What influences conflict?

Imperialism- A policy of extending a country’s

power and influence through diplomacy or military force.

Nationalism- The belief that nations will benefit from acting

independently rather than collectively; Devotion to the interests or
culture of a specific nation-state.

Ethnocentrism- A belief that your culture or ethnic group is superior

to others.
 Foreign Influence and Intervention
*Imperialism vs. Nationalism
– Ethnic Groups and Regions want to form Independent Nations.
– Western countries from North America and Europe influence or
actively intervene in Middle East culture and politics.
– Middle Eastern Countries influence and intervene in their
neighbor’s politics in order to gain power in the region.

Examples include: 6 Days War, Persian Gulf War, Iranian Revolution, Iran/Iraq war, Invasion of Afghanistan, British Mandate
 Foreign Influence and Intervention
Example: Fall of the Ottoman Empire

Middle east conflict begins with Nationalism vs Imperialism

Read the 4 original source documents and answer the questions to find out
how nationalism and imperialism have had an effect on the modern day
middle east. Be prepared to discuss your answers!

Nationalism- The belief that nations will benefit

Imperialism- A policy of extending a
from acting independently rather than collectively;
country’s power and influence through
Devotion to the interests or culture of a specific
diplomacy or military force.
nation-state.
Example: Suez Canal Crisis

The Canal was the center of a huge

conflict in 1957 called the Suez Crisis

Why was the Suez Canal important?

It created a shorter route from Europe to Asia
How is the Suez Crisis an example foreign influence and
Intervention?
Great Britain retained control of the Canal after Egypt got their
independence. Israel, Britain, the USA and France fought to keep
control of the canal
What resource did Egypt gain from this conflict?
Control of the canal and money from the tolls
 Ethnic and Religious Conflict
*Ethnocentrism
– Difference in religion or religious sects
(such as Sunni Vs. Shi’ite Islam)
– Difference in Ethnic groups (such as the
Kurds in Syria, or the Israelis and
Palestinians)

Examples include: Iran/Iraq War, Israeli/Palestinian Conflict, Syrian Civil War, Iraq War, Iran/Saudi Arabia Cold War
 Ethnic and Religious Conflict
Example: Iran/Iraq war, Syrian Civil War

Middle east conflict often is caused by the religious divide between the Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims

Watch the following clip.

Why is there conflict between these two Muslim religious sects?

How is this an example of Ethnocentrism?

Ethnocentrism- A belief that your culture

or ethnic group is superior to others
 Ethnocentrism comes in many forms
Israel Vs Iran vs Iraq Taliban in 9-11 Syrian Civil War
Palestine Afghanistan
• Arab Countries • Dispute on who • Terrorism • Ethnic Kurds are
• Fundamentalist
reject the right of should control the committed against fighting oppression
Sunni’s oppress
Israel to exist. border the West. The US is from the
the freedom of the
hated for their Government and
Afghanistan’s
• Israelis claim a • Conflict Between involvement in the want
citizens.
large area of Arab Sunni and Shi’ite Middle East. Independence.
• The Taliban rules
Palestine as its Muslims
by terror and kills
homeland or • Fundamentalist • Sunni and Shi’ite
Shi’ites
“Promised Land”. Muslims see Muslims fight to
western culture as gain dominance.
• PLO fights for the “Great Satan”
Palestinian
Independence.
 Need for Power and Resources
– Limited resources like water and land end in
conflict
– Resources like oil bring great wealth to
some regions while other regions are very
poor.
– Nations want to be dominant in the region
and attempt to exert power over their
neighbors.

Examples include: Suez Canal, Iran/Iraq War, Israeli/Palestinian Conflict, Persian Gulf War, Iran/Saudia Arabia Cold War
Middle east conflict often is caused by the need of one Nation to
gain power in the region. As well as the Struggle to gain resources
such as such as land, water, oil, and money.

1. Can you think of any conflicts that we have learned about that are a result
of one group of people/nations having a dispute over land?

2. Can you think on one conflict we have learned about that is a result of one
group trying to gain more power?
 REVIEW
We have learned that there are three main
factors are influencing the conflict in the
Middle East:

1. Foreign Influence and Intervention

*Imperialism vs. Nationalism
2. Ethnic and Religious Conflict
*Ethnocentrism
3. Need for Power and Resources
Cold War in the Middle East Explained
Your class has been divided into 3 groups. While you watch the video look for evidence of
your assigned influence. Be prepared to discuss your evidence.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

Foreign Ethnocentrism Need for Power and
influence/involvement resources
Lets look at the conflicts on our time
lines and Identify the factors that
caused or affected them
 The Iran-Iraq War
■ In 1980, a border dispute between Sunni and
Shiite Muslims flared into a full-scale war,

■ The Iran-Iraq War. The war lasted 8 years. The

US sold weapons to Saddam Hussein and gave
some assistance to Iraq During the war because
they did not want the Ayatollah of Iran to stay in
power.

Why didn’t the US want the Ayatollah in power?

 Conflicts with Iran
■ Iran was a monarchy ruled by Shah Pahlevi
– He attempted to westernize/modernize Iran, The
US supported his efforts to modernize. Which
upset the fundamentalist Iranians.

