Download Middle Eastern Countries - Valdosta State University

The
Middle East
Middle East
Overview
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Background
Culture and Religion
Economic and Social Issues
Politics and Government
Middle Eastern Countries
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Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
• Morocco
• Palestine
• Oman
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• Syria
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• Yemen
Middle Eastern People
Middle 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 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 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 mudbrick house surrounded by three generations of
relatives
Middle 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 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 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
Comparison of Religions
Christianity
Judaism
Islam
Prayer on
an
individual
basis
Three sets
of prayer
daily
Jesus is the
savior
Based on divine
scriptures, old &
new testaments of
Bible
The Messiah Based on divine
will come
scriptures, the
Tanakh
Prayers
Jesus was
are five
prophet, but
times daily Muhammad
was greatest
prophet
Based on divine
scriptures, the
Koran
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 Issues
• Dangerous currents, among both Muslims
and Westerners, threaten to turn academic
chatter about a clash of civilizations into a
reality
• “Umma-itis” -- The growing tendency for younger
Muslims to believe they are part of an embattled
supranational community — the umma
Social Issues
• Causes Muslims to view all
western actions as attempts to
oppress Islam
• Causes westerner’s to
view all Muslims as
jihadists
Social 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 average 15%, with low female
participation in the labor force (26%)
• Close to 30% of the population lives
on less than two dollars per day
• Rapid demographic growth only
exacerbates the numbers of
unemployed and disenchanted youth
• Youth illiteracy averages 13% for
boys and 24% for girls in the region,
although it can be as high as 56% in
Yemen.
Middle Eastern
Economics
List by the
International
Monetary Fund,
2004 adjusted in
PPP
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
Middle Eastern
Economics
List by the
International
Monetary Fund,
2004 adjusted in
PPP
Rank
58
62
64
67
77
82
100
103
104
111
Country
Iraq
Tunisia
Syria
Libya
Kuwait
Oman
Jordan
Lebanon
Qatar
Yemen
GDP
89,800
77,371
67,606
61,042
42,552
37,222
24,697
22,146
21,877
18,328
Economics
World Proven Oil Reserves
(in billion barrels)
North America
Central, South America
W. Europe
E. Europe, former USSR
Middle East
Africa
Asia
45
99
17
82
670
77
39
Source: U.S.
Department
of Energy
(from World
Oil) March 8,
2004
Where Does the U.S. Get Its Oil?
(Top Seven, Thousand Barrels/Day, April 2005)
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Canada
Mexico
Saudi Arabia
Venezuela
Nigeria
Iraq
Russia
1,676
1,541
1,449
1,391
1,130
542
464
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
Scarcity of Water
• 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
Iran
Iraq
Kuwait
Syria
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Israel
Yemen
Jordan
Oman
Libya
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
Politics and Government
• 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
What Israelis and Palestinians want
• 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
Middle East
Summary
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Background
Culture and Religion
Economic and Social Issues
Politics and Government
Questions