GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

PART I:  BOUNDARY AND TERRITORIAL DISPUTES

 Boundaries are an important part of the anatomy of a state, and states are sensitive about their territories and limits.  Some boundaries are only found on a map, others are marked by fences and walls.  Boundaries are sometimes classified as geometric (straight-line or curved), physiographic (coinciding with rivers or mountain crests), or anthroprogeographic (marking breaks in transitions in the cultural landscape).  Political geographers also describe boundaries according to their evolution or genesis.  Genetic boundary classification was created by Richard Hartshorne.  Classifications of genetic boundaries include antecedent types.  These are boundaries that were defined and delimited before the present-day human landscape developed.  Subsequent boundaries develop over a long-term and generally involve intricate international treaties.  Relict boundaries are ones that now longer exist but have left important imprints on the cultural landscape.  A superimposed boundary is one that is forcibly drawn.

Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, much of the land that had formerly belonged to the Ottoman empire was divided and given to the Britain and France in the form of mandates that would prepare these newly created countries for independence.  Thus, the superimposed boundaries in the Middle East have been the source of continued conflict or have exasperated already existing problems  in the Middle East. Boundary and Territory conflicts that have been a continuing source of conflict in the Middle East.  Remember that sources of conflict are often numerous and rarely one dimensional.  However, sources of conflict in the Middle East that are associated  with borders and territory  include the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Kurdistan, the Persian Gulf War, the war between Iran and Iraq,  the civil war in Lebanon, and problems with the delineation of Arabian Peninsula boundaries.

THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT:

The original borders of Israel were created by the United Nations Special Commission on Palestine in 1948.  These borders were created after the British relinquished its long and arduous mandate over the area.

The modern problem of Israel began in the later part of the 1800s when the Zionist movement began in Europe.  The movement was institutionalized by Theodor Herzel, who believed that Jews must achieve self-determination. Zionists believed that the only way for Jews to be free of prejudice and discrimination was through reestablishment of a Jewish homeland.
Herzel's organization, the World Zionist Organization, sent Jewish settlers to the then Ottoman province of Palestine. Although one Zionist writer said that Palestine was "...a land without a people,"  more than 400,000 Palestinian Arabs lived at that time in Palestine (Held 183).

During World War I, with the loss of the Ottoman controlled land imminent, Zionists began to petition the British government to support their cause.  On November 2, 1917, the British issued the Balfour Declaration:

His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment
in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will
use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this
object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done
which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-
Jewish communities in Palestine, or their rights and political
status enjoyed by Jews in any other country. (Balfour Declaration)

This rather  ambiguous declaration  contradicted an earlier British pledge to the Arabs.  The Husyan-McMahon agreement was made during World War I between the British high commissioner, McMahon, and Sharif Husayn, the governor of the Ottoman province in Mecca.  The Arabs agreed to revolt against the Ottoman Turks in Arabia and Syria ,and in return Britain would support the creation of an independent Arab state in former Ottoman lands after the end of the war.

Palestine formally became a mandate of Great Britain in 1920.  The Palestinian Arabs actively worked to keep out Jewish immigrants.  Palestinian Arabs attacked Jewish settlers  as the Jewish National Fund increased its land purchases.  The worst Arab-Jewish fighting in this time period occurred in 1929, when an Arab attack killed 59 Jews in Hebron causing the Jews to abandon the city until 1967 (Held 185).  Zionists began their own defense forces because they believed that the British could not satisfactorily protect them.

The 1930s saw a rise of Nazism in Germany and, with it, the growth of anti-semitism and persecution of the Jews. As a result, more Jews began to flee to Palestine.  By the outbreak of World War II, there were roughly 450,000 Jews in Palestine, which represented about 30 percent of the population ( The Middle East and North Africa 179). In 1936 an Arab committee was formed with the purpose of uniting the Arab people in opposition to Jewish immigration.  They rejected the notion of any partition of Palestine and arab attacks on Jews became more frequent. In 1939 Britain issued a White Paper which limited Jewish immigrants to Palestine to no more than 75,000 over the next five years (The Middle East and North Africa 179).   However, at the end of World War II when details of the Holocaust were learned, Zionism gained many new supporters.  The British found it impossible to keep out the  flood of Jewish people trying to get into Palestine and keep peace between the Jewish settlers and the Arabs.  By 1947 the Jews in Palestine were pressing Britain to create a Jewish state.  Finally, Britain turned the issue of Palestine over to the United Nations.  The U.N. decided to divide Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state; Jerusalem was to be an international zone.  On May 14, 1948 the British high commissioner for Palestine departed, and the State of Israel was proclaimed.

War broke out between Israel and its Arab neighbors in support of the Arab Palestinians.  Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq invaded Israel.  By the end of the fighting in February, 1949, Israel gained territory in the north, center, and southwest, and Transjordan occupied the West Bank of the Jordan river; the area that had been the Arab portion in the UN partition of Palestine.  Israel and Transjordan divided Jerusalem between them, and Egypt gained control of the Gaza Strip, a piece of land on the Mediterranean coast.

In 1956 Israel seized control of the Sinai Peninsula during the Israeli-British-French invasion of the Suez  but relinquished the land several months later following pressure from the world community.

Israel's territorially evolution continued during the Six Day War in 1967.  Arabs had refused to recognize the state of Israel, and Israel had refused to accept the return of the Arab refugees who had fled to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after the First Arab-Israeli War in 1949, or to return the borders back to the original 1948 UN boundary.  Arab groups continually raided Israeli settlements, and Israelis replied with counterattacks.  This eventually led to the crisis in 1967.  The Arab states mobilized their troops and closed the Straits of Titan at the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba where Israel's port of Elath is located. The Israeli government responded with a military strike which destroyed most of the Arab air forces and then advanced quickly against its Arab neighbors.  This short-lived war resulted in the Israeli occupation of the Sinai, Gaza Strip, the West Bank, all of Jerusalem, and the southwestern corner of Syria known as the Golan Heights.  The Six Day War not only increased Israeli territory but it had other far-reaching consequences.

