Middle East History Research Papers (original) (raw)

Short of the war, the destruction, and the massive loss of life, Ukraine is in many ways similar to the Gulf crisis in which the UAE, together with Saudi Arabia, led a 3.5-year-long economic and diplomatic boycott of Qatar that, like the... more

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- Eastern European Studies, Russian Studies, Middle East Studies, Middle East & North Africa
- by Ayhan Aktar
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- Military History, Diplomatic History, Ottoman History, Middle East Studies
- by Abdulrahman Alebrahim
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- Middle East Studies, Middle East History, Arabian Gulf, Kuwait

Extensive Greek summary of a PhD thesis submitted at King's College, London and subsequently published under the title: Laonikos Chalkokondyles, A Translation and Commentary of the “Demonstrations of Histories” (books I-III), Athens 1996,... more

- by Nicholas Nikoloudis
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- Greek History, Ottoman History, Medieval History, Middle East History
- by Karen Pinto
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- Aesthetics, Architecture, Middle East Studies, Middle East History
- by Baki Tezcan
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- Ottoman History, Middle East Studies, Middle East & North Africa, Middle East History

A partir de l'étude du chapitre 38 de l'ouvrage du savant mecquois al-Fâsî (m. 1429), Shîfâ' al-gharâm bi-akhbâr al-balad al-harâm, consacré à l'histoire du hajj, cet article tente d'identifier les modes de représentation du pouvoir mecquois dans l'oeuvre d'al-Fâsî. Il suggère que le récit récurrent des fitnas qui déchirèrent la cité sainte au moment du pèlerinage était une manière de
mieux en neutraliser les effets et les traces, à un moment où s'affirmait un nouveau pouvoir local fort, autour du chérif Hasan b. 'Ajlân.

- by Eric Vallet
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- Islamic Law, Medieval History, Middle East Studies, Middle East History

Knjiga se bavi prvim posleratnim kontaktima između socijalističke Jugoslavije i bliskositočnih zemlja. Od podele Palestine, prvog izraelsko-arapskog rata, otklona Jugoslavije od Svojetskog Saveza i potrage za novim partnerima. Manevrišući izmežu interesa super-sila, kolonijalnih država i lokalnih faktora poput egipatskog premijera Nasera sa kojima je gradila saradnju, knjiga prati stasavanje jedne Titove regionalne politike koja se isklaila tokom Suecke krize da bi postala važna komponenta u daljoj izgradnji jugoslovenske doktrine nesvrstansoti.

- by Vladimir Petrovic
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- Middle East History, Yugoslavia (History), Cold War history, Josip Broz Tito

An updated history of modern Lebanon is long overdue as the
last such attempt dates from the mid-1960s. Much has happened
since and a lot of new historical material has been uncovered and
researched. The last civil war (1975–90) was the occasion for a wealth
of intellectual production on Lebanon in a variety of fi elds. Some are
remarkable path-breaking works. Nevertheless, the modern history
of Lebanon is still full of serious gaps, especially concerning the
post-Independence period. On the other hand, researchers have
extensively drawn upon European government archives, leaving
important primary sources untapped. The Ottoman archives, for
one, have been recently organised and made accessible to the public.
Unfortunately, the results of most of the research on this vast stock
are not yet available for use. Other, more recent, untapped primary
sources have been strangely ignored, such as the US State Department
Archives. Nevertheless, a number of secondary sources in Arabic,
French and English have made precious contributions to the study of
different periods of Lebanese history and various aspects of Lebanese
life. I am referring here to the works of `Abd al-Rahim Abu Husayn,
Albert Hourani, Engin Akarli, Leila Fawaz, Irene Gendzier, Michael
Johnson, Kamal Salibi, Meir Zamir, Carolyn Gates, Theodor Hanf,
Georges Corm, Wajih Kawtharani, Selim Nasr, Ahmad Beydoun,
Samir Kassir, Marwan Buheiry, Mas`ud Dhahir, Waddah Sharara, Eyal
Zisser, and others. Their contributions have enriched the present
volume in many ways.

