DR. ILKSOY ASLIM
IR 426
MIDDLE EAST
LECTURE NOTES
EGYPT
Dynamics shaping Egyptian political life:
1. 1922 Unilateral independence from British Protectorate rule
2. 1936 Independence Year
3. 1952 Coup D’etat
4. 1953 Jamal Abdul Nasser came to power
5. 1956 Suez War
EGYPT
EGYPT
Dynamics shaping Egyptian political life:
1. 1922 Unilateral independence from British Protectorate rule
2. 1936 Independence Year
3. 1952 Coup D’etat
4. 1953 Jamal Abdul Nasser came to power
5. 1956 Suez War
Continue...
6. 1962 Establishment of “ASU”: Arab
Socialist Union (Nasser’s political party) 7. Increase in armed forces
8. Extention of bureaucracy 9. 1967 Arab-Israeli War
10. Anwar Sadat Era (1970 – 1981) 11. 1977 onwards: Sadat’s policy of
political liberalization
Nasser Era: 1953 - 1969
Impact of Nasserism
Single – party system
Electoral Law
Relations with the Ikhwan al- Muslimin;
Muslim Brotherhood Society: “Uneasy Relationship”
Role of Presidency
Parliament
Army
Single-Party System in Egypt under Nasser Presidency:
Please read:
Roger Owen, “State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle
East”; pp: 32 – 54.
Egypt is one of the cases...
SADAT Era:
Towards a multi-party system:
Dissolution of ASU into 3 political parties:
Right, Left & Center
Center is named as National Democrat Party (NDP) which still the “ruling
party” of Egypt today...
Economic liberalization policies
Camp David Accords with Israel
Camp David Accords: 1978 -79
Under the US auspicies (US President Jimmy Carter) Israeli prime minister
Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Sadat signed the Camp David Accords.
Peace-making with Israel: Is the Camp
David Accords led to the normalization of relations with Israel?
Assassination of Sadat in 1981
DEMOCRATIZATION
Old Politics & New Problem
Democratization and political
liberalization in the Middle East became the catchworks of the 1990s, reflecting a new crisis of legitimacy for many
regimes and pressure from the masses for change and progress.
The drive for democratization;
Presupposed the absence of democratic trends in the region and the incompatibility of Arab and
Muslim ideologies with accompanying notions of freedom, pluralism and participation.
As Simon Bromley suggests; “democracies are STRANGERS to the Middle East...The limited post- independence experiments with democratic
politics did not survive the rise of nationalist forces searching modernization and independence...”
The regimes were affected either by monarchical rules or oil wealth!
1990s... Democratization in the ME
During 1990s the path of
democratization was seen as a positive phenomenon.
The question of cultural authenticity = rejection of western models of
governments among the locals
Orientalism (Bernard Lewis)
For instance Lewis;
Argues that the GAP between western and Arab notions of freedom highlights the antipathy of the particular culture to democracy...
Examples of democratic openings:
Many states of the ME have been seen to engage in some form of political
liberalizing process such as more open elections in Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Israel, Kuwait and Iran.
But there is a distinction between
political liberalization & democratization.
Political Liberalization;
Involves “the expansion of public space through the recognition and protection of civil and political liberties”
Democratization involves; “an expansion of political participation ... to provide
citizens with a degree of real and
meaningful collective control over public policy”
ISRAEL: ASPECTS SHAPİNG ISRAELİ POLİTİCAL
LANDSCAPE
For reference please see: Beverly
Milton-Edwards, Chp: 6 (Section: Case study on Israel)
Political History:
The modern state of Israel has developed from the Zionist campaign for a Jewish state in
Palestine and the Balfour Declaration (1917) in which the Jewish demand for a national home
was supported by Britain.
Under the British mandate (from 1922) in
Palestine the Jewish community increased from 10% of the population in 1918 to about 30% in 1936.
Britain abandoned the partition solution and brought the Palestine problem to the United Nations in 1947. A UN special commission
recommended partition and a resolution to that effect passed the General Assembly.
The British mandate ended on 14 May 1948 and the independent Jewish state of Israel in Palestine was established.
The creation of the state was opposed by the Palestinian Arabs supported by Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, but after a violent conflict Israel survived and considerably
enlarged its territory at the expense of the proposed Arab state.
A substantial Palestinian refugee was created as many Arabs fled from Israel-controlled territory.
Further Arab-Israeli wars took place in 1956 (Suez War), 1967 (Six Days War), 1973 War and 1982 Lebanese
invasion.
As a result of these wars Israel extended its occupation to include all the territory of the former British mandate.
Results of 1948 Arab-Israeli War: West Bank (including East Jerusalem) was annexed by Jordan and Gaza Strip was controlled by Egypt.
Results of 1967 Arab-Israeli War: West Bank & East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights (from Syria) invaded by Israel.
