East European Studies

Question 1.
Formerly the Middle East was referred to as the near east. Even though this region has no clear border outline, it is estimated to be the region between the Oxus and River Nile. Besides, most countries in north of Africa and south west of Asia (only Turkey) are conceived to be in the region. Middle East boasts recording the first form of civilization in the world. The most important factor influencing todays world is the economy of this particular region. Oil is the single most factors that makes this region very attractive and the oil generated within its boundaries is the main driver of the worlds economy (Richards  Waterbury 13).

The economy of Middle East
         Though marked by a series of un-ending wars, the Middle East comprises some of the greatest growing economies in the world like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The corner stone to these great forms of economy in the Middle East is petroleum products from the large oil deposits found in the region. The oil boom was experienced in the mid seventies in the period of the war between the Israelites and the Arab nations. Exportation and oil pricing process in the region is controlled by an eleven member country organization called the organization of petroleum exporting countries (OPEC). This organization has a lot of political affiliation and has the power to hold the exportation of oil to countries with different political opinions from them (Richards  Waterbury 43) . The Middle East supplies over 65 of all the oil in the world. This has greatly influenced the economy of the countries around the Persian Gulf to grow in a very alarming rate. This has come with the opening of other opportunities in the area for instance the United Arab Emirates in particularly Dubai has seen a lot of development for the past decade. Currently Dubai has experienced a stream of investors no other country has ever seen in a very short time. This has quickly transformed the country into a business centre making it one of the most flourishing economies in the world. In overall the discovery of oil products in the region has led to the overall increase of the countries GDP (Richards  Waterbury 52).

           Harmonization of trading relationships, ample revenue projections by the Governments and exercise of power has been witnessed in these Arabic nations. This has also came with the increase in the level of living standards among the citizens of these countries bearing in mind that some of the worlds richest people come from oil producing countries like Saudi Arabia. The repercussions to this have also been felt. Was the war on Iraq due to the blood thirsty for oil That question posed in everybody minds when Bush attacked Saddam Hussein. There is no clear evidence that it was due to oil in the Mesopotamian country but different sources suggested that the war was influenced by unilateral sanctions imposed to the United States by the United Nations on Iraq. The Iraq war is largely about oil (Richards  Waterbury 66).


Q2
The Ottoman Empire and the Middle East
The Republic of Turkey came into being in 1923 after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. During the 14th century, the Ottoman Turks were among the most influential and powerful empires to ever capture most of the central Asia. They later on expanded their form of rule to the Middle East and slowly into Europe (Chambers). The goals of the empire were to take control of the Mediterranean area, create a Muslim state and spread religion among its subjects. In order to rise and administer its rule the Ottoman Empire conquered the European system and managed to acquire a very huge territory. By the year 1683, the empire was deteriorating in leadership after it lost Vienna for the second time to the Europeans and that saw the increase in conquest from the European adversaries (Chambers).

Reasons for failure
The thirst for leadership was one among their reasons for failure. The rule of succession and royal families generated to this. Queen mothers after the death of their husbands would not let the royal seat be assumed by another person other than their own children regardless of age. This led to the construction of many palaces. This period was nick named the The sultanate of women (Chambers). Corruption erupted and bribery into office was experienced. In the mid 17th century a family known as the great Koprulu family tried to eradicated corruption in the empire through administering traditional reforms. Admission in the military was also affected by corruption. Incompetence was experienced in their armies and this was a loop-hole to the Europeans. Heavy taxes were imposed to finance their young infantries and secure firearms. The subjects to the empire were not happy with this. Unfavorable trade methods due to poor intellectual know how was very evident in the system. After their defeat by a movement called The Young Turk revolution the Ottoman Empire left ferried their troops from Istanbul, Libya, Balkan, turkey, Iran and Iraq to join the 1st word war on the German side. That was the end of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East never to be heard again in the current times and rule. The Ottoman Empire lasted for 600 years (Chambers).

Q3
The National Movement of the Iranian Resistance
This movement comprised of various Iranian people who were dissatisfied by the religious indoctrination in Iran. It was founded in the early 1980s by Dr. Shapur Bhakhtiar in an attempt to bring to an end the dictatorial rule of Khomeini. The main aim of the movement was to sensitize the Iranians about the religious fanaticism they were involved in and educate them on democracy. Democratic reforms was one of the main agenda of the moderate opposition that was against the dictatorial regime of the Shah. Thus the National Movement of the Iranian Resistance (NMIR) wanted to replace the regime that was power with a democratic government (DeFronzo 23). The movement belief was that by establishing a religion free of Government intervention would bring prosperity in the country and initiate peace within the region and the whole of the Persian Gulf. The activities of the movement were focused in establishing a force that would bring to an end the Islamic republic and get the international community to support its activities.

However the movement was not received well in the country, this was because of the Islamic fanaticism that Khomeini elicited amongst the Iranians and was considered a Grand Imam who could not be opposed. His word was always considered law, for example he ordered the killing of British citizen Salman Rushdie for blasphemy, that order was taken very seriously by the Iranians and to date the author of the Satanic Verses is afraid of his life.  Dr. Shapur Bhakhtiar was assassinated in August 1991 by agents of the Islamic Republic (DeFronzo 62).

The Western Countries especially Britain and the U.S funded to some extent the movement and harbored some of its members. In fact Bhakhtiar was assassinated in France where he had been exiled. The movements power and energy was sapped after the assassination of its leader and though still exists to date it has not had any meaningful Impact (DeFronzo 23).