- by Omnia El Shakry
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- History, Intellectual History, Cultural History, Psychology

Toplumları en çok etkileyen unsurlardan olan salgın hastalıkları, sosyal ve ekonomik tarih çalışmaları bağlamında ele almak yeni bir yönelim olarak görülse de esasen bir mecburiyettir. Özellikle Sanayi ve Fransız devrimleri sonrası Avrupa’da dönüşen devlet yapısı ve bu dönüşümün bir nüvesi olan “sağlıklı vatandaş” düşüncesinin ortaya çıkması, kamu sağlığı uygulamalarının yaygınlaşma ve modernleşme sürecini de beraberinde getirmiştir. Bu sürecin bir parçası olarak devletin temel vazifesi sağlıklı vatandaşlar, işçiler ve askerler yetiştirmek olmuş, bu durum devlet-toplum ilişkisinde karşılıklı çıkara dayalı bir denge kurulmasının ve gündelik hayatta hem kısa, hem de uzun vadeli bazı temel pratiklerin yer edinmesinin önünü açmıştır. Elinizdeki kitap salgın hastalıklar ve kamu sağlığı uygulamalarını, çeşitli tarihsel dönemlerde devlet ve toplum perspektifinden inceleyen bir çalışmalar bütünüdür. Kitaptaki yazılar, kamu sağlığı ve kenti sıhhileştirme çabaları çerçevesinde mekan ve kurum özelinde bazı değerlendirmelerde de bulunarak, imparatorluğun ve cumhuriyetin genel sağlık politikası hakkında fikir vermektedir. Bu çalışma, bir taraftan Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’ndan Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’ne uzanan zaman diliminde devletin sağlıklı vatandaşlar yetiştirmek için tesis ettiği kurumları, bireylerin bu uğurda nasıl seferber edildiğini inceleyerek, devletin sağlık politikaları bağlamında zihniyet değişimini ele almakta; diğer taraftan ise toplumun belirleyiciliğine ve sağlık tarihinin ulusları aşan özelliğine dikkat çekerek, sınırların sadece devletleri birbirinden ayıran bir hattan ibaret olmadığını gözler önüne sermektedir

- by Burcu Kurt and +9
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- Ottoman History, Middle East Studies, Middle East History, Balkan Studies
- by Philipp O Amour
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- Middle East Studies, Middle East History, Gulf Studies, Strategic Studies
- by James M. Dorsey
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- Sociology of Sport, Labor Economics, Football (soccer), Middle East Studies

Diviso tra Turchia, Siria, Iraq e Iran, il Kurdistan rappresenta probabilmente uno degli scenari geopolitici più caldi del Medio Oriente. È il territorio di un popolo, i curdi, che vanta più di trenta milioni di persone la più grande "nazione" senza Stato - e che si sta rivelando un attore cruciale della regione. Nelle recenti crisi mediorientali, infatti, il "fattore curdo" si è rivelato una costante fondamentale: dalle guerre in Iraq sotto Saddam Hussein alla lotta contro il cosiddetto Stato Islamico, dal ruolo nei delicati equilibri politici turchi al conflitto siriano. Senza dimenticare che il Kurdistan è una delle regioni più ricche di petrolio. Conoscere i curdi, distinguere le loro istanze autonomiste o indipendentiste, le priorità che ne guidano l'operato nei diversi contesti statali in cui si trovano a vivere, è quindi fondamentale per comprendere cosa stia avvenendo oggi. In questo volume si offre un primo approccio globale alla "questione curda" grazie all'apporto di studiosi internazionali e alla curatela dell'lSPl, uno dei più importanti istituti di ricerca europei.