Dynamics constructing Israeli society:
Dynamics constructing Israeli society
There are four main dynamics shaping Israeli political system
Impact of Zionism and the idea of
“return of Jewish diaspora to homeland”
Ethnic and religious differences between Arab Israelis and Jews
Impact of the Palestine Question and unsettlement of the Arab-Israeli dispute + Jews settlements on the Occupied Territories
Division among the secular Jews and religious groupings. The religious groups are broadly divided into two categories:
Zionist religious Jews (comprises 8% of Israeli soceity)
Anti-Zionist religious Jews (called Haredim comprises 4.5% of Israeli population)
Political Parties in Israel:
For convenience the political parties may be divided into four groups;
The left is dominated by “Mapai” and transformed in 1968 into the Israeli Labour Party. They adopted a Socialist Zionist policy. Until 1977 Arab voters voted in fvaour for Mapai and the communists.
The right is dominated by two main group, “Herut”
(freedom) which was in effect the old Revisionist party and the liberal Zionists who allied with Herut in 1964 to form Gahal (the forunner of Likud in 1973). The Likud is more successful among the Orientals.
The religious parties are MafDal and Shas
The last group is the communists in the country.
From 1949-1977 Israeli governments were formed by coalitions led by Mapai (the
Left). Until his retirement in 1963 the
dominant political figure was David Ben Gurion who served as prime minister for the whole of the period from the Labour Party.
Cabinets in Israel were dominated by
Ashkenazis (80% of the cabinet ministers were in this category) and 10% of them were sabras (that is born in Israel) and 10% were Orientals (Sephardic Jews).
Labour’s domination of the goverment between 1948-1977 was reflected in its prominence in two other major Israeli institutions each of which had its origins in the mandatory period. One of them is Histadrut and the other is the army.
After independence Histadrut retained its
position as the principal economic institution of Israel being at once trade union, employer,
friendly soceity and provider of social services. In 1983 it has 1.6 million members and employed more than a quarter of a million people and ran the largest industrial enterprises in the country.
SYRIA & LEBANON
Politics, Power and civil war
Ethnic groups
Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%
Religions
Sunni Muslim 74%, other Muslim (includes Alawite, Druze) 16%, Christian (various
denominations) 10%, Jewish (tiny
communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo)
SYRIA: Al-Asad Rule
In the aftermath of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War:
Led to a change in the political power particularly in Iraq & Syria
In 1970 – Hafız Al-Asad took the control of the political power in Syria
Both Iraq & Syria will then ruled by single party regimes
Impact of the Ba’th Party (Resurrection/
Reawakening)
The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (also spelled Ba'th or Baath which means
"resurrection" or "renaissance"
It is a secularist political party with strong socialist and Arab nationalist interests,
opposed to what it sees as "Western imperialism" and calling for the
"renaissance" or "resurrection" of the Arab World and its unity in one united state.
Its main ideas are: "Unity, Liberty,
Socialism" (wahda, hurriya, ishtirakiya)
— refers to Arab unity, freedom from non-Arab control and interference, and Arab socialism rather than to European socialism, or communism.
Origins of Ba’th Party
The party was founded in Damascus, Syria in 1940 by the Syrian intellectuals Michel Aflaq, and Salah al-Bitar, and since its inception has established branches in different Arab countries, although the only countries it has ever held
power in are Syria and Iraq.
In Syria it has had a monopoly on political power since the party's 1963 coup.
Ba'athists also seized power in Iraq in 1963, but were deposed some months later. They returned to power in a 1968 coup and remained the sole party of government until the 2003 Iraq invasion.
Since then they have been banned in Iraq.
Syria after 1970
1970 Hafız al-Asad became the President of Syrian Republic
1973 New Constitution was adopted
Syrian involvement in
Lebanese Civil War – 1976
1973 Arab-Israeli War (Egypt & Syria)
1978 – 79 Camp David Accords!
Syria was left alone in resisting againts Israel
Syrian main concern was how to prevent
“Jordan & Lebanon” to recognize Israel
1975 – 1989 Civil War
in Lebanon
Demographics in Lebanon
Ethnic groups
Arab 95%, Armenian 4%, other 1%
Religions
Muslim 59.7% (Shia, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite or Nusayri),
Christian 39% (Maronite Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Catholic, Syrian Orthodox, Roman
Catholic, Assyrian, Copt, Protestant),
other 1.3%
**17 religious sects recognized
French Mandate Rule over Lebanon (1920 – 1946)
Lebanon has become an independent country in 1946 like Syria
1932 National Census (Nufüs Sayımı)
1943 National Pact (Ulusal Pakt):
establishment of a confessional political system based on ethnic &
sectarian – religious – affiliations!!
Delicate “Distribution of power” in Lebanon
Since 1946 Lebanon has been established on a confessional system where the political power is distributed/ allocated on the basis of population size.
Political Power is vested in the hands of three main branches:
1. President of the Republic will be elected from the Maronite community
2. Prime-minister will be elected from Sunni Community;
3. Speaker of the Parliament: will be elected from Shia community
“Seats in the Parliament” will be based on the ratio 6:5 – Christian – Muslim Communities
Origins/ Roots of the Civil War in Lebanon:
1. Change in the demographic structure
2. 1970 – 71 Civil War in Jordan (Black September Episode)
3. Camps of the PLO in Southern Lebanon
Lebanese Civil War:
1975 – 89
Two camps were involved in the Civil War: The Lebanese Front (LF) &
Lebanese National Movement (LNM)
Syrian intervention in 1976
Israeli interventon in 1978
Israeli intervention in 1982 (Sabra &
Shatila)
The war was ended in 1989
Ta’if Accords 1989 in Saudi Arabia: An Arab League meeting – “Paylaşılmış Varlık Paktı” ...
