Teaching the Middle East

Charles Kurzman

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

World View

February 3, 2017

Pop Quiz!

1. When was the term “Middle East” coined, and in which language?

a) 7th century, Arabic b) 16th century, Turkish c) Late 19th century, English d) Mid-20th century, Arabic

Pop Quiz!

1. When was the term “Middle East” coined, and in which language?

a) 7th century, Arabic b) 16th century, Turkish c) Late 19th century, English d) Mid-20th century, Arabic

Harper’s Bazaar, March 10, 1883, page 154.

Pop Quiz!2. Which map(s) represent the Middle East? (Circle all that apply)

a) b) c) d)

Pop Quiz!2. Which map(s) represent the Middle East? (Circle all that apply)

a) b) c) d)

Alfred Thayer Mahan, “The Persian

Gulf and International Relations,”

National Review, September 1902, pages

27-45.

Pop Quiz!2. Which map(s) represent the Middle East? (Circle all that apply)

a) b) c) d)

Middle East Studies Association,

http://mesana.org/about/index.html

Pop Quiz!3. What are the three most widely spoken native languages in the Middle East?

________________________ ________________________ ________________________

Pop Quiz!3. What are the three most widely spoken native languages in the Middle East?

________________________ ________________________ ________________________

Gulf/2000, Columbia University,

http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/maps

Pop Quiz!

4. What percentage of the world’s Muslim population lives in the Middle East?

a) 10.4% b) 20.1% c) 48.3% d) 61.9%

5. What country has the largest percentage of the world’s Muslim population?

a) Nigeria b) Egypt c) Iran d) Indonesia

Pop Quiz!

Pew Research Center,

Mapping the Global

Muslim Population

(2009)

Pop Quiz!6. Which of the following statements is/are true about Sunni and Shia Muslims? (Check all that apply)

a) Approximately half of the world’s Muslims are Sunni and half are Shia. b) Sunni and Shia Muslims follow five different pillars of Islam. c) Sunni and Shia Muslims disagree about the succession of leadership after the Prophet Muhammad. d) Sunni and Shia have been unable to live in mixed communities due to recurrent conflict.

Pop Quiz!6. Which of the following statements is/are true about Sunni and Shia Muslims? (Check all that apply)

a) Approximately half of the world’s Muslims are Sunni and half are Shia. b) Sunni and Shia Muslims follow five different pillars of Islam. c) Sunni and Shia Muslims disagree about the succession of leadership after the Prophet Muhammad. d) Sunni and Shia have been unable to live in mixed communities due to recurrent conflict.

Gulf/2000, Columbia University,

http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/maps

Pop Quiz!7. When did Israeli-Palestinian conflict begin?

a) Biblical times b) The Crusades c) After World War I d) After World War II

Pop Quiz!7. When did Israeli-Palestinian conflict begin?

a) Biblical times b) The Crusades c) After World War I d) After World War II

Political Zionism founded c. 1896; Palestinian nationalism founded c. 1917

Duplicate nationalisms:Yesha: http://myisrael.org.il/maps; Hamas: http://www.hamasinfo.net

Pop Quiz!8. In which of the following Middle Eastern countries has the United States conducted armed interventions? (Circle all that apply)

a) Algeria b) Iraq c) Libya d) Somalia e) Syria f) Yemen

Pop Quiz!8. In which of the following Middle Eastern countries has the United States conducted armed interventions? (Circle all that apply)

a) Algeria b) Iraq c) Libya d) Somalia e) Syria f) Yemen

Pop Quiz!8. In which of the following Middle Eastern countries has the United States conducted armed interventions? (Circle all that apply)

a) Algeria b) Iraq c) Libya d) Somalia e) Syria f) Yemen

David Vine, “Where in the World Is the U.S. Military?” Politico, July/August 2015,

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/us-military-bases-around-the-world-119321

Pop Quiz!9. Which of the following Middle Eastern countries have sizeable oil reserves? (Circle all that apply)

a) United Arab Emirates b) Syria c) Saudi Arabia d) Jordan

Pop Quiz!9. Which of the following Middle Eastern countries have sizeable oil reserves? (Circle all that apply)

a) United Arab Emirates b) Syria c) Saudi Arabia d) Jordan

http://www.eia.gov/energy_in_brief/article/world_oil_market.cfm

Pop Quiz!10. Between September 12, 2001, and the end of 2016, how many people in the United States were killed by Islamist terror attacks? (Out of the total of 240,000 Americans who were murdered during this period.)

a) 123 b) 456 c) 789 d) 1,234

Pop Quiz!

123Source: Charles Kurzman, “Muslim-American

Involvement with Violent Extremism, 2016,” January

2017, http://kurzman.unc.edu

Total number of murders in this period:

more than 240,000Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in the

United States, 2015, Table 1, “Crime in the United

States by Volume and Rate per 100,000 Inhabitants,

1996‐2015.”

10. Between September 12, 2001, and the end of 2016, how many people in the United States were killed by Islamist terror attacks? (Out of the total of 240,000 Americans who were murdered during this period.)

a) 123 b) 456 c) 789 d) 1,234

Pop Quiz!11. How many of these were killed by extremists from the seven countries whose U.S. visas were recently blocked?

a) 0 b) More than 0

Pop Quiz!11. How many of these were killed by extremists from the seven countries whose U.S. visas were recently blocked?

a) 0 b) More than 0

0Source: Charles Kurzman, “Muslim-American

Involvement with Violent Extremism, 2016,” January

2017, http://kurzman.unc.edu.

Civil Wars Around the WorldSource: UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset,

http://ucdp.uu.se/#/year/2015

Meta-rules

1. Don’t avoid touchy issues.2. Seek and evaluate systematic evidence.

3. Disagreement is okay…4. So long as it is evidence-based.

5. Most of the “ancient” aspects of the Middle Eastare modern inventions.

http://ncmideast.org