After the Six Day War Israel controlled all of Jerusalem.  Arabs began to fear that Israel would prevent them access to the Dome of the Rock, from which Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven.  Many Arabs found support in militant Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.  Another result of the Six Day War was the desire of many Arabs to take more action on their own.  A new generation of Palestinians, born in exile after 1948, had spent their lives in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.  They formed militant groups that were willing to fight for independence.  Most of these groups united loosely into one organization-the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)  Led by Yasir Arafat, the PLO raided the territories occupied by Israel after the 1967 war.   The PLO called for the destruction of Israel; not in open battle, but by using relentless guerilla action and terrorism.

In Israel, when the Six-Day War ended, Israelis were jubilant.  Jews now controlled the ancient biblical lands of Judea and Samaria (on the West Bank).  As the government debated  what it should do with the occupied territory, religious revival groups began to grow in Israel.  Religious militants believed that Israel had to keep Judea and Samaria.  This religious movement, Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful) believed that they were fulfilling a religious commandment and that the salvation of Israel was in the creation of Ertez Israel (Greater Israel).  This term refers to not only the physical borders of Israel, but also to the moral and religious lifestyle within the borders (Drezon-Tepler 170).

On October 6, 1973, the fourth Arab-Israeli war broke out when the Egyptians attacked across the Suez Canal, and the Syrians attacked the Golan Heights.  For Jews, October 6, 1973 of that year was Yom Kippur, their most important religious day. The surprise attack brought Egypt an immediate advantage in the Sinai Peninsula, but once again the Israelis showed their military superiority and occupied a wide strip of the Suez Canal.  The war on the Egyptian front ended on October 24, but fighting on the Syrian front continued until May of 1974.  This war left complicated buffers on the Sinai and on the Golan Heights that were to be monitored by UN troops.  This war had a profound affect on the minds of Israelis who had been caught unprepared by the attack. Security and control of its borders became paramount and the the settlement movement of the Gush Emunim into land that was under Israeli occupation took on a new urgency.

On March 26,1979, Anwar al-Sadat, the president of Egypt and Menachem Begin, the prime minister of Israel, signed an historic agreement.  Known as the Camp David Accord, this treaty set up full relations between Egypt and Israel.   Israel agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and in exchange, Egypt recognized Israel's right to exist and it ended the state of war that existed between Israel and Egypt since 1948.

The PLO and the other Arab countries saw the separate peace as a betrayal and Egypt became an outcast of the Arab world.  Egypt lost financial aid from the oil-rich Arab states, and it was forced to leave the Arab League.  At home, Sadat was faced with the growing power of Islamic groups.  To put a stop to antigovernment sermons, he  ordered all mosques to be placed under government control.  A few weeks later, as Sadat appeared at a military parade, he was killed by Islamic extremists.

Allthough returning the land to Egypt for peace, Israel began to secure and extend it borders.

Clashes began to occur between the young Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza strip and the Israeli settlers.  By December of 1987, clashes escalated into a citizen rebellion known as the Intifada.  This uprising involved frequent confrontations between Israeli soldiers and rock-throwing Palestinian youths demonstrating against the military occupation and the Israeli settlements.  The Intifada went a long way in helping to achieve the Israeli-Palestinian accord on Gaza that was signed in September 1993.

The Palestinians for the most part were refugees.  Although there had never been a state of Palestine, the Palestinian refugees began to believe that the solution to their problem was not the destruction of Israel, but a separate Palestinian State.  In the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, there was growing momentum to end the long-lasting Arab-Israeli conflict.  The United States and the former Soviet Union hosted a peace conference in Madrid.  These talks helped pave the way for secret negotiations that took place in Norway between the PLO and Israel. These talks produced a Declaration of Principles between the PLO and the Israelis.  Known as Oslo I, these accords were signed on the White House lawn in Washington D.C. on September 13, 1993 and resulted in a handshake between Yassir Arafat, leader of the PLO and the Israeli prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin. This historic handshake between former enemies was viewed in amazement by all.  After decades of strife and confrontation between the Israeli authorities and the PLO, representatives of both parties resolved to mutually recognize one another and to sign an agreement aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict.  Israel agreed to a withdrawal from sections of the occupied territories which would then come under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian authority.  In May of 1994 a number of areas in the Gaza Strip andJericho were transferred to Palestinian self-rule. The Oslo II Agreement which was signed on September 28, 1995, detailed redeployment from the West Bank cities (A areas) and towns (B areas) and procedures for Palestinian elections.  By October of 1995, Israel had withdrawn from the six West Bank Arab cities.  Many Palestinians saw this as the beginning of a new Palestinian state that would include the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

However, not everyone was happy with the Oslo agreement.  Arab groups such as Hamas opposed the peace process, and many with Israel believed that Rabin's formula of land for peace was flawed and was detrimental to national security. To many, the transfer of the lands of Judea and Samaria would be a terrible mistake and an affront  because of religious implications but also because of their strategic importance.  There are two issues involved in the strategic importance of the West Bank.  One issue is over the insecure and indefensible border of Israel prior to the addition of the West Bank after the 1967 war.  One border was as little as nine miles wide in heavily populated areas of Israel's coastal strip.  The expansion of Israel's borders adds to the security of the nation.  The other aspect of strategic importance is the supply of water that the West Bank provides for Israel.  Beneath the Judean and Samaria Mountains lies The Mountain Aquifer, the state of Israel's most important water resource (Yesha Council)

In November of 1995, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jew who opposed the government's land- for- peace policy.  In June of 1996, the Likud Party returned to power with the election of Binyamin Netanyahu as prime minister.  Concerned with
national security, Netanyahu dragged his feet in implementing Oslo II and many issues that had been left to the final status talks  seemed insurmountable.
 


In 1999 when Ehud Barak was elected Prime Minister, it seemed likely that the hundred-year war between Arab and Jew might be coming to an orderly close.  In July of 2000 Barak proposed giving the Palestinians their own state which would have included Gaza and 90% of the West Bank (Goldberg 54) By some accounts, Barak was even willing to give up Israeli sovereignty over Arab controlled areas of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount (Goldberg 54).  This plan was not accepted by Arafat.  Relations between Israel and the Palestinians further began to deteriorate when, on September 28, 2000. Ariel Sharon along with some other members of the Likud Party entered the Temple Mount.  Muslims were infuriated and the next day riots broke out in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and soon, within Israel proper.  It was the beginning of a new intifada.
Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount was the flame that ignited a fire that had been smoldering. The Palestinian uprisings and attacks on Jewish settlers in Gaza and on the West Bank were in large part responsible for the Labor Party's (the party of negotiation and land-for peace) defeat in the Feb 17, 2001 election, and the victory for the Likud Party  (peace through strength and security first).  Conditions since this time have not improved and there are almost daily attacks by either the Palestinians or the Jews on one another.  Some also blame the change in administration in the United States for the continued conflicts in Israel.  The Clinton administration attempted a proactive and ambitious plan of mediation between the Jews and Palestinians. 

