Politics of the Middle East Exam Study Guide (PLSC 35203)

What was the name of the secret agreement in 1916 that outlined the division of Ottoman territories during World War I?

Sykes-Picot Agreement

Who were the two primary parties involved in the above agreement?

France & Britain

What is the Balfour Declaration?

A declaration for the formation of a Jewish state, home, in Palestine that never mentioned the Palestinians living on the land

Which article of the Covenant of the League of Nations outlined the mandate system for territories formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire?

Article 22

What were the Class A Mandates? Why Class A?

Territory with the most promise of becoming self-governing states, they were the states recognized as being on the path to independence but still thought to have needed help governing the state

According to that article, why were the "communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire" placed under a mandate?

The people who lived there were deemed 'unfit' to lead the people of the states placed under mandate

Who is Sharif Husayn? What did the British promise him? Why?

Sharif Husayn was the amir

the British High Commissioner of Egypt Sir Henry McMahon agreed to give Husayn an independent independent Arab states

They needed him to run things for him to have the support of a leader in the Middle East

What made the Palestinian Mandate different than other Class A Mandates?

The League of Nations did NOT recognize Palestine as a independent state

In the context of 1948 Palestine, what are the village files and Plan D?

The village files were a compilation of military intelligence on every Arab town in the Mandated Palestine

Plan D was the plan used by the Israeli military to drive out the indigenous Palestinians and ethnically cleanse Palestine

Who fought in the Arab Israeli War and how did it change Palestine?

Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese, Transjordan,and Iraqi forces

The Arab-League was severely outnumbered which led to deals being signed by each country which caused Palestine to be left in the hands of Israel

What is the Law of Return?

Granted any Jew in the world the right to claim citizenship in Israel

Briefly explain why Gamel Abdel-Nasser promoted pan-Arabism.

He wanted to organize a unified front to secure self-determination for each nation, with Palestine as the central site of contestation

Who were Nasser's primary contenders as leaders of the Arab world?

Egypt and Syria

Describe Saudi Arabia's relationship to Nasserism.

They joined because the leader, Assad, saw it as his personal mission to oppose Israel

Who fought in the Six Day War and how did it change Palestine?

Israel vs. Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon

Israel gained the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights

Who fought in the October War and how did it change Palestine?

Egypt & Syria vs. Israel

Arab forces going after stolen land but ultimately did not get them back from Israel

Why did OPEC embargo oil in 1973?

OPEC set the oil embargo against the US in response to its support of Israel

Per Timothy Mitchell, how did Western powers re-assert control over international oil markets after 1973?

The US used Keynesian tactics of myth of scarcity to control the price of oil, selling oil futures when they wanted higher prices and selling treasury bonds when they wanted to curb the prices of oil

Why was Israel's 1977 election significant?

Menachem Begin won, known Zionist, and when he and Sadat were invited to the White House by President Carter He came out with the West Bank and Gaza and Sadat with the Sinai Peninsula

Why didn't Iran participate in the four Arab Israeli Wars?

Iran allied with Israel as a way of creating an alliance against the Soviet Union

What is the SAVAK?

a hybrid of the CIA and the FBI, the Bureau for Intelligence and Security of the State, known for its use of torture

Mahmood Mamdani is critical of arguments that explain Islamic resistance with sole reference to Islamic civilization. Why?

He believes this kind of thinking ignores the real political and historical reasons behind these actions including the struggles against colonialism, the US and Western involvement and the war struggles

How and why did the balance of power in the Middle East change after 1979?

Due to rising tourism in the Middle East led to food being made to feed animals instead of humans living there, this led to the government importing food at chea[ prices to feed the people which caused the decentralization of Egypt at the same time the Muslim Brotherhood came into power. This was soon followed by a coup d'etat which put the military in power

Why did the United States give financial and military support to the Mujahedeen?

To be on the opposite side of the USSR, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"

They also got involved to prove that their war in Vietnam was a necessary step since the war between the Mujahedeen and the USSR was similar

What was the First Intifada?

On December 9, 1987, the first Intifada began when an IDF car mowed down Palestinians. In response, protests broke out and the IDF fired on peaceful unarmed crowds which included children

What is the Islamic Resistance Movement? When and why did it form?

Founded in 1987 in response to the First Intifada

When and why did Hezbollah first form

Hezbollah formed in 1985 in response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon