The Mideast: Figures in the Carpet

Worldview ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-11
Author(s):  
Robert K. Olson
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Iraq War ◽  
Arab World ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
Middle East Politics ◽  
Revolutionary Regime ◽  
The U.S

It is not a joking matter, but the state of Middle East politics is nothing if not absurd. Which is to say that, to the Westerner at least, the most recent rearrangement of alliances, conflicts, and rivalries follows no readily apparent pattern of loyalty or consistency—either religious or political. The Iran-Iraq war seems to have crystalized the fragmented Arab world into two opposing blocs, those siding with non-Arab Iran and those backing Saddam Hussein. But Libya and Syria, the two most pro-Soviet countries, have sided with anti-Communist, anti-Soviet Khomeini. On the other hand the Imam is opposed by the two anti-Soviet monarchies of lordan and Saudi Arabia and the non-Communist Gulf states led by pro-Soviet Iraq. The two monarchies might be expected to oppose Iran's revolutionary regime but hardly to ally themselves with a regime no less revolutionary in its own way than Iran. Not to put too fine a point on it, it was the 1958 Iraq revolution that murder ed King Faisal II, ruler of Iraq and cousin to King Hussein. We find Sunni Libya, which has sought to embarrass Alawite president of Syria Assad by stirring up opposition among the Sunni majority of Syria, united with Assad to give aid and comfort to the Shiite leader of Iran. Syria and Iraq, which are hostile to each other, are ruled by the two extant leaders of thp Baath or Renaissance party dedicated to the unity of the Arab peoples. We find Soviet-client Iraq allied with the most proAmerican states, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, against the most anti-American state, Iran. Soviet weaponry provides the security of the Arab axis against American weaponry provided to the shah. Meanwhile, Iran credits the U.S. with starting the war, even though Iran is being attacked with Soviet weaponry.

scholarly journals United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Middle East Politics After Khashoggi’s Murder

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Yusuf Ibrahim Gamawa
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Key Players ◽  
Middle East Politics ◽  
The U.S

There is no doubt that the murder of Jamal Khashoggi has brought about dramatic changes in the politics of the Middle East, and the key players; U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey are all playing different roles in shaping opinion in the region in the aftermath of the murder. While Turkey continues to push for justice for the murder of the journalist, the U.S. is seen to be divided between support for Saudi Arabia and call for justice, and Saudi Arabia on its part is pushing hard to see that it overcomes all attempts to undermine its government and leadership. This article argues that the murder of the journalist has pushed Saudi Arabia into taking steps that would ensure its survival and dominance in the region. The Saudi regime appears to be stepping up its power in the region and has reached out to neighbors and renewed its ties with its Gulf partners and wider Middle East, including Syria to neutralize all attempts by Turkey to undermine its regime. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3376365

The Arabian hound, the saiūqī– further consideration of the word and other observations on the breed

1980 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Rex Smith
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Arabic Literature ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
Gulf States

The name salūqī was that given by the Arabs, from, at the latest, the beginning of Islam, to the medium-sized gazehound with long pendulous ears which had hunted in the area of the Near and Middle East for perhaps thousands of years. As far as we are aware, the earliest occurrence of the word in Arabic literature is in a poem of Yazīd b. Dirār al-Muzarrid, who was born before Islam and who talks of banāt salūqiyyayn, ‘the offspring of two salūqīs’. Although the actual term salūqī does not, to my knowledge, occur in the classical hunting songs (ṭardiyyāt) of the Abbasid era, it is a word in general use in animal literature and that of the chase right through the medieval and late medieval periods. The word has survived to this day in the areas of the Arab World where the hound is still to be found, notably in the Hijaz and Najd areas of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

A Case of Attempted Segmental Modernization: Rampur State, 1930–1939

1981 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-381
Author(s):  
Lance Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Personal Control ◽  
The Other ◽  
The World ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
National Congress ◽  
The One ◽  
Indian National Congress

The last major bastions of dynastic rule exist among the Muslim states of the Middle East. In the last thirty years, as they have emerged from under the “protective” umbrella of European domination, the rulers of Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States have attempted to maintain their personal control while coping with problems, on the one hand of unstable external conditions, and on the other of the pursuit of economic and administrative modernization. Their successes and, more recently, their failures, have held the attention of the world. In some ways their predicament represents a more acute aspect of the problem confronting some of the Indian princes in the 1930s when, as British dominance in the subcontinent was increasingly challenged by the Indian National Congress, they attempted to lead their states on the first halting steps towards modernity.

Review: Islam and politics in Iranian Kurdistan at a time of revolution: the life of Ahmad Moftizadeh

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-87
Author(s):  
Martin Van Bruinessen
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Islam And Politics ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Revolutionary Regime

Ali Ezzatyar, The Last Mufti of Iranian Kurdistan: Ethnic and Religious Implications in the Greater Middle East. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. xv + 246 pp., (ISBN 978-1-137-56525-9 hardback).For a brief period in 1979, when the Kurds had begun confronting Iran’s new Islamic revolutionary regime and were voicing demands for autonomy and cultural rights, Ahmad Moftizadeh was one of the most powerful men in Iranian Kurdistan. He was the only Kurdish leader who shared the new regime’s conviction that a just social and political order could be established on the basis of Islamic principles. The other Kurdish movements were firmly secular, even though many of their supporters were personally pious Muslims.

Sectarian struggle in the Middle East and the new Alliances

2019 ◽  
pp. 337
Author(s):  
Harith Qahtan Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Critical Period ◽  
The Other ◽  
New Era ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
The World ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
Other World ◽  
Islamic Civilization ◽  
New Formation

Our Islamic world passes a critical period representing on factional, racial and sectarian struggle especially in the Middle East, which affects the Islamic identification union. The world passes a new era of civilization formation, and what these a new formation which affects to the Islamic civilization especially in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon. The sectarian struggle led to heavy sectarian alliances from Arab Gulf states and Turkey from one side and Iran states and its alliances in the other side. The Sunni and Shia struggle are weaken the World Islamic civilization and it is competitive among other world civilization.

Fragmentation as a Challenge: Tribal and Sectrarian Identities in the Middle East

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-85
Author(s):  
Kleanthis Kyriakidis
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Arabian Gulf ◽  
The State ◽  
Islamic Revolution ◽  
Direct Response ◽  
Tribal Identity ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
The Ideal

In the Arabian Gulf two identities can be really considered almost as important as the national one: the tribal and the sectarian ones. Someone should expect that the reinforcement of these identities is a direct response to inequality and processes of exclusion. Furthermore, parochial tribalism is expected to arise as the protector of cultural heritage, especially in a region where the ex-pats vastly outnumber the locals. Nonetheless, both statements are far from truth. In this paper we will analyze how in the Gulf, sectarian identity came to play a significant role only after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and it keeps on surviving through mainly instigations and Iranian propaganda, provocations and support. It should be noted that Sunni identity has been allegedly subjugated in other Middle East States (mainly in Syria and Iraq) but in the Gulf the sectarian challenge stems from the Shia communities, openly supported by Tehran. Strangely enough, the tribal identity does not pose that much of a challenge, since tribes are more the friend than the enemy of all Gulf States. Actually, these countries could not have survived without the loyalty and commitment of the tribes not only to the Royal families but also to the idea of the State and the ideal of the Nation – and Gulf Nations do protect their cultural heritage. Keywords: Gulf, Globalization, Fragmentation, Sectarianism, Tribalism

Pax Americana: Palestine and the Middle East in the Trump Era

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-208
Author(s):  
Mitri Raheb
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Pax Romana ◽  
Full Speed ◽  
Biblical Language

Abstract Peace between Israel and the Arab world appears to be progressing like never before. It started with the UAE, followed by Bahrain and Morocco, and then with Sudan. A “new” Middle East is finally becoming a reality. Yet, on the other hand, the colonization of Palestinian land is progressing at full speed ever since President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the American Embassy there. During both the Embassy move and the so-called Abraham Accords with Arab countries and throughout the Trump era, biblical language has been employed. This paper will examine these political developments and biblical connotations. At the heart of the issue lies the question of what constitutes real peace. This paper argues that ‘the deal of the century’ was a form of Pax Romana rather than Pax Christi.

scholarly journals Iran Nuclear Deal: Its Political and Economic Implications for the Region as a Whole and for Pakistan

2019 ◽  
pp. 259-267
Author(s):  
Muhammad Shah ◽  
Rab Nawaz ◽  
Muhammad Mahsud
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Persian Gulf ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Regional Power ◽  
Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Economic Opportunities ◽  
Other Hand

Introduction. No doubt that the Iran-USA nuclear deal of 2015 got fame in the international politics. Some countries were in favor of such a deal and some were against this development. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has more concerns over the Iran nuclear deal, it feels that after the deal Iran will become a regional power and will increase its military and political power which will disturb the regional security and stability. As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) itself provokes the creation of such conditions, thus their influence in the Middle East will be affected. Analysis. The article analyzes the concerns of Israel, implications for Turkey, the question why deal is beneficial for Pakistan, economic concerns of Saudi Arabia, implications for Persian Gulf and Middle East, economic implications for Turkey, economic opportunities for Pakistan. After the nuclear deal, Iran becomes a regional power and increases its political and economic influence in the region, especially in the Persian Gulf. The world says that Iran cannot get nuclear weapons after the deal because it has no such a capacity. However, according to some findings from the documents of the deal Iran is not blocked to become a nuclear power and the deal legitimizes the nuclear program. So, on the other hand after the Iran nuclear deal the regional political and economic environment is totally favorable to Iran. On the other hand, scholars believe that the United States of America (USA) operate in terms of diplomatic competition. From the economic standpoint, the deal will be favorable for Iran. Thus, some countries have objections related to the deal, while others express a positive attitude towards it. Results. Pakistan will be able to generate economic opportunities from Iran, especially with the help of Iran-Pakistan-India Gas pipeline project (IPI project). Consequences of the deal will be beneficial for the regional economic development of the Middle East and South Asia respectively.

Mixed Messages: Iran versus Saudi Arabia and GCC

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-386
Author(s):  
Debbie Abuelghanam ◽  
Naser Tahboub
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Gulf Cooperation Council ◽  
Gulf Region ◽  
Regional Powers ◽  
Regional Group ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
Mixed Messages ◽  
The Relationship

Much has been written about the relationship between Iran and the Gulf states. This relationship, while extremely complex, historic as well as deep rooted, needs to be revisited, especially in the light of the growing discords. This article investigates the contest over the balance of power in the Middle East which is impacted by state interests, foreign policy, ideology, sectarianism, and geography. There are three questions that need to be asked: (a) What role does Iran play in the Gulf region? (b) What is its relationship with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)? and (c) Is there room for the two regional powers (Iran and Saudi Arabia) in the Gulf region? Iran’s role in the Middle East has expanded exponentially by both diplomatic means as well as by proxy and direct interventions. It has become apparent that while once Saudi Arabia controlled the GCC, due to recent events, the regional group has become trivialized. As Saudi Arabia and Iran vie for power, the Gulf is tension-filled and fraught with the possibility of misperceptions and miscalculations.

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