Duiker William J., Spielvogel Jackson J. The Essential World History

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Society and Culture in the

Contemporary Middle East

Focus Question: How have religious issues affected

economic, social, and cultural conditions in the

Middle East in recent decades?

To many seasoned observers, such plans seem unr ealistic, as

democratic values have laid down few roots in the region.

In some cases---notably on the Arabian peninsula---feudal

rulers remain in power. The kings of Saudi Arabia, for ex-

ample, continue to rule by traditional precepts and, citing

the distinctive character of Muslim political institutions,

have been reluctant to establish representative political in-

stitutions. In general, these rulers maintain and even enforc e

the strict observance of traditional customs. Religious police

in Saudi Arabia are r esponsible for enforcing the M uslim

dress code, maintaining the prohibition against alcohol, and

making sur e businesses close during the time for pray er.

Varieties of Government

In other societies, traditional authority has been replac ed by

charismatic one-party rule or military dictatorships. N as-

ser’s r egime in Egypt is a good examp le of a single- party

state where the leader won political power by the force of

his presence or personality. A yatollah Khomeini in Iran,

M uammar Qadhafi in Lib ya, and Saddam Hussein in Iraq

are other examples. Although their personal characteristics

and images differed, they all owed much of their power to

their personal appeal.

In other instances, charismatic rule has given way to

modernizing bureaucratic regimes. Examples include the

governments of Syria, Yemen, Turkey, and Egypt since

Nasser, where Anwar al-Sadat and his successor, Hosni

Mubarak (b. 1929), focused their regimes on performance

(see Map 29.3). Sometimes the authoritarian character of

the regimes has been modified by some democratic ten-

dencies, especially in Turkey, where free elections and the

sharing of power have become more prevalent in recent

years. A few Arab nations, such as Bahrain, Kuwait, and

Jordan, have also engaged in limited forms of democratic

experimentation.

Only in Israel, however, are democratic institutions

firmly established. The Israeli system suffers from the

proliferation of minor parties, some of which are able to

dictate policy because their support is essential to keeping

a government in power. Nevertheless, the government

generally reflects the popular will, and power is trans-

ferred by peaceful and constitutional means.

Strait of Hormuz

Persian

Gulf

Arabian

Sea

Black Sea

Red Sea

EGYPT

GEORGIA

ARMENIA

AZERBAIJAN

KAZAKHSTAN

KAZAK.

UZBEKISTAN

TAJIKISTAN

KYRGYZSTAN

TURKEY

BAHRAIN

QATAR

SAUDI

ARABIA

YEMEN

DJIBOUTI

ETHIOPIA

SUDAN

ERITREA

OMAN

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC

OF CHINA

KUWAIT

RUSSIA

IRAN

TURKMENISTAN

SOMALIA

UNITED ARAB

EMIRATES

INDIA

NEPAL

AFGHANISTAN

PAKISTAN

CYPRUS

LEBANON

ISRAEL

SYRIA

IRAQ

JORDAN

Ankara

Cairo

Mecca

Tehran

Baghdad

0 500 1,000 Miles

0 500 1,000 1,500 Kilometers

Major oil-producing areas

MAP 29.3 The Modern Middle East. Shown here are the boundaries of the independent

states in the contemporary Middle East.

Which are the major oil-producing countries?

744 CHAPTER 29 CHALLENGES OF NATION BUILDING IN AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

The Economics of the Middle East:

Oil and Other Factors

Few areas exhibit a greater disparity of individual and

national wealth than the Middle East. While millions live

in abject poverty, a fortunate few rank among the

wealthiest people in the world. The primary reason for

this disparity is oil. Unfortunately for most of the peoples

of the region, oil reserves are distributed unevenly and all

too often are located in areas where the population den-

sity is low. Egypt and Turkey, with more than 75 million

inhabitants apiece, have almost no oil reserves. The

combined population of oil-rich Kuwait, the United Arab

Emirates, and Saudi Arabia is less than 30 million people.