In a speech by President George W. Bush in June of 2002, he outlined his plan to end the violence.  Known as the “road map for peace,” this plan calls for an independent state of Palestine and is backed by Russia, the European Union, the United Nations, and the United States.  In exchange for statehood, the Palestinians have to make democratic reforms and crack down on terrorist activities in the areas they control.

The first step in the road map was for the Palestinians to appoint a Prime Minister, in part, to take Yasser Arafat out of the process as it is believed that he has not done enough to stop Palestinian attacks against Israelis. The first Prime Minister appointed, Mahmoud Abbas resigned after only four months in office as he was weakened by his confrontations with Araftat, the near-collapse of the peace plan, and his inability to improve the daily lives of Palestinians. Ahmed Queria replaced him as the new Prime Minister.

The ultimate goal of the road map is to end the conflict by 2005 with the creation of a Palestinian state and security for the Israelis. This road map has already suffered from many setbacks as terrorist activities continue against Israeli settlers and within Israeli.  In response, the Israelis have been building a security  fence on the West Bank made of razor wire and concrete blocks that attempts to separate Palestinian land from Israeli controlled land.  Although costly, the Israelis say it is necessary to keep out terrorists.  However, the fence has become very controversial as it cuts Palestinian towns off from the rest of the West bank in order to keep Israeli settlements on the West Bank and separates Palestinian lands thus prohibiting travel between Palestinian controlled areas.

Separate from the Palestinian question is the status of the Golan Heights.  Syria wants the Golan Heights returned.  Israel has heavily fortified the heights as protection from another sneak attack from Syria.  From Mount Herman, Israel can easily monitor what is happening in Damascus.  Israeli settlers have also built in this area to make its return to Syria more difficult, and the Golan Heights is an important source of water for Israel.

To find out more about the history and issues involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict, access anyone of the following links.
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IRAQ'S BORDERS AND TERRITORY:

Following World War I Britain was given a mandate over the former Ottoman provinces of Mosul, Baghdad, and part of Basra.  This mandate incorporated the borders of the traditional geographical region of Mesopotamia.  This mandate emerged as the independent  kingdom of Iraq in 1932   Iraq bitterly complained about its borders at the head of the Persian Gulf which had been created by Britain.  Its complaint was two-fold:  One; that its access to the Gulf was too narrow, especially in comparison with its width further north, and two; that the land that had been used to create Kuwait, should have been given to Iraq since it had been officially included in the former Ottoman province of Basra, most of which had been included in the Iraqi mandate.  Although Iraq accepted the 1932 borders, it was not happy with them, and periodically threatened military action.  In 1961 when Kuwait became independent and was no longer a British protectorate, Iraq announced its plans to annex Kuwait.  Threats from the Arab League and Britain prevented this from taking place, but in the 1970's, Iraq again attempt to take control of two islands in the Persian Gulf that belonged to Kuwait: Warba and Bubiyan.  But as before, Iraq dropped its claim and withdrew the military threat.  Again, in 1990, Iraq moved into Kuwait.  This action led to what became the Gulf War.

THE PERSIAN GULF WAR:

In August of 1990, Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq moved his troops into Kuwait.  This action was at the surface a war of aggression against it neighbor Kuwait.  But what were the reasons for this aggression?  At a May 1990 Arab summit meeting in Iraq, Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq,  announced his intention of making Iraq the dominant power in the Gulf, and reiterated Iraq's claim to Kuwait (Held 193).  Iraq's economy was in trouble.  Hussein had used the country's oil profits to build one of the largest, best equipped armies in the world.  For eight years (1980-1988) Iraq had fought an expensive war against Iran as oil prices began to drop. Iraq continued to build its army despite the fact that by 1990, it owed more than  $80 billion to various nations ( The Middle East and North Africa 229).  As oil prices fell and Iraq's economy declined, Hussein began to blame Kuwait.  He chastised Kuwait for exceeding its OPEC production limits thus causing the price of oil to fall.  He demanded that Kuwait forgive the multibillion dollar loans made to Iraq, and that Kuwait give to Iraq a portion of its rich Rumaila oil field. Kuwait refused and, on August 2, 1990, Iraqi troops entered Kuwait, and then appeared to be poised for an invasion of oil-rich Saudi Arabia.  Iraq announced that Kuwait had been annexed as the "rightful nineteenth province" of Iraq." (Held 194) During its occupation of Kuwait, Iraq committed executions and looted motor vehicles, stores, museum collections, and banks.

George Bush, the president of the United States, led the worldwide opposition to the Iraqi aggression. Known as Operation Desert Shield, military troops were sent to Saudi Arabia, and to the Persian Gulf to protect Saudi Arabia from invasion and to enforce UN resolutions that called for Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait.

The UN Security Council gave Iran a deadline of January 15, 1991 to leave Kuwait, or face a military attack.  Iraq did not leave and on the night of Jan. 16-17, 1991 Operation Desert Storm began with extensive air attacks of Iraq. Operation Desert Storm was a UN coalition of 28 nations led by U.S.  General H. Norman Schwarzkopf  Again, Iraq refused to give in and on February 24, 1991 the ground war began.  100 hours later Saddam Hussein agreed to a cease-fire. Iraqi troops left Kuwait, but not before they set fire to more than 600 Kuwaiti oil fields.

  Kuwaiti oil fields on fire

Though at first the war seemed to be a tribute to the "smart" weapons of the United States that strategically pinpointed targets, and to the "new world order" coalition that included the United States, and for the first time many Arab states, it became apparent that as long as Saddam Hussein was in power, problems would continue.  The coalition forces did not follow Hussein's retreat into Iraq.  Hussein had capitulated while he still retained a substantial portion of his military power.  The United States believed (and encouraged) that the Iraqi people would topple the Hussein regime.  However, Hussein still retained a substantial portion of his military power and was able to subdue revolts by the Shiites in the south and the Kurds in the north.   The UN created no fly zones in northern and southern Iraq. Iraqi planes violating these fly zones were attacked.