“Syrian presence” in Lebanon was
sustained with 30,000 troops until the assassination of Refiq Al-Hariri in 2004.
INTERNATİONAL
RELATİONS OF THE MİDDLE EAST:
1. The US & the Middle East
2. Euro-Med Partnership Project
In the aftermath of the 1945;
The US policy towards the region was centered on;
“National security strategy”.
“Superpower Rivalry”
Establishing special relationships with some countries; like Iran (until 1979) & Israel
Survival of Israel: strategic ally & regional policemen (Milton-Edwards, p. 240)
These policies were required for;
1. Eliminating competitors in the region to assure US indisputable supremacy
2. Until 1990 to form a massive regional alliance directed against the Soviet
Union and its local allies
3. Determination to resort to any means, including military to satify these
goals.This was what we saw in the 1990-91 Gulf War.
Some cases from Cold War era
1953 Overthrown of Muhammed Musaddıq rule in Iran (through a CIA secret operation)
1957 Eisenhower Doctrine: It was a part of the American policy of containing Soviet influence in the Middle East and securing American interests in the area. The
willingness to employ American forces at the request of states in the region in the instance of armed aggression from other
states became associated by this doctrine.
Cases:
No need to mention role of US during the Suez Crisis of 1956 – 57.
Another Cold War in the region:
Egypt, Iraq & Yemen vs Saudi Arabia, Jordan
& Morocco
1978 – 79 Camp David Accords: Between Israel & Egypt under the sponsorship of US President Jimmy Carter
The US policies towards the ME
In the Post-Cold War Era; US policy towards the Middle East has been centered on the
idea of “hegemonic re-building” in the region with the pursuit of being as a problem.
For such precise purpose; the US President George Bush initiated Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid in 1991.
With the joining of PLO-Jordanian joint
delegation, Syria and Israel, the peace talks began. The outcome was Gaza-Jericho
agreement an DoP – Declaration of Priniples
Post - September 11 Attacks
2002 Bush Doctine which articulates the idea of failed states and Axis of Evil (Şer Ekseni)
US Global Strategy would be manifest in three priorities during this period;
1. The US would lead the world in defending the peace against global terror and against
aggressive regimes seeking weapons of mass detsruction.
2. A commitment to peace through diplomacy
3. US would extend “the peace by working to extend the benefits of liberty ... As broadly as possible”.
Middle East Peace Process;
Please check the text that I will distribute in the clasroom!
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership
The EU launched the Union for the Mediterranean in July 2008 to forge closer ties with the Middle East and with its North African neighbours.
Bringing together the 27 EU members and 16 other countries as diverse as Israel, Turkey and Syria, the new forum covers nearly 800m people.
It will undertake joint projects to revitalise the Mediterranean, such as cleaning up pollution, renovating ports, improving shipping and
developing solar energy. The Arab League and the Palestinian Authority will have representation.
Barcelona Process (1995)
The Barcelona Process was launched in
November 1995 by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the then, 15 EU members and 14 Mediterranean partners, as the framework to manage both bilateral and regional relations.
Guided by the agreements of the Barcelona Declaration, it formed the basis of the Euro- Mediterranean Partnership which has
expanded and evolved into the Union for the Mediterranean.
It was an innovative alliance based on the principles of joint ownership,
dialogue and co-operation, seeking to create a Mediterranean region of peace, security and shared prosperity.
The partnership was organised into three main dimensions, which remain today as the broad working areas of the
partnership:
Political and Security Dialogue, aimed at creating a common area of peace and stability underpinned by sustainable development, rule of law, democracy and human rights.
Economic and Financial Partnership, including the gradual establishment of a free-trade area
aimed at promoting shared economic opportunity through sustainable and balanced socio-economic development.
Social, Cultural and Human Partnership, aimed at promoting understanding and intercultural
dialogue between cultures, religions and people,
and facilitating exchanges between civil society and ordinary citizens, particularly women and young
people.
Under the umbrella of each sector, Euro- Mediterranean Ministerial meetings have been held in order to establish the political commitments which drive cooperation and activity across sectors.
These meetings are punctuated by periodic meetings of Euro-Mediterranean Ministers of Foreign Affairs which take stock of the partnership, its priorities and the progress made on different initiatives.
With the introduction of the European
Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in 2004, the Barcelona Process essentially became the multilateral forum of dialogue and cooperation between the EU and its Mediterranean partners while complementary
bilateral relations are managed mainly under the ENP and through Association Agreements signed with each partner country.
The EU works closely with each of its Mediterranean partners to establish support programmes for
economic transition and reform which take into account each country’s specific needs and
characteristics. These actions are funded under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership
Instrument (ENPI).
Countries concerned are;
Albania, Algeria, Bosnia & Herzegovinia, Croatia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian
Territories, Syria,Tunisia,Turkey