Economics and Islam Not surprisingly, considering

their different resourc es and political systems, the states of

the Middle East hav e adopted diverse approaches to the

problem of developing strong and stable economies. Some,

like Nasser in Egypt and the leaders of the Ba’ath P arty in

Syria, attempted to cr eate a form of Arab socialism, fa voring

a high level of gov ernment involv ement in the economy to

relieve the inequities of the free enterprise system. Others

turned to the Western capitalist model to maximize growth

while using taxes or development projects to build a

modern infrastructure, redistribute wealth, and maintain

political stability and economic opportunity for all.

Socialist theories of economic development such as

Nasser’s were often suggested as a way to promote eco-

nomic growth while meeting the requirements of Islamic

doctrine. Although the Qur’an has little to say about

economics and can be variously interpreted as capitalist

or socialist, it is clear in its opposition to charging interest

and in its concern for the material welfare of the Muslim

community, the umma. According to socialist theories,

state intervention in the economic sector would bring

about rapid development, while land redistribution and

the nationalization or regulation of industry would

minimize the harsh inequities of the marketplace. In

general, however, the socialist approach has had little

success, and most governments, including those of Egypt

and Syria, have shifted to a more free enterprise approach

while encouraging foreign investment to compensate for a

lack of capital or technology.

Agricultural Policies Although the amount of arable

land is relatively small, most countries in the Middle East

rely on farming to supply food for their growing pop-

ulations. Much of the fertile land was owned by wealthy

absentee landlords, but land reform programs in several

countries have attempted to alleviate this problem. The

most comprehensive was instituted in Egypt, where

Nasser and his successors managed to reassign nearly a

quarter of all cultivable lands by limiting the amount a

single individual could hold. Similar programs in Iran,

Iraq, Libya, and Syria generally had less effect.

Agricultural productivity throughout the region has

been plagued by the lack of water. With populations

growing at more than 2 percent annually on average in the

Middle East (more than 3 percent in some countries),

several governments have tried to increase the amount of

water available for irrigation. Many attempts have been

sabotaged by government ineptitude, political disagree-

ments, and territorial conflicts, however. Today, the dearth

of water in the region is reaching crisis proportions.

Migratory Workers Another way governments have

attempted to deal with rapid population growth is to

encourage emigration. Oil-producing states w ith small

populations, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab

Emirates, have imported labor from other countries in

the region, mostly to work in the oil fields. Since the mid-

1980s, the majority of the population in the smallest

states has been composed of foreign nationals, who often

send the bulk of their salaries back to their families in

their home countries. When oil revenues declined in the

late 1980s, and 1990s, however, several governments took

measures to stabilize or reduce the migrant population.

Obstacles to Democracy What explains the failure of

democratic institutions and values to take root in the

contemporary Middle East? Some observers attribute the

cause to the willingness of Western governments to

coddle dictatorships as a means of preserving their access

to the vast oil reserves located on the Arabian peninsula.

Others ascribe it to deep-seated factors embedded in the

history and culture of the region or in the religion of

Islam itself. Whatever the cause, critics charge that the

CHRONOLOGY

The Moder n Middle East

King Farouk overthrown in Egypt 1952

Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal 1956

Formation of the United Arab Republic 1958

Iranian Revolution 1979

Iran-Iraq War begins 1980

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait 1990

Persian Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm) 1991

Al-Qaeda terrorist attack on the United States 2001

U.S.-led forces invade Iraq 2003

Ahmadinejad elected president of Iran 2004

See also the chronology of the Arab-Israeli conflict on p. 739

SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN THE CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST 745

lack of personal freedom has aroused a level of popular

discontent that local governments seek to deflect---often

with great success---onto the West (see the box above). For

their part, Middle Eastern political leaders undoubtedly

fear that greater popular participation in the affairs of

state could disrupt the precarious stability of many states

in the region.

The Islamic Revival

In recent years, many developments in the Middle East

have been described in terms of a resurgence of

traditional values and customs in response to Western

influence. Indeed, some conservative religious forces in

the area have consciously attempted to replace foreign

culture and values with allegedly ‘‘pure’’ Islamic forms of

belief and behavior.

