POST-WWII TO PRESENT DAY

THE MIDDLE EAST

• Egypt not fully independent – British troops occupied the Suez Canal– As a result, Abdul Nasser seizes power in a military

coup in 1952• Once in power, Nasser refused to join the Baghdad Pact,

a U.S. led alliance against communism in the Middle East– When Nasser asked Western countries to sell him

weapons, they refused• Gets them from Soviet-controlled Czechoslovakia

– The U.S. and British responded by refusing to loan Egypt money to build the Aswan Dam on the Nile River

• Angry, Nasser seizes the Suez Canal, which was owned by an international company controlled by Britain and France– Great Britain, France, and Israel attack Egypt– The Soviet Union threatens to come to the aid of

Egypt and the U.S. pressures Britain, France, and Israel to withdraw from Egypt

• Nasser promotes Pan-Arabism = Arab unity– Wants to unite the Arab world, works hard to

destroy Israel

• In 1948 the United Nations creates the Jewish state of Israel– The problem is that Palestinians already live there,

Arab neighbors see this as a betrayal, especially Egypt• The UN proposed a partition of Palestine into a

Jewish and an Arab state– The next day several Arab nations invade, however

the invasion fails – the first Arab-Israeli war• They still refuse to recognize Israel’s right to exist• One result of this war was that the proposed Arab

state didn’t come into existence

• Six Day War (1967)– Egypt blockades Israel, and fearing an attack, Israel

strikes first– Israel breaks through the blockade and seizes new

territory• Sinai Peninsula, West Bank, Golan Heights, Gaza

Strip, and occupies Jerusalem– Israel triples its size, some Arab nations still want

their land returned• Massacre at the Munich Olympics in 1972– Terrorists seize eleven Olympians, two are killed

immediately– The other nine die with several terrorists in a shoot

out at the airport

• OPEC formed in 1960 = the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries– Increase prices when upset about Western foreign

policy in the Middle East

• Yom Kippur War (1973)– Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack against Israel

on a Jewish holy day• In the beginning the Arab force was able to make

gains– The Israelis are able to push back the invading force

with U.S. support• Arab members of OPEC place an oil embargo on

countries supporting Israel

• Camp David Accords (1978)– President Carter meets with Anwar Sadat of Egypt and

Prime Minister Begin of Israel– They sign the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty that

ends the state of war between them• Egypt recognizes Israel and Israel return the Sinai

Peninsula– Both Sadat and Begin are later assassinated

• Palestinian Unrest– PLO = Palestine Liberation Organization, formed 1964• Pledge to destroy Israel and replace it with a

Palestinian state• Led by Yasser Arafat, launches attacks against Israel

– Intifada = rebellion based on resentment of Israeli occupation (1987)• Palestinian youths battle Israeli troops in

widespread street violence• Fighting continues until the early 1990s

– Oslo Accords (1993) = Arafat and Israeli prime minister Rabin negotiate an agreement to end the violence• Called for Palestinians to gradually gain control

over governing the West Bank and Gaza• Peace undermined - militant group Hamas

launches suicide bombings in Israel and an Israeli religious fanatic assassinates Rabin

– A second intifada began in 2000, with Hamas sending suicide bombers into Israel and Israel responding by sending troops in the West Bank and Gaza

• Revolution in Iran and hostage crisis (1979)– Iran had been the chief ally of the U.S. in the Middle

East• However many Muslims view the new Iranian

civilization as being based on greed and materialism and too western, which they blamed as American influence

– Ayatollah Khomeini leads a revolution, overthrows the gov’t, and sets up an Islamic republic• Enforced strict religious and social laws, anti-

Western foreign policy

• The shah goes to the U.S. for medical treatment, angers the Iranians

– 52 Americans are then seized in Tehran from the U.S. embassy and held hostage for over a year• They are released the day Reagan becomes

president

• Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)– Iran = Shiites, Iran = Sunnis– Saddam Hussein invades Iran for territory• Due to border disputes and Iran’s new gov’t calling

for revolution among Iraq’s Shiite population– Uses poison gas and children to clear minefields

• Persian Gulf War (1990)– Iraq invades Kuwait for its oil fields– Desert Storm – U.S. leads an international force that

frees Kuwait• Iraq must destroy its chemical weapons

• Current war in Iraq– U.S. calls for invasion because Iraq is suspected of

having chemical weapons– War starts in March 2003, ends?– Saddam Hussein is removed from power and

executed– Currently there have been ______ deaths and ______

wounded

• Afghanistan invaded by the U.S. in 2001 after being accused of sheltering Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda– The Taliban gov’t collapses, American forces still

fighting there

• Rise of Islamic fundamentalism– Movement to reorder gov’t and society according to

Islamic laws– Islamists believe that Muslim countries have strayed

from the true path of Islam by following Western influences

• Islamic militants/extremists use violence to try and bring about changes– Goal is to remove all Western influence in Muslim

nations