Chapter 7 – North Africa / The Middle East

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Chapter 7 North Africa / The Middle East

• A Naming the Realm
• B The Oil CurseC Regions of the Realm

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Overview

• Physical geography
• Aridity a prevalent character.
• Oil the worlds most valuable resource.
• Cultural geography
• Culture Hearths (cradle of civilization
  Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia).
• World Religions.
• Religious conflicts.
• Population geography
• Discontinuous clusters around infrequent water
  sources.
• Fast growth rate (young population).

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Overview

• Political geography
• Fragmented due to colonial experience.
• Oil and Non-oil states (haves versus
  have-nots).
• Resource wars
• Conflicts over water
• Regional / national issue.
• Conflicts over oil
• Global issue.

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Naming the Realm
A

• Popular Labels
• Dry World.
• Arab World.
• Islamic World.
• Middle East.
• Dry world
• Dry/arid climate prevails throughout the realm.
• Along the northern dry band.
• 10 to 30 degrees north.
• Much of the land is unsuitable for cultivation
• Pastoralism, particularly nomadic pastoralism.
• Exceptions
• Peripheral regions of Turkey.
• Northwestern section of Iran.
• Oases.
• Several great river valleys.

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North Africa / Middle East, Mean Annual
Precipitation (mm)
Sahara
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Naming the Realm

• Water
• Critical for life, food production, and
  industrial processes.
• Increasing stress on water resources
• Water diversion (Nile, Jordan, Tigris /
  Euphrates).
• Aquifers (several fossil aquifers).
• Population distribution
• Around water resources
• The Nile.
• Mediterranean Sea.
• Euphrates and Tigris Basin (Hydraulic
  Civilization).
• Lower mountain slopes of Iran, south of the
  Caspian Sea.

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Grain Production in Saudi Arabia, in M tons
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North Africa / Middle East, Population Density
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Naming the Realm

• Arab Realm
• Relates to language as a cultural feature of this
  realm.
• Arabic is the dominant language in 16 States of
  the realm.
• In Non-Arab States, indigenous languages
  dominate
• Turkey Turkish.
• Iran Farsi.
• Israel Hebrew.
• Niger French.

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Turks
Azerbijianis
Persians
Kurds
Arabs
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Naming the Realm

• Islamic Realm
• Monotheistic religion
• Meaning submission to God.
• Emerged in Saudi Arabia in the 7th century
  (Mecca).
• A Muslim is a believer.
• Word of Allah contained in the Koran
  (recitation).
• Five Pillars of Islam
• One God (Allah) and Mohammad as His prophet.
• Prayer five times a day.
• A month of daytime fasting (Ramadan).
• Giving of alms.
• One pilgrimage to Mecca (The Hajj).

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Naming the Realm

• Division of the faith
• Two branches, Orthodox Sunnis (85) and Shiites
  (15).
• Sunni
• Orthodox branch of Islam.
• Succession from Muhammad did not depend on
  hereditary decent from his son-in-law Ali.
• Shiite
• Muhammads genuine successors descended from his
  son-in-law Ali.
• Diffusion of Islam
• Diffusion theory expansion relocation.
• Conquest.
• Voluntary conversion.
• Migration.
• Proselytization.

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The Oil Curse

• The Resource Curse
• Prone to authoritarian rule, slow growth,
  corruption and conflict.
• Resources used to finance armies, corruption and
  patronage.
• Oil is a good example.
• Modernization
• High incomes.
• Industrialization.
• Regional and national disparities (oil wealth
  distribution).
• Migration
• Brought populations from outside the realm.
• Foreign incursions