But the Islamic revival is not a simple dichotomy

between traditional and modern, native and foreign, or

irrational and rational. In the first place, many Muslims

in the Middle East still believe that Islamic values and

modern ways are not incompatible and may even be

mutually reinforcing. Second, the resurgence of what are

sometimes called ‘‘fundamentalist’’ Islamic groups may, in

ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY

One of George W. Bush’s key objectives in launch-

ing the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was to promote

the emergence of democratic states throughout

the Middle East. According to U.S. officials, one of

the ultimate causes of the formation of terrorist movements in

Muslim societies is the prevalence in such countries of dictato-

rial governments that do not serve the interests of their citi-

zens. According to the Pakistani author of this editorial, the

problem lies as much with the actions of Western countries as

it does with political attitudes in the Muslim world.

M. J. Akbar, ‘‘Linking Islam to Dictatorship’’

Let us examine a central canard, that Islam and democracy are

incompatible. This is an absurdity. There is nothing Islamic or

un-Islamic about democracy. Democracy is the outcome of a

political process, not a religious process.

It is glibly suggested that ‘‘every’’ Muslim country is a dictator-

ship, but the four largest Muslim populations of the world---in

Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, and Turkey---vote to change govern-

ments. Pakistan could easily have been on this list.

Voting does not make these Muslims less or more religious.

There are dictators among Muslims just as there are dictators

among Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus (check out Nepal). ...

Christian Latin America has seen ugly forms of dictatorship, as has

Christian Africa.

What is unique to the Muslim world is not the absence of de-

mocracy but the fact that in 1918, after the defeat of the Ottoman

Empire, every single Muslim in the world lived under foreign

subjugation.

Every single one, from Indonesia to Morocco v ia Turkey. The

Turks threw out their invaders within a few years under the great

leadership of Kemal Atat€urk, but the transition to self-rule in other

Muslim countries was slow, uncertain, and full of traps planted by

the world’s preeminent powers.

The West, in the shape of Britain, France, or America, was

never interested in democracy when a helpful dictator or king

would serve. When people got a chance to express their wish, it was

only logical that they would ask for popular rule. It was the street

that brought Mossadegh to power in Iran and drove the shah of

Iran to tearful exile in Rome. Who brought the shah of Iran and

autocracy back to Iran? The CIA.

If Iranian democracy had been permitted a chance in 1953,

there would have been no uprising led by Ayatollah Khomeini in

1979. In other countries, where the struggle for independence was

long and brutal, as in Algeria and Indonesia, the militias who had

fought the war institutionalized army authority. In other instances,

civilian heroes confused their own well-being with national health.

They became regressive dictators. Once again, there was nothing

Islamic about it.

Muslim countries will become democracies, too, because it is the

finest form of modern governance. But it will be a process interrupted

by bloody experience as the street wrenches power from usurpers.

Democracy has happened in Turkey. It has happened in Bangla-

desh. It is happening in Indonesia. It almost happened in Pakistan,

and the opportunity will return. Democracy takes time in the most

encouraging environments.

Democracy has become the latest rationale for the occupation

of Iraq. ... Granted, democracy is always preferable to tyranny no

matter how it comes. But Iraqis are not dupes. They will take de-

mocracy and place it at the service of nationalism. A decade ago,

America was careless about the definition of victory. Today it is

careless about the definition of democracy.

There is uncertainty and apprehension across the Muslim na-

tions: uncertainty about where they stand, and apprehension about

both American power and the repugnant use of terrorism that in

turn invites the exercise of American power. There is also anger that

a legitimate cause like that of Palestine can get buried in the debris

of confusion. Muslims do not see Palestinians as terrorists.

How does the author answer the charge that democracy

and Islam are incompatible? To what degree is the West

responsible for the problems of the Middle East?

746 CHAPTER 29 CHALLENGES OF NATION BUILDING IN AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

a Middle Eastern context, appear to be a rational and

practical response to self-destructive practices, such as

corruption and hedonism, drunkenness, prostitution, and

the use of drugs. Finally, the reassertion of Islamic values

is seen as a means of establishing a cultural identity and

fighting off the overwhelming impact of Western ideas

(see the comparative essay on p. 730).

Modernist Islam Initially, many Muslim intellectuals

responded to Western influence by trying to create a

‘‘modernized’’ set of Islamic beliefs and practices that

would not clash with the demands of the twentieth cen-

tury. This process took place in most Islamic societies, but

it was especially prevalent in Turkey, Egypt, and Iran, all

of which attempted to make use of Islamic values while

asserting the primacy of other issues such as political and

economic development.

