Turkey, Sahel, Ethiopia, Spain, & Space

Recap Tayyip Erdogan

president of turkey since 2017

Nationalist and Islamist

Called neo-ottoman for efforts to restore turkeys imperial greatness using religion to build political power (authoritarian)

Neo-Ottomanism

Political ideology advocating for turkey to reclaim influence and expand like ottoman empire.

Erdogan uses this vision to justify regional leadership

Islamism in Turkey

political movement using islam to shape governance and society

Erdogan emraaces islamism reversing longstanding secular (non religious) approach since 1923

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Founder of modern Turkey

Abolished sultanate and turned Turkey secular in 1923

Seljuk empire (1037-1071)

Early Islamic empire in Anatolia that defeated Byzantine empire at Battle of Manzikert

Paved way for Ottoman Empire to rise

Siege of Vienna 1683

Ottawa failure to conquer Central Europe leading to the empires decline

Armenian genocide 1915-1923

Mass killing of 1 million Armenians by ottoman Turks.

Turkey denies it was a genocide

Balkan wars 1912-1913

Ottoman Empire lost most of its European territories

Weakened ottomans

Turkey in WWI

Joined central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary)

After losing WWI, Ottoman Empire collapse and sultanate abolished

NATO and Turkey

After wwii, turkey alligned with the west and joined nato to counter soviet influence

Erdogan foreign policy

Aims to make turkey stand a alone regional power

Promotes Sunni islam and nationalism

Muslim brotherhood

Sunni Islamist movement

Erdogan supports this group, straining turkey relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Arab spring

2010-2011

Pro-democracy protests in Arabia

Erdogan supported Islamist groups (like in Syria)

Syrian civil war

Multi-faction war involving Islamist groups, repressive government, isis, Kurds, and foreign powers like Turkey

Erdogan supported Islamist bashar al-Assad’s government.

2016 Turkish coup attempt

Failed military coup against Erdogan, which he crushed

Giving him more power after

Mavi vatan (blue homeland)

Turkish world view in which it conrtrols the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, and eastern Mediterranean.

Cause tension with Greece

Kurds in turkey

Turkey strongly opposes Kurdish independence.

Many kurds live in southeast Anatolia

Water war

Turkey controls Tigris and Euphrates rivers, affecting Syria, creating regional tensions.

Hagia sofia 2020

In 2020, Erdogan restored hagia sofia to a mosque.

Ataturk made it a museum in 1934, since it became a mosque when ottomans conquered Constantinople.

Sahel meaning

Arabic means shore/coast

Refers to transitional region in africa between Sahara desert and savanna’s

camels impact on the Sahel

Revolutionized trade and movement by making trans-Saharan trade routes viable across harsh deserts

Sahel trade routes

Traded ivory, gold, salves and salt

Enriched local empires and helped spread islam to Africa

Europe’s impact in 1400s

European traders opened new markets for African slaves gained access to African gold (gold coast name given to sahel).

Significantly altered political and economic landscape of the Sahel

Berlin conference (1884-1885)

Meeting where European powers divided Africa into colonies

Lead to lasting conflicts and division

France controlled much of the Sahel

Violet-changing expedition (1898-99)

French military campaign in west Africa that symbolized the violence of colonial expansion and control in the Sahel

Tuareg people

Nomadic group in northern Mali seeking independence through state of azawad

Aligned with Islamist groups like Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda

Terrorist group operating in Sahel region

Supported by Tuareg separatists seeking to impose strict sharia lawS

Operation serval

In 2013, French military intervened in Mali, successfully pushing back jihadist forces from northern Mali

Jihadists

Advocates for jihad (struggle to fight enemies of Islam)

Operation barkhane

French-led military campaign involving G5 Sahel countries to fight Islamist extremism, keep from expanding to Western Africa

Sahel alliance (2017)

Initiative to invest $6.6 billion in economic development to stabilize the Sahel and reduce appeal of extremist groups (Isis).

Fulani poeple “A nation without a state”

Large ethnic group in Sahel once part of Macina Empire (strict Sunni and enslaved non Muslims)

Macina liberation front

Led by Amadou Koufa following extreme form of jihadism called takfiri

Wants to establish Islamist republic in central Mali.

Takfiri ideology

Radical interpretation of islam used by jihadists to justify violence against Muslims who are (unbelievers).

The great green wall

Tree planting operation 5000 miles long.

Sahels poverty

Sahel is poorest region on earth but is rich in natural recources

Uranium, oil, phosphate, iron, copper, and gold. Mines bring jobs and problems

Rare earth metals in Sahel

sahel contains rare earth metals used in tech, but china and US control access and influence.

US and china in the Sahel

The us is trying to counter Chinese influence

China and Russia see the Sahel as a place to challenge the west

East African rift system

Tectonic Region running through Ethiopia that creates mountainous highlands and deep valleys

Water tower of Africa

Etheopia is known as this because of its highland geography and large role as source of major rivers lie the Nile

Amharic

Working language of Ethiopia’s government

Queen Sheba and King Solomon

Story linking Ethiopian royalty to biblical figures

Believed to have brought ark of covenant to Ethiopia

Aksum empire (100-994 CE)

Ancient chritian kingdom in Ethiopia known for trade, architecture, and legends like Queen of Sheba

Emperor Haile Selassie I

Ethiopian ruler who modernized economy

Slavery still practiced in 1920-30s until 1974

Italian occupation (1935) of ehtiopia

Under Mussolini, Italy invaded and temporarily occupied Ethiopia

Ethiopia during Cold War

used by US and USSR

In 1974, a coup detat killed Haile selassie I

The Derg was a Marxist-Leninist military regime that ruled Ethiopia after the coup in 1974. Caused famine in 1980s and killed 1 million

Eritrean independence (1993)

Eritrea was recognized as a seperate country, then went to war with Ethiopia ending in draw

Prime minister Abby Ahmed Of Etheopia

Elected in 2018, freed political prisoners, merged ethnic parties into one national party, and signed peace treaty with Eritrea.