The object of the present paper is to try and insert into discussions about the rich bibliography on the Ottoman municipal institutions some nuances, pertaining both to recent reflections on the circulation of reform models and to new researches on the historical roots of the ottoman urban old regime. The aim is then to reconsider the interpretation of the Ottoman urban reforms of the second half of Nineteenth century in this new interpretative scheme, which takes into account with a different perspective both the heritage of previous forms of urban governance and the meaning of the circulation of reformative models. The intent is also, once the general frame has been submitted to an effort of complexity, to confront some other arguments on modernity in an Ottoman context. If modernisation came in a different way that it has often been assessed, what does it mean for the content of the concept of modernity? This is why I will also try in this paper to discuss the limits of the Ottoman urban modernity and their causes.
The present research relies on various case studies, taken in the Arab Provinces of the Ottoman Empire, from the Maghreb to the Middle-East, but does in no way pretend to cover the whole geographical field. The intent is rather to use case studies often taken on the margins of the Empire to discuss some commonly accepted assertions about the functioning of the Empire as a whole and about its relationship to administrative modernity. The aim is to try and go further the “importation” paradigm which often sums up the process of modernisation of the Ottoman bureaucratic apparel. The stake is, from a study of the evolution of the forms of urban government, to discuss and challenge the excessive importance of a vision of an only imported modernity into what is often implicitly or explicitly considered as the empty space of pre-reform urban government. Through a study of what I call the urban Ottoman old regime (the use of this term being based upon a comparative method with Western European historiographies –not the importation of a content, but the use of a concept), my intent is to try and propose some revisions into the interpretation of the reforms themselves. The purpose is also to discuss the thesis presenting municipalities as essentially extraneous to the urban Ottoman situation before the reforms. There were in my opinion forms of urban government shaping a system of old regime urban government, based upon the prerogatives of the merchants and their assemblies, sometimes some forms of urban nobility, and the administrative role of guilds in the urban order. These forms served as a base for reforms which cannot thus be read as extraneous anymore to the previously existing urban society and have to be interpreted differently. But this assertion is not intended to close debates. Instead, I conceive it as a methodological proposal, and as a way to bring new elements into debates about the relationship between Ottoman societies and modernity. It is also a way to shift discussion towards other fields. If modernity came as a reform of an old regime (and not as a mere creation), many questions do remain about the factors that sometimes blocked its implementation: communal caesurae, colonial influence, nationalisms.

- by Nora Lafi
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- Ottoman History, Middle East Studies, Middle East History, Urban History

The story of Francis William Rickett is riddled with contradictions. Bluff and resourceful, notorious for his exploits in the world of oil in the 1930s, he remains an enigma today. Speculator and businessman he was, but he also had deeper links with oil companies and foreign governments than appeared in the press reports of the time. Above all, he lived in interesting times, and through his exploits we have a tantalizing glimpse into behind-the-scenes struggles for the control of oil.

- by Michael Quentin Morton
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- History, Diplomatic History, Middle East History, Iraqi History
- by musa budeiri
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- Middle East History, Israel/Palestine
- by Jan Komár
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- Archaeology, Assyriology, Middle East History, Mesopotamia History

The Islamic Dawa Party was the first modern Islamist group to be formed in Iraq. It went through a long struggle with the Iraqi government that resulted in its banning by the Baathists, open warfare with Saddam Hussein’s regime, which forced it to go underground, and led many of its members to go into exile. Below is an interview with Dr. Rodger Shanahan, a former officer in the Australian army and senior adviser in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs. He is currently a non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy who specializes in the Middle East. Dr. Shanahan goes through the history of the Dawa Party, and how that has shaped the worldview of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

- by Joel Wing
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- Middle East Studies, Middle East & North Africa, Middle East History, Iraqi History
- by Omnia El Shakry
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- Criminology, Social Sciences, Middle East Studies, Middle East History