These secularizing trends were particularly noticeable

among the political, intellectual, and economic elites in

urban areas. They had less influenc e in the countryside,

among the poor, and among devout elements within the

clergy. Man y of the clerics believed that Western influence

in the cities had given birth to political and economic

corruption, sexual promiscuity, hedonism, individualism,

and the prevalence of alcohol, pornography, and drugs.

Although such practices had long existed in the Middle

East, they were now far more visible and socially acc eptable.

Return to Tradition Themovementtoreturntotradi-

tional practices strengthened after World War II and

reached its zenith in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. It is

not surprising that Iran took the lead, in light of its long

tradition of ideological purity within the Shi’ite sect as well

as the uncompromisingly secular character of the shah’s

reforms in the postwar era. In Iran today, traditional

Islamic beliefs are all-pervasive and extend into education,

clothing styles, social practices, and the legal system.

The cultural and social effects of the Iranian Revo-

lution were profound as Iranian ideas spread throughout

the area. In Algeria, the political influence of funda-

mentalist Islamic groups grew substantially and enabled

them to win a stunning victory in the national elections

in 1992. When the military stepped in to cancel the sec-

ond round of elections and crack down on the militants,

the latter responded with a campaign of terrorism against

moderates that has claimed thousands of lives.

A similar trend emerged in Egypt, where militant

groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood engaged in ter-

rorism, including the assassination of Sadat and attacks

on foreign tourists, who are considered carriers of corrupt

Western influence.

Even in Turkey, generally considered the most secular

of Islamic societies, a militant political group known as

the Islamic Welfare Party took power in a coalition gov-

ernment formed in 1996. Worried moderates voiced their

concern that the secular legacy of Kemal Atat

€

urk was

being eroded, and eventually the new prime minister

Necmettin Erbakan, agreed to resign under heavy pres-

sure from the military. Frustrated with delays in its ap-

plication for membership in the European Union and

uncomfortable with the militancy of its Arab neighbors,

Turkey has established a security relationship with Israel

and seeks close ties with the United States. But religious

and economic discontent lies just beneath the surface.

Women and Islam

Nowhere have the fault lines between tradition and mo-

dernity within Muslim societies in the Middle East been so

The Qui et Sp irit of a Mosque . For Muslims, the

mosque is a revered oasis for worship, reflection, and

the reading of the Qur’an. Required to pray five times a

day—at dawn, noon, midafternoon, sunset, and early

evening—a Muslim, after ritual ablutions, prostrates

himself facing Mecca to proclaim ‘‘There is no god but

Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.’’ But the mosque is

also a place for quiet devotion, a refuge from the bustle

of daily life. The artwork in a mosque should reflect

motifs from the Qur’an. In this photo, two of the faithful

pray in a mosque under iron lamps on plush layers of

carpets decorated with Qur’anic symbols.



William J. Duiker

SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN THE CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST 747

sharp as in the ongoing debate over the role of women. At

the beginning of the twentieth century, women’s place

in Middle Eastern society had changed little since the

death of the prophet Muhammad. Women were secluded

in their homes and had few legal, political, or social rights.

During the first decades of the twentieth century,

advocates of modernist views began to contend that Is-

lamic doctrine was not inherently opposed to women’s

rights. To modernists, Islamic traditions such as female

seclusion, wearing the veil, and even polygamy were ac-

tually pre-Islamic folk traditions that had been tolerated in

the early Islamic era and continued to be practiced in later

centuries. Such views had considerable impact on a

number of Middle Eastern societies, including Turkey and

Iran. As we have seen, greater rights for women were a

crucial element in the social revolution promoted by Ke-

mal Atat

€

urk in Turkey. In Iran, Shah Reza Khan and his

son granted female suffrage and encouraged the education

of women.

In recent years, a more traditional view of women’s

role has tended to prevail in many Middle Eastern coun-

tries. Attacks by religious conservatives on the growing role

of women contributed to the emotions underlying the

Iranian Revolution of 1979. Iranian women were

instructed to wear the veil and to dress modestly in

public. Films produced in postrev olutionary Iran

rarely featured women, and when they did, physical

contact between men and women was prohibited.

