“A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the

Modern Middle East”, by David Fromkin

Kyle Janes

Social Indifference • Britain and the Middle East are

completely different societies. Everything from Religion right down to their food is different. So when the British attempted to integrate western ideas into the Ottoman Empire, the people did not take well to it at all. But this is not a surprising reaction. The Middle Easterners didn’t want to be changed just as other societies have resisted change throughout history. The British would have been better off leaving the culture of the Ottoman Empire alone.

Resisting British Rule• In addition to social

change, the British were attempting to basically take the entire region over. Not only did this prove difficult because of the vastness of the area, but also because distrust of the British leaders. They made promises to the people that they could back up. Also, countless miscommunications between them furthered the gap between the two.

Lies and Miscommunication• The British Scattered their

influences throughout the Ottoman Empire. This cause not only miscommunication with the people but within themselves . In all this confusion the people of the region were left confused and lied too. This caused it to be very unorganized, which raised tensions further because nobody had cause to trust the British or any other foreign rulers for that matter. The constant flip flopping of policies made the people unsure about western ideals and if the British really believed what they were preaching.

The Zionist Cause• Tensions between the

West and Middle East had already been brewing for thousands of years. But when countries such as Britain and the U.S. adopted Zionist policies, any chance of peace between the West and East were gone. Not that it was the wrong thing to do, but It has caused a number of conflicts that are still going on to this day.