TheTheMiddle EastMiddle East

Middle EastOverview

Middle EastOverview

• Background• Culture and Religion• Economic and Social Issues • Politics and Government

Middle Eastern CountriesMiddle Eastern Countries• AlgeriaAlgeria• BahrainBahrain• EgyptEgypt• IranIran• IraqIraq• IsraelIsrael• Jordan Jordan • KuwaitKuwait• LebanonLebanon• LibyaLibya

• MoroccoMorocco• PalestinePalestine• OmanOman• QatarQatar• Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia• SyriaSyria• TunisiaTunisia• TurkeyTurkey• United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates• YemenYemen

Middle Eastern PeopleMiddle Eastern People

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture

• Major ethnic groups in the Middle East today include Arabs, Iranians (also known as Persians), Turks, Jews, Kurds, Berbers, Armenians, Nubians, Azeris, and Greeks

• Most of the countries in this region are multiethnic

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture

• The family is an important part of culture in the Middle East

• In traditional Arab societies the family unit is an extended family -- cousins, grandparents, second cousins, cousins-in-law, nieces, nephews, and more -- all living together

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture

• Difference between life in the village and life in the city

• Two men in Egypt can share the same language (Arabic), religion (Islam), and nationality (Egyptian)• One may live in an air-conditioned apartment • The other may live in a naturally cool mud-brick house surrounded by three generations of relatives

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture

• Technology is beginning to change all of this• Today remote villagers are gaining access to all of the information and technology formerly available only in the city

• Satellite dishes• Cell phones

Middle Eastern CultureMiddle Eastern Culture• Many languages, three families

• Semitic (including Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic)• Indo-European (Kurdish, Persian, Armenian) • Turkic (Turkish, Azeri)

• The multiplicity of languages spoken in the Middle East reflects its ethnic diversity

• Most of these languages come from three major language "families"

Primary Middle Eastern ReligionsPrimary Middle Eastern Religions

• Christianity• Judaism• Islam

• All have the following in common:• One God, in fact, THE SAME GOD!• Descendents of Abraham• Accept some concept of judgment day• Existence of free will and human sin• Necessity of repentance

Christianity Prayer on an individual basis

Jesus is the savior

Based on divine scriptures, old & new testaments of Bible

Judaism Three sets of prayer daily

The Messiah will come

Based on divine scriptures, the Tanakh

Islam Prayers are five times daily

Jesus was prophet, but Muhammad was greatest prophet

Based on divine scriptures, the Koran

Comparison of ReligionsComparison of Religions

Social Issues• The sense of shared identity and fate among Muslims is coupled with a Muslim perception that the non-Muslim world is united against Islam

Social IssuesSocial Issues

• “Umma-itis” -- The growing tendency for younger Muslims to believe they are part of an embattled supranational community — the umma

• Dangerous currents, among both Muslims and Westerners, threaten to turn academic chatter about a clash of civilizations into a reality

Social IssuesSocial Issues

• Causes westerner’s to view all Muslims as jihadists

• Causes Muslims to view all western actions as attempts to oppress Islam

Social IssuesSocial Issues

• Muslims are now increasingly inclined to stress their religious identity

• This globalization of Muslim identity is helping to fuel a revival of a shared interest

• The extent to which this sense of common victimization gains traction, the more likely it is to feed the perception that there are, in reality, two civilizations in conflict

Economics• Official unemployment rates in the region Official unemployment rates in the region

average 15%, with low female participation in the average 15%, with low female participation in the labor force (26%) labor force (26%)

• Close to 30% of the population lives on less than Close to 30% of the population lives on less than two dollars per day two dollars per day

• Rapid demographic growth only exacerbates the Rapid demographic growth only exacerbates the numbers of unemployed and disenchanted youthnumbers of unemployed and disenchanted youth

• Youth illiteracy averages 13% for boys and 24% Youth illiteracy averages 13% for boys and 24% for girls in the region, although it can be as high for girls in the region, although it can be as high as 56% in Yemen.as 56% in Yemen.

Middle Eastern Middle Eastern EconomicsEconomics

Rank Country GDP

— World 55,654,621

— Europe 11,723,816

1 United States 11,605,185

18 Turkey 529,629

19 Iran 518,789

27 Saudi Arabia 316,407

31 Egypt 282,333

38 Algeria 217,224

51 Israel 145,152

53 Morocco 129,273

56 UAE 103,552

List by the International Monetary Fund, 2004 adjusted in PPP

Middle Eastern Middle Eastern EconomicsEconomics

Rank Country GDP

58 Iraq 89,800

62 Tunisia 77,371

64 Syria 67,606

67 Libya 61,042

77 Kuwait 42,552

82 Oman 37,222

100 Jordan 24,697

103 Lebanon 22,146

104 Qatar 21,877

111 Yemen 18,328

123 Bahrain 14,613

List by the International Monetary Fund, 2004 adjusted in PPP

Economics

World Proven Oil Reserves World Proven Oil Reserves (in billion barrels)(in billion barrels)

North AmericaNorth America 4545Central, South AmericaCentral, South America 9999W. EuropeW. Europe 1717E. Europe, former USSRE. Europe, former USSR 8282Middle EastMiddle East 670670AfricaAfrica 7777AsiaAsia 3939

Source: U.S. Source: U.S. Department Department of Energy of Energy (from (from World World Oil) Oil) March 8, March 8, 20042004

• CanadaCanada 1,676 1,676• MexicoMexico 1,541 1,541• Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 1,449 1,449• VenezuelaVenezuela 1,391 1,391• NigeriaNigeria 1,130 1,130• IraqIraq 542 542• RussiaRussia 464 464

Where Does the U.S. Get Its Oil?(Top Seven, Thousand Barrels/Day, April 2005)

Scarcity of Water

• Ten countries in the region are consuming more than 100% of their renewable water supplies • Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Republic, Yemen, and Palestine (the West Bank and Gaza)• The degradation of water quality is also a major issue

• By 2025, the following countries are expected to face “absolute water scarcity” (not enough water to grow 1990 levels of food, less than 500 Cubic Meters/Capita):Egypt IranIraq KuwaitSyria TunisiaSaudi Arabia UAEIsrael YemenJordan OmanLibya

Scarcity of Water

2025 Absolute Water Scarcity

Politics and Government• As with everything else in this region, religion plays a role in national and international politics as well

• Turkey has a Muslim majority, but is officially a secular nation • Other countries in the region identify themselves with a specific religion, mostly Islam

• The poor relations between Israel and most of its Arab neighbors are sometimes described in terms of a perpetual religious conflict between Jews and Muslims—this is not necessarily true

• Control over important historical sites of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is a factor in the Arab-Israeli disagreements• Many of the details that stall negotiations have more to do with control of land and access to water resources than religion • Furthermore, many Palestinians who demand restitution for their property are Christian, not Muslim• Egypt's historic treaty with Israel provides a model for how Muslim and Jewish neighbors can live peaceably

Politics and Government

• Land- Both sides lay claim to land that has changed hands many times since biblical times• Property- Both sides have owned property that is now under the other’s control• Water- As we pointed out earlier, water is always a scarcity in the region. Control of the water is ultimately control over life• Both sides also want a Nation to call their own, independent of the other, yet neither is willing to give up enough to make this happen

What Israelis and Palestinians want

Middle East Middle East SummarySummary

Middle East Middle East SummarySummary

• Background• Culture and Religion• Economic and Social Issues • Politics and Government

Questions