Won Nobel piece prize

Ethiopiawinet (ethiopianess)

Unifying national identity

In conflict with ethnic nationalism within the country.

Ethiopia challenges

Ethiopia is landlocked

No access to sea, depends of foreign trade routes for imparts and exports

Maritime politcs become crucial

Foreign influence in Horn of Africa

China, turkey, Egypt, UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia compete for influence in the Horn of AfricA

Turkey’s open to Africa policy

initiative of Turkey, making it second largest investor in Ethiopia, after china.

Turkey has tense relations with Egypt

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile

Provides cheap electricity, reducing poverty and conflict in Ethiopia.

provides power for Ethiopia, but causes tension with Egypt

Egypt concerned for its own access to Nile (deeply depends on it)

Ethopia environemental challenges

Climate change, drought, deforestation, soil, erosion, refugee crisis

Moors

Muslim armies from North Africa who invaded the Iberian peninsula in 711, under Tariq Ibn Ziyad

Centered in Cordoba

Battle of Tours (732)

Battle where Charles Martel stopped the norhtward advance of moors into Europe.

Reconquista

By 1492, spanish Christian’s slowly retook the Iberian peninsula from Muslim rule under Isabella and Ferdinand.

Spanish Inquisition

Harsh religious persecution following the reconquista

Non-Christian’s (Muslims/jews) were force to convert, leave, or die.

Golden Age of Spain. (1500-1681)

Cultural and imperial high point fueled by wealth from the colonization of the Americas

Money was spent widely on wars in Europe

Spanish Armada 1588

Spains failed naval invasion of England, making the beginning of the Spanish Empires decline

The Repeaers War

Catalan uprising in 1640

Basque uprising 1630s

Along with Catalan reapers war, showed longstanding regional resistance to central spanish control

Internal dissension

Gibraltar

Spain lost control of this territory in 1704, overtaken by Britain.

Peninsular war (1807-1814)

Spanish resistance against napoleon’s french occupation

Marked by the brutal guerilla warfare

Loss of Latin America

Spanish-American War (1898)

Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin led independence movements that freed most Latin Amera from Spain.

Spain lost major colonies: cuba, Puerto Rico, and Philippines to US.

Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Conflict between republicans (communist left) and Franco Nationalists (fascist right)

Over 500,000 died

Franco’s side was supported by Hitler and Mussolini. Republican side supported by Joseph Stalin

In 1931, republicans win

Barcelona FC vs Real Madrid

Symbolic rivalry representing ongoing conflict between Catalan identity (Barcelona) and Spanish central government (Madrid)

Francisco Franco (el Caudillo)

Fascist dictator of Spain (1939-75)

Crushed regional identities and ruled with authoritarian control.

Cold War and Spain

USA pulls Spain towards west

The Pact of Madrid gave US military bases in Spain

Spain gained western economic aid in 1960s

King Juan Carlos I

Succeeds Franco in 1975

Transitions Spain into modern democracy and constitutional monarchy

Spain foreign affairs

Spain joins nato in 1982

EU in 1986

Adopts euro in 1999.

Basque secession movement and ETA

Basque secession by ETA basque seperatist terrorist group responisle for hundreds of deaths

ETA wanted basque independence.

Catalan independence movement

Catalonia pushed for independence in 2014 and 2017,

Spain refused to allow wealthiest region to secede

2020 Artemis Accords

International agreement led by the US, governing exploration of the moon and extraction of its recourses

Not signed by China or Russia

US congress bans nasa from working with china.

Werner von Braun

German rocket scientist

Symbol of military dimension in the space race

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Russian scientist known as the father of space travel

Developed theoretical foundations of rocketry over 100 years ago

Cold War Space Race: Russia

Sputnik (1957): first satellite launched into space by the USSR beginning space race

Yuri Gagarin (1961): first human to travel in space

Cold War Space Race: USA

Neil Armstrong (1969): first human to walk on the moon July 20, 2969 during Apollo 11 mission

Earthrise (1968): photo of earth taken from moon by Apollo 8 astronauts.

ISS International space station

Project launched in 1998

Symbol of post-cold war space cooperation between nations

Russia announced it would not be part anymore in 2023

Private companies in space business

Space X: Elon musk

Blue origin: Jeff Bezos

Commercialize space.

Outer space treaty (1967)

International agreement governing peaceful use of space

Now outdated and insufficient for modern astropolitical realities

Everett Dolman

Astropolitical theorist who argued that control of low earth orbit determines control of earth and humanity’s future

Splits space into 4 parts: terra (earth), earth space, lunar space, and solar space.

Strategic defense initiatives (Star Wars)

Proposed by Ronald Reagan in 1980s

Use space-based systems to defend against missile attacks (hypersonic missles)

US creates Space Force in 2019, integrating space in military plans (so do Russia and china)

Russian doll satellites

Russian satellites that launch smaller satellites from within

Military strategy

Space fence

US surveillance system used to track space debris and protect vital satellites from collisions or attacks

Satellite killers

Weapons designed to disable/destroy other nations’ satellites

Meteorite mining

Future potential of extracting rare-earth metals from meteorites

Economic interest