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THE LEGACY OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: CONFLICT, COLONIES AND PETER O'TOOLE
Foreign Policy Assc.
Feb 7 2014
ISLAMIC AWAKENING
by Richard Basas | on February 7th, 2014
The recent death of actor Peter O'Toole has renewed some interest in
the real life character portrayed in his greatest role, that of T.E
Lawrence in the film Lawrence of Arabia. O'Toole not only looked like
a virtual double of T.E. Lawrence, but the film about how the Middle
East had developed into its modern form had educated generations of
those interested in the region. In modern times, many opinions on the
region have taken on a very divisive tone, where people who discuss
any political issues regarding the Middle East take a very passionate
and personal attitude towards most issues in the region.
While it is well understood why locals in the region would have a
passionate response surrounding issues in their own communities, many
people who live outside of the region and have little connection to
the Middle East take the stance of having an opinion worthy of those
who live there or of someone who has dedicated their life to the study
of the region. Discussions where everyone has differing accelerated
viewpoints and all claim to have a diverse breadth of knowledge and
personal connections to a place they may in fact know little about has
created a deadlock surrounding open and fair debate about the region.
The Middle East is unique as issues in that region can affect many
outside of the region, but is also very unique in that attitudes
from abroad create a great deal of pressure inside of the Middle
East. It is the part of the world that requires a more respectful
level of openness and education in order to resolve the core issues,
as a divergence of opinions on the Middle East can often lead to a
situation where coercion is the result of ideas, ideologies that can
lead to the death of innocent people, even ideas coming from abroad.
Whether the issues in the Middle East affect Persian or Turks, Arabs
or Israelis, Armenians or Copts, many groups in the region are well
read, well educated, and are very capable of speaking on their own
behalf regarding issues affecting their personal lives and nations.
Lawrence of Arabia is perhaps one of the few movies that can claim
to paint a historically important portrait of how foreign powers
play a role in a region, showing a European/American reflection of
their recent past at the time. Lawrence of Arabia is a reflection on
the modern conflict resulting from foreign political goals that had
affected one of the most ancient cultures on earth, and contribute to
modern debates on how the future of the Middle East may develop. While
not perfect in its interpretation of the life of T.E. Lawrence,
modern amateur debaters on the Middle East should use it as a useful
starting point to discussing historical issues in the region.
A complicated topic to address, Bernhard Zand, a writer for Spiegel
Online has published a recent piece on how the First World War and the
fall of the Ottoman Empire and division of the region by the British
and French authorities at the time created many of the problems
present in the non-established parts of the Arab Middle East. While
Egypt was always one contiguous state, as was Persia, countries like
Syria, Lebanon and Iraq were established by colonial powers after
the fall of the Ottoman Empire, an empire that had ruled the region
for hundreds of years. Zand seeks to explain why a country like Syria
can erupt into violent conflict in a manner that Arab Egypt or Persian
Iran avoids. Countries like Egypt and Iran were not pieced together by
European powers at the end of the First World War. Being a historically
stable region of the Middle East is a reality Syria was not able to
maintain, with different religious, political and elite powers cutting
themselves to pieces as did many of their ancestors pre-Europeans and
even pre-Ottoman. Much discussion in the article and from comments
detail various reasons why the European Colonists maybe cannot hold all
of the blame for present issues in the Middle East, as the amount of
time present in the region was limited and conflict in the region has
existed for a long period of time. While there is no direct answer,
the article by Zand is a healthy contribution to a debate that will
last as long as there is a Middle East present on earth. In a region
where all truths are often seen as lies, information and respecting
opinions of others is a welcomed change from the current debates that
have led to nothing more than an Arab Spring caught in winter.
http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2014/02/07/the-legacy-of-the-ottoman-empire-conflict-colonies-and-peter-otoole/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-legacy-of-the-ottoman-empire-conflict-colonies-and-peter-otoole
Foreign Policy Assc.
Feb 7 2014
ISLAMIC AWAKENING
by Richard Basas | on February 7th, 2014
The recent death of actor Peter O'Toole has renewed some interest in
the real life character portrayed in his greatest role, that of T.E
Lawrence in the film Lawrence of Arabia. O'Toole not only looked like
a virtual double of T.E. Lawrence, but the film about how the Middle
East had developed into its modern form had educated generations of
those interested in the region. In modern times, many opinions on the
region have taken on a very divisive tone, where people who discuss
any political issues regarding the Middle East take a very passionate
and personal attitude towards most issues in the region.
While it is well understood why locals in the region would have a
passionate response surrounding issues in their own communities, many
people who live outside of the region and have little connection to
the Middle East take the stance of having an opinion worthy of those
who live there or of someone who has dedicated their life to the study
of the region. Discussions where everyone has differing accelerated
viewpoints and all claim to have a diverse breadth of knowledge and
personal connections to a place they may in fact know little about has
created a deadlock surrounding open and fair debate about the region.
The Middle East is unique as issues in that region can affect many
outside of the region, but is also very unique in that attitudes
from abroad create a great deal of pressure inside of the Middle
East. It is the part of the world that requires a more respectful
level of openness and education in order to resolve the core issues,
as a divergence of opinions on the Middle East can often lead to a
situation where coercion is the result of ideas, ideologies that can
lead to the death of innocent people, even ideas coming from abroad.
Whether the issues in the Middle East affect Persian or Turks, Arabs
or Israelis, Armenians or Copts, many groups in the region are well
read, well educated, and are very capable of speaking on their own
behalf regarding issues affecting their personal lives and nations.
Lawrence of Arabia is perhaps one of the few movies that can claim
to paint a historically important portrait of how foreign powers
play a role in a region, showing a European/American reflection of
their recent past at the time. Lawrence of Arabia is a reflection on
the modern conflict resulting from foreign political goals that had
affected one of the most ancient cultures on earth, and contribute to
modern debates on how the future of the Middle East may develop. While
not perfect in its interpretation of the life of T.E. Lawrence,
modern amateur debaters on the Middle East should use it as a useful
starting point to discussing historical issues in the region.
A complicated topic to address, Bernhard Zand, a writer for Spiegel
Online has published a recent piece on how the First World War and the
fall of the Ottoman Empire and division of the region by the British
and French authorities at the time created many of the problems
present in the non-established parts of the Arab Middle East. While
Egypt was always one contiguous state, as was Persia, countries like
Syria, Lebanon and Iraq were established by colonial powers after
the fall of the Ottoman Empire, an empire that had ruled the region
for hundreds of years. Zand seeks to explain why a country like Syria
can erupt into violent conflict in a manner that Arab Egypt or Persian
Iran avoids. Countries like Egypt and Iran were not pieced together by
European powers at the end of the First World War. Being a historically
stable region of the Middle East is a reality Syria was not able to
maintain, with different religious, political and elite powers cutting
themselves to pieces as did many of their ancestors pre-Europeans and
even pre-Ottoman. Much discussion in the article and from comments
detail various reasons why the European Colonists maybe cannot hold all
of the blame for present issues in the Middle East, as the amount of
time present in the region was limited and conflict in the region has
existed for a long period of time. While there is no direct answer,
the article by Zand is a healthy contribution to a debate that will
last as long as there is a Middle East present on earth. In a region
where all truths are often seen as lies, information and respecting
opinions of others is a welcomed change from the current debates that
have led to nothing more than an Arab Spring caught in winter.
http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2014/02/07/the-legacy-of-the-ottoman-empire-conflict-colonies-and-peter-otoole/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-legacy-of-the-ottoman-empire-conflict-colonies-and-peter-otoole