Download Nation Building in the Middle East: Three Case

Nation Building in the
Middle East: Three Case
Studies
22-3
By:DW
An Iranian religious leader, Ruhollah
Khomeini, angrily denounced the
government.
 Khomeini’s fiery speeches helped spur an
Iranian revolution in 1979.
 In this section, we will see how three
nations pursued modernization.

Setting the Scene
In the 1920s, Kemal Ataturk began his
campaign to transform Turkey into a
modern secular state.
 At the beginning of the Cold War, the
Soviets tried to expand southward into
Turkey to gain control of the Bosporus.
 Turkey joined NATO and remained an
important western ally in the
Mediterranean.

Turkey Moves Toward Democracy
Turkey struggled to build a stable
government.
 At first, the military seized power in times
of unrest.
 Turkey transformed its economy by
expanding agriculture through increased
irrigation and by promoting industry.
 It exported crops and manufactured
goods to Europe and hoped to join the
European Union.

Government and Economy
Turkey tried to stamp out the culture of its
Kurdish minority.
 Kurds were forbidden to speak, publish, or
broadcast in their own language.
 Turkey also waged a long struggle over
Cyprus, an island in the eastern
Mediterranean.
 Turkey itself was divided.

Conflicts
Egypt has roots both in Africa, where it is
located, and in the Arab world.
 Geography has always played a key role
in Egypt's destiny.
 Its location between the Mediterranean
and red seas is strategically important.
 It shares a long border with Israel and
controls the Suez Canal.

Egypt, A Leader in the Arab World
Gamal Abdel Nasser emerged as a
towering Arab leader.
 Nasser was a military officer who rose to
power after the overthrow of a weak ruler
who had allowed foreigners to dominate
his country.
 Nasser set out to modernize Egypt and
end western Egypt and end western
domination.

Nasser
After Nasser’s death in 1970, the new
president, Anwar Sadat, took steps to
open Egypt to foreign investment and
private business.
 In foreign affairs, Sadat moved away from
the Soviet camp and closer to the Inited
States.
 In 1979, he became the first Arab leader
to make peace with Israel.

Sadat
Iran became a focus of British, Soviet and
American investments.
 In 1945, Shah Muhammad Rez Pahlavi
had western backing but faced many
opponents at home.
 Iranian nationals wanted to end British
control of Iran’s oil wealth and limit the
shah’s dictatorial powers.

Nationalism and Oil
The new leaders bitterly denounced the
West.
 When the shah was allowed into the
United states for medical treatment,
angry revolutionaries seized the American
embassy in Tehran and held 52 hostages
for over a year.
 Iran also tried to export its revolution.
 It urged Muslims in countries like egypt
and turkey to overthrow secular leaders.

Foreign Policy