The events in Iran had repercussions in secular

M uslim societies such as Egypt, Turkey, and far-off

Malaysia, where women began to dress more

modestly in public, and criticism of open sexuality

in the media became increasingly frequent.

The most conservative nation by far is still

Saudi Arabia, where women are not only segregated

and expected to wear the v eil in public but ar e also

restricted in education and forbidden to drive au-

tomobiles. Still, women’s rights have been extended

in a few countries. In 1999, women obtained the

righttovoteinKuwait,whiletheyhavebeen

granted an equal right with their husbands to seek a

divorceinEgypt.EveninIran,womenhavemany

freedoms that they lacked before the twentieth

century; for example, they can attend a university,

receive military training, vote, practice birth con-

trol, and publish fiction.

Literature and Art

As in other areas of Asia and Africa, the encounter

with the West in the nineteenth and twentieth

centuries stimulated a cultural renaissance in the

Middle East. Muslim authors translated Western

works into Arabic and Persian and began to experiment

with new literary forms.

Literature Iran has produced one of the most promi-

nent national literatures in the contemporary Middle East.

Since World War II, Iranian literature has been hampered

somewhat by political considerations, since it has been

expected to serve first the Pahlavi monarchy and then the

Islamic republic. Nevertheless, Iranian writers are among

the most prolific in the region and often write in prose,

which has finally been accepted as the equal of poetry.

Despite the male-oriented character of Iranian soci-

ety, many of the new writers have been women. Since the

revolution, the veil and the chador, an all-enveloping

cloak, have become the central metaphor in Iranian

women’s writing. Those who favor the veil and chador

praise them as the last bastion of defense against Western

cultural imperialism. Behind the veil, the Islamic woman

can breathe freely, unpolluted by foreign exploitation and

moral corruption. Other Iranian women, however, con-

sider the chador a ‘‘mobile prison’’ or an oppressive

anachronism from the Dark Ages. As one writer, Sousan

Azadi, expressed it, ‘‘As I pulled the chador over me, I felt

a heaviness descending over me. I was hidden and in hiding.

Iranian Wo men Practic ing Soc cer. Despite the rule that they must cover

their bodies in public, young Iranian women play soccer and other sports, attend

schools and universities, and partake in other activities of the modern world. Here we

see a young woman playing soccer in her black-hooded garment. Although they rarely

did so before the Islamic Revolution, today about two million Iranian women take

part in sports.



Ali Jarekji/Reuters/CORBIS

748 CHAPTER 29 CHALLENGES OF NATION BUILDING IN AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

There was nothing visible left of Sousan Azadi.’’

Whether

or not they accept the veil and chador , women writers are

a vital part of contemporary Iranian literature and are

addressing all aspects of social issues.

Like Iran, Egypt in the twentieth century has expe-

rienced a flowering of literature accelerated by the es-

tablishment of the Egyptian republic in the early 1950s.

The most illustrious contemporary Egyptian writer was

Naguib Mahfouz (1911--2006), who won the Nobel Prize

for Literature in 1988. His Cairo Trilogy (1952) chronicles

three generations of a merchant family in Cairo during

the tumultuous years between the world wars. Mahfouz

was particularly adept at blending panoramic historical

events with the intimate lives of ordinary human beings.

Unlike many other modern writers, his message was es-

sentially optimistic and reflected his hope that religion

and science can work together for the overall betterment

of humankind.

Art Like literature, the art of the modern Middle East

has been profoundly influenced by its exposure to

Western culture. At first, artists tended to imitate Western

models, but later they began to experiment with national

styles, returning to earlier forms for inspiration. Some

emulated the writers in returning to the village to depict

peasants and shepherds, but others followed international

trends and attempted to express the alienation and dis-

illusionment that characterize so much of modern life.

CONCLUSION

THE MIDDLE EAST, like the continent of Africa, is one of

the most unstable regions in the the world today. In part, this

turbulence is due to the continued interference of outsiders

attracted by the massive oil reserves under the parched wastes of the

Arabian peninsula and in the vicinity of the Persian Gulf. Oil is

indeed both a blessing and a curse to the peoples of the region.