In 2009, eleven million top-secret documents from the former Iraqi Ba'th Party were opened to researchers, revealing new insights into how Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq. From these files, scholars came to understand that Saddam did not govern through terror alone, but also through rewards and enticements. Furthermore, the archives confirm that Iraqis were not entirely silenced by fear, but actively engaged with the regime and spoke up about their problems and needs. This chapter draws on a collection of 100 letters and petitions written by ordinary Iraqi citizens to Saddam that were found in the Iraqi Ba'th Party archives. I focus on petitions written from 1990-2003, a period of economic decline due to international sanctions. During these years, the political economy of resource distribution within Iraq came into stark relief, plainly revealing which groups were in the regime's good graces and which were left without sufficient resources. Analyzing these 100 letters and petitions helps answer the question of how ordinary Iraqis communicated with the regime: the rhetoric they used, the limits of their speech, and the effectiveness of their petitions. In times of need, how did Iraqis try to convince the regime to provide them with assistance? Next, analyzing the regime's responses to these petitions reveals how the regime leveraged these petitions to consolidate support within certain demographics. Which Iraqis were most likely to have their requests granted, and why? Finally, these patterns of regime favoritism revealed in these petitions contribute to ongoing debates about the role of sectarianism under Saddam's rule. Is it true that Saddam favored Sunnis, or were there more complex considerations at play? This chapter concludes with new arguments about how ordinary Iraqis and the regime alike tried to weather the challenges of the sanctions period and what the consequences of these survival strategies were for the post-Saddam era.

- by Alissa Walter
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- Middle East Studies, Middle East History, Iraqi History, Iraq

Il aura suffi de l’annonce par le gouvernement d’une taxe sur l’application de messagerie WhatsApp pour qu’éclate un mouvement de contestation populaire inédit dans l’histoire du Liban contemporain. En ce 17 octobre 2019, trente années après l’accord de Taëf, censé mettre un terme à la Guerre du Liban et permettre au pays exsangue de renaître de ses cendres, une limite est franchie. Des citoyens en colère se rassemblent sur une des artères principales de Beyrouth, le pont du Ring Fouad Chehab, jadis ligne de démarcation entre l’Est et l’Ouest de la capitale. Très vite, les grandes places de la ville répercutent l’onde de choc dans un élan spontané assimilé à un sursaut, à une prise de conscience fulgurante.
Il va sans dire que ce ras-le-bol cache un mal plus profond. Celui-ci prend racine dans les graves dysfonctionnements qui sévissent depuis la fin des hostilités armées en 1990 et l’installation de la tutelle syrienne. La fin de cette dernière, suite à l’assassinat de l’ancien Premier ministre Rafic Hariri en 2005, laisse la place à une crise de pouvoir et à une paralysie politique nées des rivalités inter et intra-communautaires sur fond de corruption généralisée et institutionnalisée (y compris au sein du pouvoir judiciaire), de clientélisme et d’impunité qui ont marqué les années 1992-2005. L’afflux massif des réfugiés syriens fuyant la guerre qui se généralise en Syrie à partir de 2012, exerce une très forte pression sur les ressources du pays, d’autant plus que les réfugié…

- by Dima de Clerck
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- History, Sociology, Political Sociology, Middle East Studies

Héritier du trône, le prince Mohammed Ben Salman entend réformer le royaume saoudien de manière profonde et sur tous les plans. Ses promesses de s’attaquer aux causes de l’extrémisme ne sont pas forcément synonymes d’une « déwahhabisation » du pays. Soutien et caution religieuse de la monarchie, les dignitaires wahhabites ont toujours su s’adapter aux précédentes tentatives de contrôle.