The UN also imposed economic sanctions on Iraq.  The sanctions were intended to force Hussein to comply fully with the terms of the cease-fire, and to give UN inspectors full freedom to examine Iraq's weapons facilities.   Although eased somewhat, seven years later these economic sanctions are still in force.  Iraq is forbidden to sell oil except to buy medical and food supplies.  The UN sanctions have caused immense suffering among the Iraqi people.  Despite the hardships faced by the Iraqi people, Saddam Hussein continues to defy UN weapons inspectors.  It is believed that Iraq is still producing and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction:  nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.  The continued standoff between Saddam Hussein and the UN inspectors threatened to lead to further military action in the region.

 

Persian Gulf War II

The second Persian Gulf War began in March of 2003 when U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq with the goal of deposing Saddam Hussein.  The Bush administration was frustrated by Iraq’s continued failure to allow weapons inspections.   Since the bombing of the World Trade Center in 2001, the Bush administration’s policy to counter terrorism became one of preemptive first-strike.  Feeling that the removal of Saddam Hussein was unfinished business from the first Gulf War and believing that with potential weapons of mass destruction and support of terrorism, Bush called for a regime change and asked the United Nations for support of an invasion of Iraq.   Under the threat of invasion, Iraq in November of 2002 allowed UN weapons inspectors back into the country.  In December Iraq declared that it had no WMB (Weapons of Mass Destruction) and by January of 2003 the inspectors had found no WMD but they also felt that Iraq was not cooperating with them.  The Bush administration feeling that Iraq was yet again stalling and not cooperating asked the UN to support a military solution in Iraq. The international community, particularly led by France, Germany, and Russia, did not support war at that time and refused to cooperate with the Bush plan.  The United States and Britain decided that they did not need UN approval and on March 19, 2003, the air war against Iraq began. The following day British and American forces invaded Iraq moving toward Baghdad and the southern oil fields.  The Kurds in the north opened a northern front.  Organized resistance to the invasion did not last long and by mid-April American and British troops controlled most of the Iraqi cities and Saddam Hussein had disappeared.    On May 1, president Bush declared that the war was over and that the political and economic reconstruction of Iraq would begin.

 However, resistance to American occupation continued using guerilla-type tactics and suicide bombings.  Attacks have not just been centered on American troops but have been against international organizations such as the Red Cross, and against Iraqi citizens who are cooperating with the American reconstruction of the country such as the police.  Attacks come from Iraqi’s who supported Saddam Hussein but there has also been a significant number of Islamic militants entering the country who come from Saudi Arabia, Syria, and other Arab countries who see this as an opportunity to fight against western influence in the Middle East. 

On December 13, 2003 Saddam Hussein was finally captured by American troops.  He was found hiding in a hole outside of his ancestral home of Tikrit. Since his capture the number of attacks on American troops has declined slightly, but not significantly. Meanwhile, Paul Bremmer who is the head of the US Civilian administration in Iraq works to rebuild Iraq and plans are underway to return Iraqi rule to the Iraqis by June 30,2004.  However, there have been disagreements within Iraq over the best way to handle the transition of power.  The U.S. appointed Iraqi Governing Council has called for regional caucuses to select a new ruling government.  However, Shiite Iraqis (who are a majority in the country) object to the plan and are calling for full-scale elections.  The Bush administration’s belief is that democracy in Iraq will spread to other Middle Eastern countries and will thus promote stability in the area.

No weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq and it is now becoming clear that Iraq did not have these weapons.  This leads some to believe that the Bush administration used this as an excuse to invade Iraq and take over country’s amble oil supply.

Use the links to learn more about the Persian Gulf War.
 

 


 

LEBANON AND ITS TERRITORY:

Lebanon is a tiny country not much larger than the state of Connecticut. It is only 135 miles from north to south, and only about 40 miles from the Mediterranean Sea to Syria. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, France was given a mandate over the area that today is represented by the countries of Syria and Lebanon.  Living in this area were a group of Maronite Christians.  These "Christians of Mount Lebanon" had, under pressure from the European powers, been granted a privileged status under the Ottoman Empire.  Thus, French diplomats separated the area know as Mt. Lebanon  administratively from Syria, and expanded it into a region considered to be the minimum size necessary for autonomous status (Partner 38).  This expanded region therefore, included more than just the Maronites and eventually led to a 16 year civil war.

Lebanon's Civil War:

The Christians, although at the start a majority, were themselves divided into sectarian groups of which the Maronites were the largest and had the closet links with the French mandate power.  The Muslims were divided into Sunni and Shi'ah and Druze communities. In the National Pact of 1943, the main political leaders of the country's Christians and non-Christian religious communities agreed to cooperate with one another to achieve full independence from France.  Under the pressure from the Palestinian immigration and from a large demographic shift in favor of the Muslims, that consensus started to crumble in 1958 (Partner 38).    By the 1970s, Christians were no longer a majority, yet they retained control over the government. Conditions in Lebanon further deteriorated in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War as more Palestinians fled into Lebanon.  By 1975, it was estimated that there were 400,000 Palestinians living in Lebanon (Economist 6).  The Palestinians, who made up a tenth or more of Lebanon's residents, had formed a virtual state within a state, and the Palestine Liberation Organization supported the Lebanese Muslims in their quest for more political  and economic power.  In April of 1975 an ambush on a busload of Palestinian guerrillas traveling through a Christian suburb of Beirut sparked off the 16 year civil war

 The Lebanese civil war  was refereed to by Lebanese as "the war of the others on Lebanese land." (Economist 9).  This very complicated civil war was intensified  by the presence of outsiders, and the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict.   Palestinian units and leftist Muslims fought against the Maronite militia and other Christians.  Several Arab countries provided political and arms support to the various factions, while Israel aided Christian forces.  Approximately 15,000 Syrian troops intervened in 1976, and fought Palestinian groups, and after a short cease-fire, clashes between Syrian and Christian forces erupted.  By 1981, fighting had also broken out between two Muslim factions.  Israeli forces invaded Lebanon on June 6, 1982, in an attempt to crush the strongholds of the PLO.  Israel established a security zone in southern Lebanon, where it is still today. It was during this Israeli occupation,  that Lebanese Christian troops entered two refugee camps and massacred hundreds of Palestinian refugees.

