1. Major Themes in Contemporary Middle East
LECTURE 2
The Middle East during the Cold War

2. Updated Course Outline
Week 1. Historical Background: Empire, Colonialism and Nationalism (6 August)
Week 2. Middle East during the Cold War (20 August)
Week 3. Political Islam (27 August)
No class on 3 September
Week 4. Geopolitics of Energy (10 September)
No class on 17 September
Week 5. Socio-Economic Transformations: Environment, Urbanisation & Migration (24 September)
Week 6. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (1 October)
Week 7. Mid-term Exam (8 October)

4. Summary of Lecture 1 Always study with a map!
Conceptualisation of the “Middle East”
Orientalism
The Ottoman Empire: how did survive, why did it decline?
Economic troubles
Multi-culturalism versus Nationalism
World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire
Redrawing the map of the Middle East
Legacies of colonialism

5. Ottoman History Podcast
Conversations with experts, scholars, researchers on diverse subjects
Not just about the Ottoman Empire; covers 20th century and modern-day Middle East as well.
Episode 399: “Orientalism in the Ottoman Empire” aired on 26 Jan 2019.

6. Cold War and the Middle East
What impact did Cold War rivalries have on the Middle East?
Regional players: pawns of superpowers or sovereign actors?
What are the legacies of the Cold War?
Economic, democratic, ideological

7. Impact and Limitations
Ideological & geopolitical polarisation
Long-term influence on secular democratic norms
Limited impact on the map of Middle East (like WWII, unlike WWI)
Lower intensity or devastation compared to Europe, Africa, Latin America or Asia
Halliday: “The region knew no Vietnam or Korea, no Angola or El Salvador”
First direct military action by US is after the Cold War (Iraq 1991)
Parallel stories: De-colonisation; Rise and fall of Arab socialism; Arab-Israeli wars; Economic transformations
Regional powers used CW dynamics as much as they were affected by them
BUT…

8. Balance of Superpowers
United States
“Free world vs. totalitarianism”
Positive early reputation
Growing interests: Israel & Oil
Alliance w/ non-Arab states and Arab monarchies
Turkey, Iran (until 1979), Israel
Iraq (until 1958), Saudi Arabia, Jordan
Soviet Union
“Industrial development & classless society”
Late entry to the game
No interest in oil
Strategic partners w/ Arab republics
But no satellites (Romania) or ideological allies (Cuba)
Except South Yemen ( )

9. Phases of the CW in the Middle East
1946 – 1956
1956 – 1967
From the Suez Crisis to the Six-Day War
Arab Socialism
Nasserism, Baathism
Soviet influence in Arab World
1958 – 61: UAR
1958 – 68: Coups in Iraq
1961: NAM
1961: US missiles in Turkey
1962 – 67: Yemen War
From the Six-Day War to the Islamic Revolution
Conflicts & manoeuvres
US – Israeli partnership
PLO
Non-state actors, social movements & “terrorism”
Oil
1973: Yom Kippur War
1975–90: Lebanese Civil War; 82 Israeli invasion
1978: Camp David Accords
1979: USSR in Afghanistan
From the Islamic Revolution to the First Gulf War
Waning Soviet influence
Rising Islamist movements
Washington Consensus
1980: Coup in Turkey
: Iran-Iraq War
1987: First intifada
1988: USSR withdrawal from Afghanistan
1985 – 91: Perestroika
From Post-WWII occupation of Iran to the Suez Crisis
End of the European moment
De-colonisation
Non-Arab Cold War
Truman Doctrine, Marshall Fund
1952: Turkey joins NATO
1952: Egyptian Coup/Rev.
1953: CIA coup in Iran
1955: Baghdad Pact

10. Decolonisation Post-WWII independence movements in Third World
1966 film
[Trailer]
Decolonisation
Post-WWII independence movements in Third World
Relatively smooth withdrawals:
British from Iraq (1932)
France from Syria & Lebanon ( )
Messy withdrawals:
British from Palestine ( )
Very messy withdrawals:
France from North Africa (1950s and 60s)
Algerian War of Independence (1954 – 1962)
1961 book

11. [Short History Channel documentary]
The Suez Crisis
1952: Free Officers overthrow the Egyptian monarchy
Nasser wants to build a dam in Aswan to control irrigation of the Nile
Western funding obstructed due to Nasser’s Soviet ties
1956: Nasser nationalises the Suez Canal
Britain, France and Israel invade Egypt
Soviet Union threatens nuclear retaliation
US threatens economic sanction
[Short History Channel documentary]

12. The Suez Crisis [outcomes]
End of European colonial hegemony
Declaration of the new bipolar world order
Nasser undisputed hero of the Arab world
Soviet entry into the Middle East
“The Other Side of Suez” (BBC Documentary)

13. Arab Socialism Develops in framework of decolonisation
Nationalist (pan-Arabism)
Secular
Republican
Statist
Military-led
Anti-Israel
NOT communist
NOT democratic
Clash with conservative monarchies: Modernity versus heritage
Rise  Suez Crisis (1956); Fall  Six-Day War (1967)
Arab Socialist Union Congress in Cairo, 1969