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OPEC Countries
Iraq
Iran
Libya
Algeria
Saudi Arabia
Venezuela
Nigeria
Indonesia
Kuwait Qatar United Arab Emirates
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Major Crude Oil Reserves, 2003
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Global Oil Reserves, 2003
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Shipping Lanes and Strategic Passages in the
Middle East
Oil transited (millions of barrels per day)
1.0
Black Sea
2002-2003 figures
3.0
Bosporus
Turkey
Mediterranean
Iran
Iraq
3.8
Hormuz
Suez
PG
15.5
Egypt
Saudi Arabia
Oman
Red Sea
Sudan
Yemen
3.3
Indian Ocean
Bab el-Mandab
PG Persian Gulf
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Oil Exports for the Persian Gulf by Outlet, 2002
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World Annual Oil Production (1900-2004) and
Estimated Resources (1900-2100)
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Net Oil Imports from the Persian Gulf Region as
of Total Net Oil Imports, 1982-2002
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Regions of the Realm
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Regions of the Realm

• Egypt
• Continuous civilization gt 5,000 years.
• 95 of Egypt's 74.1 million people live within 12
  miles (20 kms) of the Nile.
• Basin irrigation.
• Aswan high dam (1968)
• Increased agricultural land by 50.
• Provides 40 of electricity.

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Regions of the Realm

• The Maghreb
• Dominated by the Atlas mountains.
• Morocco - last of the north African kingdoms.
• Algeria - a secular republic with
  religious-political problems.
• Tunisia - smallest and most westernized of the
  Maghreb.
• Libya - oil rich desert state with a coastal
  orientation.
• Atlas Mountains
• Fertile Coastline.
• Rain Shadow Effect.
• French Colonialism.
• Oil-Rich Libya.

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Regions of the Realm

• African Transition Zone
• Sahel - Arabic word for border or margin.
• A zone where people are ethnically African but
  culturally Arab.
• Desertification - principal environmental
  problem.
• Cultural and political instability.
• North versus south - Muslim versus non-Muslim
  patterns.
• Cultural Conflict Muslim Christian.
• Nomadism.

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Regions of the Realm

• Middle of the Islamic realm
• Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon.
• Center of conflict between Christians, Jews, and
  Muslims.
• Sunni - Shiite conflict (within Iraq and
  throughout the region).
• A future Kurdistan?
• The Gulf Wars (1990 2003)
• First Gulf War (1990-91)
• Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq (1990).
• Kuwait not respecting OPEC quotas.
• Reclaim it as a former Iraqi province (oil
  reserves).
• Plan to invade neighboring countries (Saudi
  Arabia) to control Persian Gulf oil production?
• American intervention to push Iraq out of Kuwait.
• Economic sanctions (1991-2003).

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Regions of the Realm

• Second Gulf War (2003)
• In 2000, Saddam Hussein decided to sell oil in
  Euros.
• Challenged the dollar supremacy (petrodollars).
• United States invaded in 2003.
• Rationale of war against terrorism and weapons
  of mass destruction turned out to be false (made
  up?).
• United States strategically located in the middle
  of the worlds largest oil reserves.
• Third Gulf War?
• In 2006, Iran will sell its oil in Euros.

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Israel

• Zionism
• Political movement.
• Founded by Theodor Herzl (1897).
• Objective secure a homeland for the Jewish
  people.
• Balfour declaration (1917)
• By Great Britain, the occupant of Palestine.
• Supports the concept of a Jewish homeland.
• Jewish immigration to Palestine
• 1922 British mandate to govern Palestine.
• Rising conflict between Arabs and Jews.

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Israel

• UN partition plan for Palestine
• Division into Jewish and Arab areas.
• British evacuate Palestine in 1948.
• Proclamation of Israel as a state (14 may 1948).
• 1948 Arab invasion (war of independence)
• Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Syrian forces.
• Israel seizes more land than prescribed under UN
  mandate.
• Armistice (1949)
• 900,000 Palestinian refugees.

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Israel

• Arab Israeli conflicts
• 1956 Suez war.
• 1967 Six-Day War Israel gained control of
• Gaza strip.
• Sinai peninsula bordering the Suez Canal
  (closure of the canal until 1975).
• West bank of the river Jordan
• East sector of Jerusalem
• Golan heights in Syria
• 1973 Yom Kippur war
• Surprise attack by Egypt and Syria (backed by
  other Muslim countries).
• Small territorial gains by Egypt the full
  control of the Suez Canal.