By 1983, terrorist bombings and kidnapping had become a way of life in Beirut, as some 50 people were killed in an explosion at the US Embassy; 241 US servicemen and 58 French soldiers died in separate Muslim suicide attacks; Beirut Airport was the scene of a hostage crisis where Shiite terrorists held US citizens for 17 days; and kidnapping of foreign nationals by Islamic militants became common.

Syrian military pressure was the deciding factor in concluding the fighting.  By 1989 only a few of the main Christian factions were continuing their old fanatical and violent ways.  In September 1989, sixty-two of the seventy survivors of the ninety-nine member National Assembly met at Taif in Saudi Arabia and worked out a new, modified version of the Lebanese constitution.  It transferred much of the executive authority formerly exercised by the Maronite president to the Sunni Muslim prime minister. It also increased the number of legislative seats to allow Shi'ah Muslims and some other smaller groups increasedparliamentary representation.  In 1990 the Christian General Aoun, whose militia was the last big obstacle to peace, was driven out of East Beirut.  The remaining US hostages were released  at the end of 1991, and Lebanese elections took place in the autumn of 1992.

After 16 years of civil war, the toll on Lebanon's pre war population of 3 million  was staggering:  170,000 were dead, 300,000 wounded, 800,000 were displaced from their homes, and one in five left the country (Economist 3).  Effects on the Lebanese economy were equally staggering.

Today, Lebanon is rebuilding.  However, the effects of its superimposed borders still haunt Lebanon.  Syria, believing Lebanon to be historically part of its territory, in effect controls the politics of Lebanon.  It still maintains troops in Lebanon, refuses to let Lebanon negotiate with Israel, and supports guerrilla activity against Israel.

In May of 2000 Israel eneded its 18-year continuous occupation of Lebanon.  The area today is controlled by Hezbullah.

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KURDISTAN:

A map of Asia shows no country called Kurdistan.  But many Kurds are determined that there should be such a country. There are an estimated 22-23 million Kurds; they are the largest ethnic group in the Middle East without their own government.  Most live in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Armenia where these countries converge.

 Following World War I, the Treaty of Se'vres was signed between Turkey and the Allied Powers on August 10, 1920 (the Treaty of Se'vres).  This treaty arranged for a commission to mark the borders of Kurdistan, and Article 64 called for  the independence of the Kurdish people within the established areas.  However, this treaty was never implemented.

THE KURDS: A NATION WITHOUT A STATE

The Kurds are people of Indo-European origin who live mainly in the mountains and upland where Turkey, Iraq, and Iran meet.  They have their own language, and are predominately Sunni Muslim.  The Kurds have traditionally resisted subjugation by other nations.  In the 16th century the Ottoman and Persian Empress allowed the Kurdish tribes almost total autonomy in return for keeping peace on the borders of the empires.  At the end of the First World War, the Kurds living in the former Ottoman Empire found themselves divided between three different countries:  Iran, Iraq, and Turkey.  In each of these countries, the Kurds found themselves to be discriminated against.  They were expected to learn the language of the state in which they found themselves, and to abandon their Kurdish identity.  The Kurds, being traditional in their ways and tribal oriented began to feel their culture undermined and many Kurdish groups attempted to resist their new governments.

Since World War I the Kurds have struggled unsuccessfully in various countries in which they live for self-determination and independence.

A Kurdish mountain village.

In Turkey Kurds are forbidden to use their own language, or to describe themselves as Kurds.  The Kurds in Turkey are officially called the "Mountain Turks."  In the 1920s and '30s the Kurds attempted to rebel against the government.  The Turkish government brutally put down the rebellion and deported thousands from their homeland. Today there is a Kurdish Marxist guerilla group.

In Iran the Kurds were also brought under control in the 1920s.  In 1946 a short-lived Soviet backed Kurdish republic was formed in Iran. The ring leaders were hanged and tribal chiefs were allowed to register tribal lands as personal possession, and were welcomed into the Iranian ruling elite, in return for making sure their tribes obeyed the government.  After the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution, the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran rebelled after their demands for autonomy were refused by Tehran.

In Iraq the Kurdistan Democratic Party has been responsible for numerous revolts against Baghdad. In 1974 the ruling Baath Party offered the Kurds autonomy, but the Kurds, not believing the sincerity of the proposal, continued to revolt with the backing of Iran.  However, in 1975 the Shah of Iran, who had supported the Kurds, abandoned them.  At the end of the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, Iraq conducted brutal attacks against the Kurds and forced the resettlement of several Kurdish villages.

After the Persian Gulf War, the Kurds were encouraged by the United States to revolt against Saddam Hussein.  Iraqi troops quickly crushed the uprising, and drove thousands of Kurdish rebels and civilians to the borders of Iran and Turkey.  The military forces of the United States and its allies responded by establishing safe havens for the Kurds.  Operation Provide Comfort protected the Kurds from Iraq and distributed food and medical supplies.  Kurds hoped that this Kurdish-controlled zone for 4-5 million refugees could become the center of a self-governing Kurdistan.

In May of 1992, the Kurds held an election to choose a 105-seat assembly. The Kurdistan Democratic Party, the largest and oldest of the political groups, held strong appeal for the mountain Kurds, who were the backbone of the Kurdish military forces.  Since its founding in Iran in 1945, it has been controlled by the Barzani family.  Among the other Kurdish political parties was the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Jabal Talbani and Ibrahim Ahmad.  They are nationalists who seek to create a Kurdish political organization.  There is also a Kurdish Communist Party, and an Islamic Movement of Kurdistan.

After the election, Barzani and Talabani split control of the governing bodies that had been set up for Iraq's Kurds.  Soon, however, these two men had a falling-out.  By 1994, the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq had fractured into warring districts with power divided among numerous warlords.