Another factor contributing to the volatility of the Middle East

is the tug-of-war between the sense of ethnic identity in the form of

nationalism and the intense longing to be part of a broader Islamic

community, a dream that dates back to the time of the prophet

Muhammad. The desire to create that community---a vision

threatened by the presence of the alien state of Israel---inspired

Gamal Abdul Nasser in the 1950s and Ayatollah Khomeini in the

1970s and 1980s and probably has motivated many of the actions of

Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

A f inal reason for the turmoi l currently affecting the Middle

East is the intense debate over the role of religion in civil society.

Althoug h efforts in various Muslim countri es to return to an

allegedly purer f orm of Islam appear harsh and even repugnant to

many obser vers, it is important to note that Muslim societies are

TIMELINE

1945 1955

1965 1975 19951985 2005 2010

Africa

Middle

East

Statehood

for Ghana

Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal

Founding of the state of Israel

Six-Day War Yom Kippur War

Founding of the Palestine Liberation Organization

Algeria granted

independence from France

Release of Nelson

Mandela from prison

Formation of the Organization of African Unity

Israel-Syria peace talks beginCamp David accords

Iranian

Revolution

Iraqi

invasion

of Kuwait

U.S.-led

invasion

of Iraq

Moderates

gain political

influence

in Iran

Civil war in

Central Africa

Ethnic riots

in Kenya

CONCLUSION 749

SUGGESTED READING

Africa: General For a general survey of contemporary African

history, see R. Oliver, The African Experience (New York, 2000),

which contains interesting essays on a variety of themes, and K.

Shillington, History of Africa (New York, 2005), which takes a

chronological and geographical approach and includes excellent

maps and illustrations.

Two fine treatments of recent events in Africa are M. Meredith,

The Fate of Africa (New York, 2005), and H. French, A Continent

for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa (New York, 2004).

African Literature and Art For a survey of African literature,

see A. Kalu, ed., The Rienner Anthropology of African Literatures

(London, 2007); M. J. Hay, African Novels in the Classroom

(Boulder, Colo., 2000); and M. J. Daymond et al., eds., Women

Writing Africa: The Southern Region (New York, 2003). On art, see

S. L. Kasfir, Contemporary African Art (London, 1999).

Women in Africa For interesting analyses of women’s issues

in the Africa of this time frame, see S. B. Stichter and J. L. Parpart

eds., Patriarchy and Class: African Women in the Home and the

Workforce (Boulder, Colo., 1988), and M. Kevane, Women and

Development in Africa: How Gender Works (Boulder, Colo., 2004).

Recent Events in Africa For contrasting views on the reasons

for Africa’s current difficulties, see J. Marah, The African People in

the Global Village: An Introduction to Pan-African Studies (Lanham,

Md., 1998), and G. Ayittey, Africa in Chaos (New York, 1998).

The Middle East Good general surveys of the modern Middle

East include A. Goldschmidt Jr., A Concise History of the Middle

East (Boulder, Colo., 2005), and G. E. Perry, The Middle East:

Fourteen Islamic Centuries (Elizabeth, N.J., 1992). On Israel and

the Palestinian question, see D. Ross, The Missing Peace: The Inside

Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace (New York, 2004). On

Jerusalem, see B. Wasserstein, Divided Jerusalem: The Struggle for

the Holy City (New Haven, Conn., 2000). The issue of oil is

examined in D. Yergin et al., The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil,

Money, and Power (New York, 1993). Also see M. H. Kerr and E. S.

Yassin, eds., Rich and Poor States in the Middle East: Egypt and

the New Arab Order (Boulder, Colo., 1985).

Iran and Iraq On the Iranian Revolution, see S. Bakash, The

Reign of the Ayatollahs (New York, 1984). Iran’s role in Middle

Eastern politics and diplomacy is analyzed in T. Parsi, Treacherous

Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States

(New Haven, Conn., 2007). The Iran-Iraq War is discussed in

C. Davies, ed., After the War: Iran, Iraq and the Arab Gulf

(Chichester, England, 1990), and S. C. Pelletiere, The Iran-Iraq

War: Chaos in a Vacuum (New York, 1992).

For historical perspective on the invasion of Iraq, see

J. Kendell, Iraq’s Unruly Century (New York, 2003). R. Khalidi,

Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America’s Perilous

Path in the Middle East (Boston, 2003), is a critical look at U.S.

policy in the region.