- by Nabil Mouline
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- History, Sociology, Islamic Law, International Relations
- by Mark Beumer
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- History, European History, Middle East Studies, Middle East History

TABLE OF CONTENTS
THE TABOO OF ATHEISM IN EGYPT 3
By Hakim Khatib
NEW ORDER HAS JUST BEGUN IN THE MIDDLE EAST 6
By Fadi Elhusseini
TURKEY–ISRAEL NORMALIZATION – WHY EVER NOT? 9
By Neville Teller
MUSLIMS AND HUMAN LIBERTY 12
By Irshad Manhi
ISIS ATTACK IN ISTANBUL – TWO TARGETS IN ONE 14
By Rick Francona
PRESSURE ON SHEIKH SALMAN TO RESPOND TO HUMAN RIGHTS ALLEGATIONS 15
By James M. Dorsey
SAUDI POLITICAL INTOLERANCE 18
By Hakim Khatib
CULTURAL BRIDGE HAS NOT BEEN DESTROYED IN AFGHANISTAN 21
By Homayun Alam
ANCIENT SYRIA: ARE SYRIANS REALLY ARABS? 23
By Mohanad Albaaly

During the last years of the Syrian control of Lebanon, Samir Kassir was undoubtedly one of the prominent Lebanese journalists who fought against it and tried to more distinctly define the fragile and broken Lebanese nationality. Kassir was mainly active in political comment and analysis and tried to introduce new and fresh ideas in order to awaken the Lebanese people from their ongoing lack of political consciousness, coma and social degeneration. He tried to bring about a shift in political views that originated in the people, Lebanon's grass roots, rather than try to change the elite and corrupt political framework. His political and intellectual activities offered the Lebanese a new and promising national agenda that, supported by other similarly concerned intellectuals, might have given the Lebanese new hope in their turmoil. The article examines Kassir's part in building the new hybrid Lebanese identity and argues that Kassir, as a modern Lebanese intellectual, first diagnosed the core problems involved in creating this Lebanese identity and later suggested his own understanding of what such a hybrid, reconstructed identity should be.

- by Ronen A. Cohen and +1
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- Intellectual History, Middle East Studies, Middle East History, Lebanon

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SEVEN DIFFERENT OPINIONS IN GERMANY ABOUT REFUGEES 96
By Yvette Hovsepian Bearce
CANADIANS KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT SAUDI ARMS DEAL 99
By Erika Simpson
EVOLUTION OF TURMOIL IN THE MIDDLE EAST: WESTERN ROLE 102
By Hakim Khatib & Syed Qamar Afzal Rizvi
EGYPT’S REGIME BOOSTS CALLS FOR SECURITY SECTOR REFORM 112
By James M. Dorsey
POSITIVE ACTION IN YEMEN YIELDS POSITIVE RESULTS 115
By Neville Teller
ATHEIST PERSPECTIVE ON TERROR AND ANTI-MUSLIM RHETORIC 118
By Ilham Bint Sirin
OUR LONG STORY IN SYRIA 120
By Hasan Moussa/HOS
WHERE IS LGBT COMMUNITY IN THE ARAB-MUSLIM MAJORITY WORLD? 121
By M. Kh. & A. D.

- by Hakim Khatib and +1
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- Middle East Studies, Middle East & North Africa, Middle East History, Turkish and Middle East Studies

Recent outbursts of sectarian and ethnic violence in Iraq have made many observers question the viability of the state itself. It is said that due to the artificiality of the state and a lack of deep-seated political institutions, Iraqi politics is doomed to endlessly revert back to primordialism. Political parties are mere facades for the real intention of pursuing ethno-sectarian interests, the argument goes. But the present situation has largely been caused by Saddam Hussein’s infamous rule over the past three decades, combined with the plight of international sanctions. Before Saddam’s ascent to power in the late 1970s, however, the Iraqi political spectrum was full of political parties operating from ideological platforms. The largest, and arguably most important of these groups, was the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP). The ICP stands out as the only true cross-sectarian party in Iraqi history, drawing support from all of Iraq’s diverse communities. From its inception in 1934, it continuously fought the various regimes in power and endeavoured to spread communist ideology throughout Iraq. At times the party achieved considerable success in this regard, although ultimately never able to seize power. Red Star over Iraq analyses the twists and turns of the ICP from its inception until its ultimate demise as a significant political force at the hands of Saddam in 1979.