The Kurds are splintered by the mountainous geographic locations and in their philosophies.  It seems unlikely that they will be able to establish a self-governing Kurdistan, even if Turkey, Iran, and Iraq would agree to it.  Since 1984 Turkey's armed forces have been fighting an insurgency by guerrillas belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party.  Turkish troops have crossed into northern Iraq to attack these Kurdish forces although Turkey maintains good relations with Iraq's Kurds.

It is important to remember the location of the Kurds.  The would-be Kurdish homeland includes some of the major oil deposits of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran as well as the head waters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
 


OTHER BOUNDARY DISPUTES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Many other boundary disputes are to be found in the Middle East.  Some disputes are a result of arbitrary borders created by colonial powers, others are a result of the environment.
 

Part II:  THE POLITICS OF WATER IN THE MIDDLE EAST

A look at a climate map of the Middle East will show that most of this region is characterized by its arid and semi-arid climate (see overview).  Most places in the Middle East get less than 20 inches of rainfall a year. Because of its scarcity, water is a more valuable resource in the Middle East than oil is.  Water costs twice as much in the Middle East as it does in North America and five times as much as in Southeast Asia (Regional Studies 253)

The Middle East's population is currently growing by 2.9 percent a year, which means that it will double in 24 years.  By 2002, it is predicted that the region's population will be 145 percent of its current size (Crosslines Global Report) This means that water consumption also increase at at least the same rate.  Increases in living standards in the area will mean an even higher increase in consumption.  Many countries in the Middle East such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel are already using all the water resources available to them.

More is involved than just drinking water.  In Turkey and Egypt, water passing through hydroelectric dams accounts for about 40 percent of the available electricity (Crosslines Global Report).  Water is also needed for irrigation in this arid climate region. Non-irrigated farming is possible only in small areas of the Middle East, and wide-scale agriculture is possible only by means of irrigation.. However, steady irrigation can cause problems.  Ground water can be completely used up.  Also, there may be too much salt in the soil.  When the water table is near the surface of the ground, salt that exists naturally in the soil is drawn upward with the water,  Eventually, the amount of salt left near the surface after evaporation will spoil the soil, making it unfit for agriculture.

The lack of water means that many of the countries in the Middle East, which have limited means of earning foreign currency, are incapable of raising their own food and will be forced to import food.  Jordan has to import 60 percent of its food and estimates are that in five years it will need to import 80 percent (Crosslines Global Report)   These rather bleak statistics lead some to believe that the next war in the Middle East will be a war over water.  Most of the rivers in the Middle East are transnational and thus have become subject to international concern and dispute.
 

CONTROL OF THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS:

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers have their sources in the Anti-Taurus mountains of Eastern Anatolia in Turkey.   The longer of the two, the Euphrates begins in Turkey, flows through Syria and into Iraq.  Although shorter, the Tigris carries 25 percent more water than the Euphrates (Held 43). The Tigris originates just a few miles from the Euphrates in Turkey, and then flows into Iraq.  The Tigris and Euphrates join together to form a river called the Shatt-al-Arab before it empties into the Persian Gulf.

In the 1970s, former Turkish President Turgut Ozal, decided to build a series of 22 dams on the Tigris and Euphrates river systems.  The Ataturk dam, the world's fifth largest, was part of this project.  The purpose in building the dam was to bring electricity to the area and to provide irrigation to arid and semi-arid land that is the size of the Benelux countries (Ataturk Dam and Water).  This, Turkey hoped would allow them to grow much of the food for the Middle East.

Controversy developed around the building of the Ataturk Dam because of international characteristics of the Euphrates river.  Both Syria and Iraq depend upon water from the Euphrates river for agriculture.  Because of this controversy, the World Bank refused to fund the building of the dams.  Turkey built the Ataturk dam anyway.
 

In 1987, Turkey declared its intention to extend a pipeline from Turkey to the Middle East region in order to provide the Arab countries and Israel with water.  The project is called the Peace Pipeline.  This pipeline will go into two branches; the first will pass though Amman, then through some of the Syrian cities and into Saudi Arabia.  The other branch will pass though Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE.

The Dam projects and the Peace Pipeline will significantly decrease the water quotas of Syria and Iraq so that there will not be enough water for irrigation or power (Arabic News).  It is expected that Iraq would not get more than 25% of the total flow of water from the Euphrates and that both Syria and Iraq will suffer from drought.

 Iraq has actually threatened a regional war if its water needs are not met.  Turkey however believes that Iraq has its natural resource, oil and Turkey has its natural resource, water.  Turkey believes that there are no international laws that would force it to let other countries share the water that passes through these countries.  It differentiates between international waterways and the waterways that pass though other countries.
 

ISRAELI WATER USE

Shortage of water is perhaps the most critical environmental and development problem in Israel.  Israel's water sources are limited by the country’s geography, geology, and climate, and are further exacerbated by Israel's growing population and industrialization.  Relative to the number of people in Israel, Jordan, and the West Bank, there is not enough water.  Water is drawn from the Jordan River, which flows, into the Dead Sea.  Israel and Jordan draw so much water from the Jordan River that the level of the Dead Sea is beginning to drop (Regional Studies 253).

Jordan and Israel also share the aquifer that lies beneath the West Bank.  This aquifer supplies 25 percent of Israel's water and is an important strategic reason why Israel does not want to relinquish the West Bank to the Palestinians who would then control the source of water.   The same is true for Golan Heights that Israel captured from Syria in 1967.  In 1991 there was a drought in the region and the Sea of Galilee, which supplies almost one-third of Israel's water needs, was at its lowest level in over 60 years (Regional Studies 253).

Jordan would like to build a dam on the Yarmuk River to provide water for the Jordan Valley and for Amman, but Jordan cannot build the dam without Israeli permission.  The World Bank will not lend money for an international water project without the agreement of all the countries affected, and Israel will not agree to the project without assurances that it will receive its fair share of water.

Palestinians on the West Bank and on Gaza have to depend on the Israelis for their supply of water which they feel is inadequate for their needs.  They believe that Israelis squander the valuable resource to live in luxury and fill their pools, while the Palestinians don't have enough water to meet basic sanitary needs.  Jordan has gone so far as accusing Israel of stealing its water by cloud seeding.

Israel has been able to use its advanced technology to develop more efficient, water-saving methods of irrigation and would like to begin to build a desalination plant that would convert the salty Mediterranean Sea water into fresh water.  However, economical and large scale desalination is not yet a reality.  As the population and industrialization of the area increases, the disputes over the control of the scarce and valuable water will continue.