14. Arab Socialism NASSERISM Driving force behind Arab Socialism
Nasser’s funeral
NASSERISM
Driving force behind Arab Socialism
Hero of the Suez War
“First Egyptian ruler of Egypt since the Pharaohs”
Massively popular (and populist)
Humiliating defeat in 1967
Dies in million attend his funeral.
Limited lasting legacy
Successor Sadat emphasises “sons of the Nile” over “Arab umma”
Egyptian nationalism
Pivot to the West, Peace w/ Israel
1963 TIME cover
Arab Socialist Union Congress in Cairo, 1969

15. Arab Socialism BAATHISM Baath = Renaissance In Syria In Iraq
Founded by Christian & Alawite intellectuals (Michel Aflaq)
1954 elections: “Arab Socialist Baath” second largest party after Communists
Unity w/ Egypt 58-61
1960s: Internal division (pro and anti- Nasser)
1966 Military Coup: Syrian Baath
Hafez al-Assad (1970 – 2000)
Bashar al-Assad ( …)
In Iraq
1958 military coup overthrows monarchy
1963 & 68 coups: Iraqi Baath takes over
Saddam Hussein (1979 – 2003)
In Iran-Iraq war (1980 – 88), Syria supports Iran against Iraq
Saddam Hussein
Hafez & Bashar al-Assad

16. Cold War Foreign Policy
Arab Socialism
Cold War Foreign Policy
“Positive Neutrality”
Non-Aligned Movement
Third World Independence
1955 Bandung, 1961 Belgrade Conferences
United Arab Republic
1958 – 1961
Political union Egypt and Syria
Loose confederation with Yemen
Iraq never joined
Capital: Cairo
Proposed by Syrians but increasingly under Nasser’s influence
Crackdown of Syrian communists
Syria secedes in 1961
SA, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel,
Both high point of Arab unity & example of its disunity
“Egypt & Syria Form United Arab Republic (1958)” British Pathe

17. Legacy and Fate Achievements Baghdad 1960s Nation-State building
Infrastructural Development
Cairo 1960s

18. Legacy and Fate EGYPT IRAQ SYRIA LIBYA Achievements Failures
Nation-State building
Infrastructural Development
Failures
Economic inefficiency
Bureaucratic corruption
Political repression
Land reform benefiting the few
Factionalism and disunity
Military weakness
IRAQ
SYRIA
LIBYA

19. Six Day War Arab-Israeli Wars Outcomes
1948: War of Independence/Nakbah (Catastrophe)
1956: Suez Crisis
1967: Six-Day War
1973: Yom Kippur War
Outcomes
Humiliating defeat for Arab armies
Decline of Arab socialism
Egypt pivots to the US
Rise of PLO as autonomous actor
Boost to Islamism
In Israel: the burden of occupation
US begins to see Israel as a vital partner

20. Six Day War Cold War CNN Documentary 1998 24 Episodes
Episode 17: “Good Guys, Bad Guys ”

21. Late CW: Economic transformations
1960s and 70s
Import-Substitution- Industrialisation (ISI)
Protectionism State planning Industrialisation
Aimed to reduce foreign dependency
“Dependency Theory” (FHC)
Origins in Latin America
70s: Crisis in non-oil producing M.E. states
Late 1970s onwards
Neo-liberalisation
Removal of state subsidies Privatisations Trade liberalisation De-unionisation
Washington Consensus
WB & IMF austerity measures & shock therapy
Raegan-Thatcher & The Chicago School
Coup in Chile 1975
Egypt:
1977: First major IMF deal, subsidy cuts, “bread riots”
World’s largest importer of wheat
Dependent on US food aid
Turkey:
A cause of 1980 coup
IMF programmes from mid-70s until mid-2000s
Israel:
From pro-state Labor to pro-market Likud + religious groups
Likud victory 1977

22. Legacies of the Cold War
Iran 1953
British and US-backed coup against Mohammad Mossaddeq
Nationalisation of AIOC
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi resintalled
Shah’s 25-year authoritarian rule paves way for the Islamic Revolution in 1979
Legacies of the Cold War
Impact on democracy
Suppression of vibrant secular and socialist democracy movements
National govts and superpowers see independent labour movements, social democracy, socialism seen as a threat
Lasting anti-democratic legacy of foreign-backed coups

23. Legacies of the Cold War
Turkey
Military tutelage
Coups 1960, 71, 80
NATO’s secret “Special Warfare Department”
Training of anti- communist paramilitary groups
Impact on democracy
Suppression of vibrant secular and socialist democracy movements
National govts and superpowers see independent labour movements, social democracy, socialism seen as a threat
Lasting anti-democratic legacy of foreign-backed coups

24. Legacies of the Cold War
Rise of Islamism
US and allies provide arms and support to Sunni Islamist movements against secular left-wing rivals
Afghanistan  Muhajedeen
Turkey  Turkish-Islamic synthesis
Palestine  Hamas
Robert Fisk’s 1993 Interview with Osama Bin Laden
Rambo helping the Afghan mujahedeen fight the evil Soviets in Rambo 3 (1988) [Ending]

25. Legacies of the Cold War
Rise of Islamism
US and allies provide arms and support to Sunni Islamist movements against secular left-wing rivals
Afghanistan  Muhajedeen
Turkey  Turkish-Islamic synthesis
Palestine  Hamas

26. Political Islam (27 August)
Lecture 3.
Political Islam (27 August)