university libraries. For the long history of the Middle East there are a handful of books which I would recommend, but as you'll see no individual book can hope to cover the whole region or long histories. Where there is a .pdf copy available I have linked to it, otherwise using the university or public libraries is recommended. Choueiri, Y. (ed) A companion to the history of the Middle East. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. 2008. Fisk, R. The great war for civilization : the conquest of the Middle East. Harper, London. 2006. Fromkin, D. A peace to end all peace : the fall of the Ottoman empire and the creation of the modern Middle East. Phoenix, London. 2000. Hourani, A. A history of the Arab peoples. Faber, London. 2005. Gelvin, J. The Israel-Palestine conflict : one hundred years of war. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 2007 [2nd ed] Fieldhouse, D. K. Western imperialism in the Middle East, 1914-1958. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 2006. Khalidi, R. Resurrecting empire : western footprints and America’s perilous path in the Middle East. I. B. Tauris, London. 2004. Mackie, A. The Eastern question, 1774-1923. Pearson, London. 1989. Mazower, M. The Balkans : a short history. Modern Library, New York. 2002. McMeekin, S. The Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923. Allen Lane, London. 2015. Owen, R. The middle East in the world economy, 1800-1914. I. B.Tauris, London. 2002. Pappe, I. The modern Middle East. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Routledge, 2005. Shlaim, A. The iron wall : Israel and the Arab world. Penguin, Harmondsworth. 2001. |