OTHER WATER ISSUES

Although not as volatile at the present, water issues plague many other countries in the Middle East:
 

Use the following link to find out more about water issues in the Middle East:
 

Part III. THE STRATEGIC LOCATION AND ITS ROLE IN POLITICS

Bridging together the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, the Middle East has acted as a hub for people, armies, merchants, and ideas down through the centuries.  In an area as strategic as the Middle East, the location of virtually every state involves some strategic aspect.  For instance, Bahrain's location midway in the Persian Gulf has historically been a strategic asset.  All states in the Middle East (except for Afghanistan) have a coastline and most countries have deep indentations of gulfs and bays. Access to water has long been important for trade, but in recent history this asset has become important to the transportation of oil.  Five sea passages in the Middle East are of geostrategic significance; the Suez Canal, the Turkish Straits (Dardanelles and Bosporus), Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb, and the Strait of Tiran, have all figured predominantly in news in recent decades.

SUEZ CANAL:

A French company constructed this man-made canal. Completed in 1869 it runs though the Isthmus of Suez which links Africa and Asia.  The opening of the Suez Canal permitted shortening of the sea trip between Britain and India by 5,000 miles.  Closures of the Suez Canal, for six months in 1956 and for eight years prior to June 1975, helped stimulate increased use of supertankers of shipment of petroleum from the Gulf exporting countries to the West.

THE STRAITS:

Turkish Straits:  The Dardanelles to the southwest and the Bosporus to the northeast, are linked up by the Sea of Marmara and have been of crucial importance since the Bronze Age.  The Dardanelles connects the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara.  The Bosporus connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. Because of their width and depth, any ship can take passage between the Aegean and the Black Seas.  Traffic through the straits has increased enormously since World War I owing to international trade.

Strait of Hormuz:  Connecting the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Hormuz is squeezed between Iran on the north and an exlcave of Oman at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula on the south.  It is one of the most vital channels of trade in the world.  This is the method by which a majority of oil in the Middle East is transported out of the region.  Hormuz is the widest of the significant straits in the Middle East.  Nevertheless, it is vulnerable to sabotage.

Bab el-Mandeb:  At the opposite corner of the Arabian Peninsula, the Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.  The strait is divided into channels by the small but strategically located island of Perim, which belongs to Yemen.  Three states are involved in the territorial waters in the straits- Yemen, Ethiopia, and Djibouti. Since the opening of the Suez Canal, virtually all of the ships that pass through the canal also pass through the Bab el-Mandeb.

Strait of Tiran:  Connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba at the southeastern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, with Egypt on the west nd Saudi Arabia on the east, is  the Strait of Tiran.  It was closed during the 1967 Six Day War and there has been some discussion by Egypt and Saudi Arabia about building a causeway across the strait that would connect Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

THE POWER RIVALRIES:

The Middle East has been divided by the rivalries of the Great Powers.  They have been interested in this area because of its strategic location and its great oil wealth.  During the 19th century the Middle East was pulled apart by the conflicts of  Great Britain and Russia.  Much of the  Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union in the later part of the 20th century was centered on the Middle East. The Arab-Israeli conflict was not just a conflict between Arabs and Jews but also between the United States who supported Israel, and the Soviet Union who supported the Arab nations.

The policy of "containment" (stopping the spread of communism) that became the foreign policy of the United States following World War II, in part, sought to maintain the balance of power in the Middle East. The Eisenhower administration sought to unify the region's resistance to the Soviet Union.  While the United States sought to diminish Soviet influence in the area, at the same time, we followed policies that insulted the Arab nations and sometimes drew them closer to the Soviet Union.

The Western influence on the Middle East, with its apparent disregard for Arab history and culture has had some significant backlashes. Anti- Western sentiment has grown strong in many Middle Eastern countries and with it, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism.

THE CASE OF IRAN:

At the beginning of the 2oth century, both Britain and Russia had spheres of influence in Persia (Iran).  This country was rich in oil reserves, but its government was very corrupt.  During World War I, Persia became a battlefield for Russian, Turkish, and British troops, and the war left Persia in a state of bankruptcy and chaos.  Between 1921 and 1925 a young army officer, Reza Khan, achieved control of the military and became the prime minister.  Two year later, a Constitutional Assembly voted to end the ruling dynasty and Reza Khan was declared Shah (king).  He became the first ruler of the new Pahlavi dynasty.  The ancient empire of Persia thus became the modern nation of Iran.

Reza Shah made many changes in Iran.  In education, a Western-style curriculum was introduced, and girls' schools were established for the first time.  Women were urged to put aside the veil and divorce laws were changed in their favor.   To modernize his country, the Shah supported commerce, transportation, and industry.

The Shah's search for independence from the Soviet Union and Britain drove him closer to Nazi Germany.  By 1941 Germany was operating an effective spy system in Iran and the Shah would not allow the Allies to use the Trans-Iranian Railway to send war supplies to the Soviet Union.  In 1941 Reza Shah was forced to step down by the Soviets and British in favor of his son Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.

The Shah continued with the modernization process that his father had begun. But the modernization was uneven.  As one of the world's largest oil producers in the 1970s, Iran benefited from he oil boom.  The Shah of Iran was the main promoter of the first large oil price increases in the 1970s, and Iran's gross national product soared between 1970 and 1977.  Money from oil did not benefit everyone.  There was a tremendous gap between the rich and poor in Iran, and the number of poor  was rising.  As the population grew and the movement of people from small villages to large towns added to social unrest, and there was a feeling that the Shah had tried to go too far to fast with his industrial and agricultural reforms. Moreover, the shah was a tyrant who used his secret police and an elaborate network of informers to eliminate any opposition to his regime.

In foreign affairs, Iran's largest supporter was the United States.  The Shah's modernization projects brought in Americans and other Westerners and equipment to build  his modern state.  Iran's geographic location (bordering the Soviet Union and at the headwaters of the Persian Gulf) made Iran strategically important to the United States.  Despite the growing resentment of the people to  the Shah of Iran, the United States remained one of his staunchest allies in order to balance Soviet power in the region.