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Israel

• Issues
• The Golan Heights- return to Syria?
• The security zone- return to Lebanon?
• Jerusalem- holy city for who?
• The West Bank- Palestinian homeland?
• The Palestinians- refugee problem.
• Arab/Islamic disruption- impact of extremist
  groups.
• Water security (Jordan).

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Israel

• Jerusalem
• Holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims
• Judaism
• Capital of Jewish kingdom 3000 years BC.
• Faith took form in the first temple destroyed by
  Babylonians in 586 BC.
• Rebuilt as second temple destroyed by Romans in
  70 AD.
• Islam
• Prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven 7th century
  AD.
• Christianity
• Based on the teachings of Jesus Christ
  crucifixion ascent.

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Israel

• Conflict over Jerusalem
• 1947- united nations did not include Jerusalem
  as part of Israel.
• 1947- Palestine partition resolution designated
  Jerusalem as an open city.
• 1948-49- war and transfer of Israeli government
  from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
• 1967- war and aftermath changed boundaries
  again.
• 1980- Jerusalem reaffirmed as the capital of
  Israel.

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Regions of the Realm

• Arabian Peninsula
• Oil-rich countries of the Gulf area
• 5 small Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates,
  Qatar, and Bahrain.
• 1 larger Saudi Arabia 25.4 million people with
  the worlds greatest oil reserves.
• Capital-rich but labor-poor (rent economies).
• Before recent oil booms (1970)
• Underdeveloped both economically and from a human
  resource perspective (education) and lacked
  infrastructure.
• After 1970
• Oil revenues.
• Begun to invest heavily in their own development.
• Creation of several jobs in government, services
  and industry.
• High profile jobs occupied by nationals
  (qualified or not).
• Lack a skilled labor force.

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Regions of the Realm

• Population and labor issues in the Gulf States
• A significant share of the labor is foreign
• Small populations.
• Low labor force participation of women.
• Heavy reliance upon foreign labor.
• Solution to labor shortages
• Importing labor from other countries, including
  Egypt, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Iran,
  and Lebanon.
• From USA, European states, and Japan.
• Many stateless Palestinians also have found jobs
  there.
• Foreigners outnumber nationals, in some cases by
  as much as 4 to 1.

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Regions of the Realm

• The national population
• Little incentive for nationals to get
  qualifications.
• Supported by oil revenues from the state and have
  little need to work.
• Diminishes incentive to upgrade skill levels
  which might necessitate prolonging the dependence
  on foreign labor.
• Political instability is a potential threat.
• Many disenfranchised persons with no rights in
  the host country.
• The fall of oil prices in the 1990s
• Created unemployment problems among the
  nationals.
• Triggered Islamic nationalistic movements.

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Share of Foreign Population and Workers in
Persian Gulf States, 2002
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Regions of the Realm

• The Empire States
• Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan.
• Imperial heritage.
• Arab ethnicity gives way but Islamic culture
  continues.
• High mountains and plateaus vs. rocky and sandy
  desert.

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Turkey

• Turkish ottoman empire
• Nomadic peoples from the steppes and forests of
  Siberia.
• 6th century- established an empire stretching
  from Mongolia to the black sea.
• Spread the Turkic language far and wide.
• Decline in the early 20th century.
• Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk)
• Father of modern turkey.
• Moved capital from Constantinople to Ankara.
• Westernized turkey and broke free from the Arab
  world.

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Turkey

• Westernization
• Islam lost official status.
• Roman alphabet replaced Arabic.
• Islamic law replaced by western code.
• Monogamy became law.
• Women gained rights.
• Turkey separated from Arab world.
• Hope of joining the European Union.
• Kurdish population
• 14 million- 1/5 of turkeys 70 million.
• Southeast turkey (Iraq) - 3,000 BC
  recently-Istanbul.
• Islamic fundamentalism.