- by Johan Franzén
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- History, International Relations, Middle East Studies, Middle East History
- by Guita Hourani, Ph.D.
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- Christianity, Middle East History, Christian Mysticism, Lebanon

NOTE: EMBARGOED BY PUBLISHER. The latest edition of this renowned textbook explores the states and regimes of the Middle East and North Africa. Presenting heavily revised, fully updated chapters contributed by the world’s leading experts, it analyzes the historical trajectory, political institutions, economic development, and foreign policies of the region’s nearly two dozen countries. The volume can be used in conjunction with its sister volume, The Societies of the Middle East and North Africa, for a comprehensive overview of the region. The chapters are organized and structured identically, giving insightful windows into the nuances of each country’s domestic politics and foreign relations. Data tables and extensive annotated bibliographies orient readers towards further research. In sum, the book provides the most comprehensive and detailed overview of the region’s varied politics available for prospective readers, travelers, journalists, scholars, and policymakers who need usable knowledge about the MENA region.

- by Sean Yom
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- Middle East Studies, Middle East & North Africa, Middle East History, Israel/Palestine

This text gives some very small selection of details included in the forthcoming Caracalla: A Military Biography (as an advertisement) due to be published by Pen & Sword this year and in fact provides also a short overview of some of the unconventional strategies and tactics employed by Caracalla together with some quite new info regarding period equipment and military practices. A much fuller discussion of all things connected to military matters in its widest sense can be found in the book.

"Le «Primavere Arabe» hanno rettificato la percezione precedentemente ereditata, che i popoli arabi vivessero coscientemente nell’immobilità, nell’incapacità di modificare qualsiasi aspetto inerente le proprie decisioni politiche, sociali o economiche. Il paradigmatico desiderio di rinnovamento, coinciso con la Presidenza Obama che dello slogan we change ne aveva fatto una bandiera, ha acuito l’attenzione sulle problematicità di questa area geografica, la cui storia è stata segnata nel passato, come negli ultimi decenni, da importanti «rivoluzioni» politiche, culturali e religiose.
Questo libro non solo approfondisce i quattordici secoli di storia dei popoli arabi, individuando gli eventi significativi che li hanno visti protagonisti, dalla fase profetica di Muhammad all’epoca d’oro della classicità tra i secoli VIII e XII, dall’avvento della dinastia ottomana alla fase coloniale europea e all’autodeterminazione dei popoli negli anni ’50 e ’60, ma affronta anche le attuali vicende delle «rivoluzioni» e «post-rivoluzioni» ancora in corso. In antitesi all’immobilità sopra accennata emerge una complessità storica, politica e religiosa che il testo chiarisce perseguendo un obbiettivo interdisciplinare, considerando la stretta relazione tra mondo arabo e religione islamica, ma anche tra colonialismo e orientalismo, nazionalismo e Islam politico.
"

NOTE: EMBARGOED BY PUBLISHER. This new regional anthology explores the societies and populations of the Middle East and North Africa. Presenting original chapters written by the world’s leading Middle East scholars, it analyzes the social fabric of the region’s varied countries to uncover the organizing structures, human vulnerabilities, and dynamic forces that shape everyday lives. It provides the historical and cultural context necessary for understanding the peoples inhabiting Arab world, Israel, Turkey, and Iran since the early twentieth century. Linking past to present to future, it also ascertains the ongoing developmental trajectories of these societies, including their overall stability and prosperity. The chapters are clearly structured, and contain insightful case studies, illustrative photographs, and visualized data. They also end with discussion questions and annotated bibliographies to help spark further research. It is an invaluable companion for students of Middle Eastern politics, as well as sociology, history, economics and anthropology.

- by Sean Yom
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- Middle East Studies, Middle East & North Africa, Middle East History, Iranian Studies