For expert analysis on the current situation in the region, see

B. Lewis, What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern

Response (Oxford, 2001), and P. L. Bergen, Holy War, Inc.: Inside

the Secret World of Osama bin Laden (New York, 2001).

Women in Islam Two excellent surveys of women in Islam

from pre-Islamic society to the present are L. Ahmed, Women and

Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate (New

Haven, Conn., 1993), and G. Nashat and J. E. Tucker, Women in

the Middle East and North Africa (Bloomington, Ind., 1999). Also

see M. Afkhami and E. Friedl, In the Eye of the Storm: Women in

Post-Revolutionary Iran (Syracuse, N.Y., 1994), and W. Wiebke,

Women in Islam (Princeton, N.J., 1995).

Middle Eastern Literature For a scholarly but accessible

overview of Arabic literature, see M. M. Badawi, A Short History

of Modern Arab Literature (Oxford, 1993). On Iranian literature,

see S. Sullivan and F. Milani, Stories by Iranian Women Since

the Revolution (Austin, Tex., 1991), and M. M. Khorrami and

S. Vatanabadi, eds., A Feast in the Mirror: Short Stories by

Contemporary Iranian Women (Boulder, Colo., 2000).

not alone in deploring the sense of moral decline that is now

allegedly taking place in societies throughout the world. Nor are

they alone in advocating a restoration of traditional religious

values as a means of reversing the trend. Not infrequently,

members of such groups turn to violence as a means of making

their point.

Whatever the reasons, it is clear that a deep-seated sense of

anger i s surgi ng through much of t he Islamic world today, an

anger that transcends specif ic i ssues like the situation in Iraq or

the Arab-Israeli dispute. Although economic privation and

political oppression are undoubtedly important factors, the roots

of Muslim resentment, as historian Bernard Lewis has pointed

out, lie in a historical sense of humiliation at the hands of a

Western colonialism that first emerged centuries ago, when the

Arab hegemony in the Mediterranean region was replaced by

European domination, and culminated early in the twentieth

century, when much of the Middle East was occupied by Western

colonial regimes. Today, the world is reaping the harvest of that

long-cultivated bitterness, and the consequences cannot be

foreseen.

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750 CHAPTER 29 CHALLENGES OF NATION BUILDING IN AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

751

CHAPTER 30

TOWARD THE PACIFIC CENTURY?

CHAPTER OUTLINE

AND FOCUS QUESTIONS

South Asia

How did Gandhi’s and Nehru’s goals for India differ,

and what role did each leader’s views play in shaping

modern India?

Southeast Asia

What kinds of problems have the nations of Southeast

Asia faced since 1945, and how have they attempted to

solve thes e problems?

Japan: Asian Giant

How did the Allied occupation after World War II

change Japan’s political and economic institu tions, and

what remained unchanged?

The Little Tigers

What factors have contributed to the economic

success achieved by the Little Tigers? To what degree

have they applied the Japanese model in forging their

developmental strategies?

CRITICAL THINKING

How would you compare the performance of the

nations of South, Southeast, and East Asia since World

War II? What do you feel accounts for the differences?

The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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Angelo Cavalli/Getty Images

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FIRST-TIME VISITORS to the Malaysian capital of Kuala

Lumpur are astonished to observe a pair of twin towers thrusting

up above the surrounding buildings into the clouds. The Petronas

Towers rise 1,483 feet from ground level; they were the world’s tall-

est buildings at the time of their completion in 1998. (They have

since been surpassed by Taipei 101, in Taiwan; the Shanghai World

Financial Center; and Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.)

Beyond their status as an architectural achievement, the Petro-

nas Towers announced the emergence of Southeast Asia as a major

player on the international scene. It is no accident that the founda-

tions were laid on the site of the Selangor Cricket Club, symbol of

British colonial hegemony in Southeast Asia. ‘‘These towers,’’ com-

mented one local official, ‘‘will do wonders for Asia’s self-esteem and

confidence, which I think is very important, and which I think at

this moment are at the point of takeoff.’’

The sky-piercing towers in Kuala Lumpur and Taipei are not

alone in signaling Asia’s new prominence on the world stage in the

South Asia

Focus Question: How did Gandhi’s and Nehru’s goals

for India differ, and what role did each leader’s views

play in shaping modern India?