Social unrest grew in Iran in 1978, and many people were killed in demonstrations against the government.  Shiites known as Mujahhedin opposed the influx of foreigners in Iran.  The Western values of foreigners were held in contempt by the Mujahhedin, and they felt that their own values were under attack.

Leading the religious opposition was Ruhollah Khomeini, an Islamic religious man.  (called an Ayatollah)

  The Ayatollah Khomeini

For many years the Ayatollah had lived in exile in France. Using taped speeches that were smuggled into the country, he built  a large following of people who were discontent with the policies of the Shah.  In January of 1979, the Shah left the country, never to return.  In February of 1979, Khomeini triumphantly returned to Iran, and in April of that year he won a landslide victory in a referendum that made Iran an Islamic Republic. Khomeini eliminated western influence from Iran and implemented Islamic law based on the teachings of the Koran.

The United States was a particular target of Iran because of its close relationship with the Shah.  In November of 1979 when then president, Jimmy Carter, allowed the shah to enter the United States for medical treatment, university students in Tehran who supported the revolution took control of the American embassy in Tehran. The students wanted the Shah (and his money) returned to Iran.  The hostages were held in Iran for 444 days.  This crisis played a major role in the electoral defeat of president Jimmy Carter, and the election of Ronald Reagan.

While Iran was perceived to be weak, Saddam Hussein of Iraq took the opportunity to try to take from Iran some oil rich land along the Shatt-al-Arab.  The resulting war lasted 8 years (1980-1988) with no clear victor.  During that time, the United States patrolled the Persian Gulf to protect Kuwaiti oil tankards

The Iranian Revolution is one of the most significant events in recent times in the Middle East.  This successful rebellion of Islamic fundamentalists has led to an increase in its political and religious influence in the Middle East and North Africa. Many Muslim fundamentalists focus on trying to live up to the ideals of Islam in their daily lives.  Others, however, have resorted to violence.  They seek to overthrow existing governments and impose their ideal of Islamic society on others. Militant fundamentalists are called Islamists.  They reject Western culture and its political  and economic imperialism. They reject and call for the destruction of Israel and consider the United States an enemy because it supports Israel.

The effects of Islamists have been seen in recent years in several Middle East countries, and Iran has been accused of exporting terrorism and supporting Islamists in other countries.

Use the following links to find out more about Iran and the Iranin Revolution:
 

EGYPT:

President Hosni Mubarak has been a target of the Islamists which has been active in Egypt since 1990.  Complaints against Mubarak are four-fold:  (1) Mubarak maintains the separate peace treaty with Israel.  (2) Mubarak keeps a close relationship with the United States.  (3) Although there is a semblance of democracy in Egypt, real opposition is not allowed.  (4) Government corruption is widespread.

The objective of the fundamentalists is to overthrow Mubarak and establish an Islamic government.  A major figure in the Islamic Group is Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian cleric who has preached against the Mubarak government from mosques in the United States.  In 1995, Rahman was convicted (along with nine other Islamists) of conspiring to carry out terrorist bombings and assassinations in the New York area.

In Egypt, an Islamic group launched a campaign of violence beginning in 1992 by setting off bombs in cities along the Nile with the intention of intimidating tourists, foreign residents and Egyptian Copts . Islamist gunmen also took control of a section of Cairo. On November 17, 1997, Islamic militants opened fire on a group of tourists, and then fought a three-hour gun battle with police.  At least 70 people were killed, including 60 foreigners.  The gunmen burst into the courtyard of the Hatshepsut Temple in a Luxor, Egypt and fired at tourists who had just gotten off a bus.

The Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor

This followed a September killing of nine Germans and their Egyptian driver in front of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Muslim extremists have repeatedly targeted tourist spots in recent years in an attempt to hurt the industry and destabilize the government.  Overall about 1,100 people have been killed since the extremists launched their 1992 campaign to oust Mubarak (CNN Interactive)
 

AFGHANISTAN:

Afghanistan has long been disputed by foreign powers anxious to control its strategic position astride the great land route to India via the Khyber Pass.  Afghanistan has been an independent state since 1747, but it has continued to be disturbed by factional rebellions and conflicting British and Russian territorial ambitions.  In 1880, following the second Anglo-Afghan war, new boundaries made Afghanistan a buffer state between British India and Russia.  After the third Anglo-Afghan war, in 1919, Afghanistan gained full independence, and formed a special relationship with communist Russia. Afghanistan has been torn by civil war since the late 1970s when Islamic traditionalists began to wage a guerilla campaign against a Soviet-backed communist regimes.  The Soviet Union withdrew its forces from Afghanistan in 1989 but the war never stopped.  The mjahedeen, the Islamic guerrillas who had defeated the Soviet Army, continued to fight against the then president, Najibullah.  When he was overthrown in 1992, they continued to fight against each other.

By 1994 the Taliban militia had captured Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, and more than two-thirds of Afghanistan from the Mujahhedin warriors.  The Taliban are a reformist force who are devoutly Islamic.  Most had gone to Pakistan as refugees where they studied in the religious schools.  The Taliban were rumored to have been trained by Pakistan's military intelligence.  Pakistan supported a closely allied Islamic state to eliminate Russian influence and to dominate the trade routes to Central Asia (Christian Science Monitor).

The Taliban (meaning  "student" or "searcher for truth") are ultraconservative: Women are not allowed to work and are ordered to veil and the traditional punishments of flogging, stoning, and amputation have been reinstated. The Taliban's interpretation of Islamic law is condemned as radical even by Iran (Christian Science Monitor).

 

After American embassies were bombed in Kenya and Tanzania, the U.S. bombed Afghanistan with stated purpose of destroying terrorist training camps led by Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda organization that was believed to be responsible for the embassy bombings.

After the 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center, the United States demanded that the Taliban government turn over Osama Bin Laden to American authorities.  When the Taliban government refused, the United States began bombing and then invaded Afghanistan.  The Taliban was defeated but Osama binLaden has not been found.  A new interim government has been installed in Afghanistan led by Hamid  Karzai

 

 

Use the following links to find out more about Afghanistan
 

 

SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi Arabia has tried to balance modern and Islamic ways.  It combines modern technological advances with a strict interpretation of Islamic law. However, the Saudi government has come under increasing pressure in the past few years from militant Islamic religiou