– Shah was forced to flee the country during the

Iranian revolution in 1979.

• After the revolution, Iran became

an Islamic Republic (theocracy),
and was led by Ayatollah
Khomeini.
Iranian Hostage Crisis
– While in exile, the Shah developed lymphoma,
so U.S. President Jimmy Carter allowed the
Shah to enter the US for treatment.

Iranian Hostage Crisis

• Carter’s actions were humanitarian, rather than
political, however, this action prompted Iranian
students to take over the American Embassy in
Tehran. The American workers in the embassy
were held hostage for 444 days.
 Conflicts with Iraq
■ The British mandate after WWI
established the Kingdom or Iraq.
■ It was a monarchy from WWI until a
military coup in 1958

■ In 1979, Saddam Hussein became

president (military dictator) after the
monarchy was overthrown

■ Hussein gained power by killing or

arresting his opposition

■ Hussein was a Sunni Muslim who was

known to brutally oppress the Shi’ite
majority of the population
 The Persian-Gulf War
■ After the Iran-Iraq War, which ended in cease-fire in 1988, Iraq was left
with a large debt and a powerful army.

■ Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait of stealing oil from Iraqi oil fields.
■ Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 in what became known as the Persian Gulf
War.

■ A U.N. force, led by the U.S., drove Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991 (called
Operation Desert Storm).
■ After the war, Iraq was prohibited from producing weapons of mass
destruction (WMDs).
■ Iraq’s arms facilities were also subject to inspection by United Nations
officials.
 Afghanistan
■ During the Cold War in the 1970s, a million
Afghans were killed by Soviet Red Army invasion.
They were invaded because they were close to Pakistan
Pakistan an U.S. ally.

Many fled to Pakistan as refugees.

■ Many of those refugees became members of the
Taliban, a Muslim extremist organization
■ The Taliban eventually returned to Afghanistan
and took over most of the country.
■ The Taliban (who are Sunni fundamentalists)
committed massacres against civilians, Shi’ite
Muslims were specific targets.
The War on Terrorism in Afghanistan

■ The Taliban also produced the al-Qaeda

terrorist network, led by Osama bin Laden.
■ Al-Qaeda was responsible for over 3,000
deaths on September 11, 2001
■ After the 9/11 attacks, U.S. soldiers began
searching for al-Qaeda terrorists in
Afghanistan, partly due to the Taliban’s
refusal to give up Osama bin Laden.
■ The 9/11 Attacks were the reason that the
US and its Allies began the War on Terrorism
In 2002
 War on Terrorism In Iraq
■ In 2003, the U.S. under President Bush requested military action from the U.N. against
Iraq for violating the WMD ban.

■ The U.N. denied the request, but a U.S. led coalition invaded Iraq anyway.

• Although no WMDs were found, the

US and its allies helped to create a
new democratic government in Iraq
after the old regime fell.
 Syrian Civil War
■ Modern day Syria was
created following World
War I and controlled by
France.

• Syria gained independence in 1946, but

since 1971 has been controlled by Hafez
al-Assad and now his son Bashar al-Assad
through dictatorship.
 Syria’s Civil War
■ Since July 2011 the Free
Syrian Army has been Syrian
fighting against the current Government
Forces
government in a violent civil
war.
■ The civil war started as an
uprising to overthrow the
president, Bashar al-Assad,
but has devolved into a
three-way conflict. Free Syrian Army
(Rebels) ISIS Extremists
Syria’s Civil War
■ Many civilians have been casualties of
the fighting and have fled to nearby
countries as refugees.
■ President Obama seriously considered
launching airstrikes against the Assad
regime as punishment for waging
chemical warfare against civilians, but
the Assad government agreed to destroy
its chemical weapons stockpile and the
Obama administration backed down.
■ The United States has been supporting
moderate Syrian rebels, known as the
Free Syrian Army, but has largely stayed
on the sideline.
Ongoing Conflicts
if time permits…
 Modern Iraq
• The new government
supported by the U.S.
was weak
• Many Iraqis claimed
that the government
favored the Shi’ites at
the expense of the
Sunnis and Kurds.
• Today, Iraq is in chaos.

• Sunni rebels, an uneasy alliance between former Saddam Hussein loyalists and ISIS have overrun
large areas of Iraq, including the country’s second-largest city, Mosul
 Iran Nuclear Crisis
■ In the last decade or so, Iran has been
devoting more of its resources to the
development of nuclear power/weapons.

■ Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was president

from 2005 to 2013, insisted that Iran had an
"inalienable right" to produce nuclear fuel.

■ The United Nations has posed several rounds

of sanctions against Iran.
 The Iran Nuclear Deal
■ In January 2014 - Iran and a group of six world powers completed a
deal to temporarily freeze much of Tehran’s nuclear program in
exchange for limited relief from Western economic sanctions.
1. Iran can still enrich Uranium, just not enough to build bombs
2. If Iran complies with all requirements of the deal, the ban will be lifted in 15 years, although
some of the restrictions will last for 25 years.

■ However, tension between Iran and the West remains constant.