In 1947, nearly two centuries of British colonial rule came

to an end when two new independent nations, India and

Pakistan, came into being.

The End of the British Raj

During the 1930s, the nationalist movement in India was

severely shaken by factional disagreements between

Hindus and M uslims. The outbreak of World War II

subdued these sectarian clashes, but they erupted again

after the war ended in 1945. Battles between Hindus and

M uslims broke out in several cities, and M uhammad Ali

Jinnah (1876--1948), leader of the M uslim League, de-

manded the cr eation of a separate state for each. Mean-

while, the Labour Party, which had long been critical of the

British colonial legacy on both moral and economic

grounds, had come to power in Britain, and the new prime

minister, Clement Attlee, announced that power would be

transferred to ‘‘ r esponsible Indian hands ’’ by June 1948.

But the imminence of independence did not

dampen communal strife. As riot s esc alated, the British

reluctantly accepted the inevitability of partition and

declared that on August 15, 1947, two independent

nations---Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan---would be

established. Pakistan would be divide d between the main

area of Muslim habitation i n the Indus River valley in

the west and a separate terr itory in east Bengal 2,000

miles to the east. Although Mahatma Gandhi warned

that partition would provoke ‘‘an orgy of blood,’’

he was

increasingly regarded as a figure of the past, and his

views were ignored.

The British instructed the rulers in the princely states

to choose which state they would join by August 15, but

problems arose in predominantly Hindu Hy derabad,

where the nawab (vicer o y) was a M uslim, and mountain-

ous Kashmir, where a Hindu prince ruled over a Muslim

population. After independenc e was declared, the flight of

millions of Hindus and Muslims across the borders led to

violence and the deaths of more than a million people.

One of the casualties was Gandhi, who was assassinated on

January 30, 1948, as he was going to morning prayer. The

assassin, a Hindu militant, was apparently motivated by

Gandhi’s opposition to a Hindu India.

Independent India

With independence, the Indian National Congress, now

renamed the Congress Party, moved from opposition to

the responsibility of power under Jawaharlal Nehru, the

new prime minister. The prospect must have been in-

timidating. The vast majority of India’s 400 million

people were poor and illiterate. The new nation encom-

passed a significant number of ethnic groups and four-

teen major languages. Although Congress Party leaders

spoke bravely of building a new nation, Indian society

still bore the scars of past wars and divisions.

The government’s first problem was to resolve dis-

putes left over from the transition period. The rulers of

Hyderabad and Kashmir had both followed their own

preferences rather than the wishes of their subject pop-

ulations. Nehru was determined to include both states

within India. In 1948, Indian troops invaded Hyderabad

and annexed the area. India was also able to seize most of

Kashmir, but at the cost of creating an intractable prob-

lem that has poisoned relations with Pakistan down to the

present day.

An Experiment in Democratic Socialism Under Nehru’s

leadership, India adopted a political system on the British

model, with a figurehead president and a parliamentary

form of government. A number of political parties op-

erated legally, but the Congress Party, with its enormous

prestige and charismatic leadership, was dominant at

both the central and the local levels.

Nehru had been influenced by British socialism and

patterned his economic policy roughly after the program

of the British Labour Party. The state took over owner-

ship of the major industries and resources, transporta-

tion, and utilities, while private enterprise was permitted

at the local and retail levels. Farmland remained in private

hands, but rural cooperatives were officially encouraged.

In other respects, Nehru was a devotee of Western

materialism. He was convinced that to succeed, India

must industrialize. In advocating industrialization, Nehru

SOUTH ASIA 753

century now unfolding. Several other cities in the region, including

Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, and Shanghai, have become major

capitals of finance and monuments of economic prowess, rivaling

the traditional centers of New York, London, Berlin, and Paris.

That the nations of the Pacific Rim would become a driving

force in global development was all but unimaginable after World

War II, when the Communist triumph in China ushered in an era of

intense competition between the capitalist and socialist camps. Bitter

conflicts in Korea and Vietnam were visible manifestations of a re-

gion in turmoil. Yet today, many of the nations of eastern Asia have

become models of successful nation building, characterized by eco-

nomic prosperity and political stability. They have heralded the

opening of what has been called the ‘‘Pacific Century.’’