TY  - JOUR
T1  - Sources of Conflict in the Middle East: Borders or Stratified Identities?
TT  - Sources of Conflict in the Middle East: Borders or Stratified Identities?
AU  - Turan, Kürşad
PY  - 2018
DA  - March
DO  - 10.17134/khosbd.405246
JF  - Savunma Bilimleri Dergisi
PB  - Millî Savunma Üniversitesi
WT  - DergiPark
SN  - 1303-6831
SP  - 85
EP  - 113
VL  - 16
IS  - 1
LA  - en
AB  - Abstract Since the end of Ottoman control, MiddleEast has experienced a large number of conflicts. The arrangements made at theend of World War I are often blamed for these conflicts. Arbitrarily drawnborders and the creation of influence zones between Great Britain and Francewithout paying attention to religious and ethnic divisions present in theregion are seen at the source of today’s conflicts. Arangements such as theBunsen Committee report, Sykes-Picot agreement, and Hussein-McMahoncorrespondence shaped the region after the war, but none of these weresuccessfully implemented due to changing circumstances, and their contradictingnature. This study argues that even though these constituted the first step inthe creation of the modern Middle East, the real cause of today’s conflicts liein the creation of a stratified politicized identity system that emergedthrough stages over the past century. These stages were marked by the conflictsbetween Arab nationalism and nation state identities; the politicization ofsectarianism; and finally the emergence of ethnicity in politics. Keywords: Middle East, conflict, Sykes-Picot agreement, Arab nationalism,sectarianism, ethnicity.
KW  - Middle East
KW  - conflict
KW  - Skyes-Picot agreement
KW  - Arab nationalism
KW  - sectarianism
KW  - ethnicity
N2  - Abstract Since the end of Ottoman control, MiddleEast has experienced a large number of conflicts. The arrangements made at theend of World War I are often blamed for these conflicts. Arbitrarily drawnborders and the creation of influence zones between Great Britain and Francewithout paying attention to religious and ethnic divisions present in theregion are seen at the source of today’s conflicts. Arangements such as theBunsen Committee report, Sykes-Picot agreement, and Hussein-McMahoncorrespondence shaped the region after the war, but none of these weresuccessfully implemented due to changing circumstances, and their contradictingnature. This study argues that even though these constituted the first step inthe creation of the modern Middle East, the real cause of today’s conflicts liein the creation of a stratified politicized identity system that emergedthrough stages over the past century. These stages were marked by the conflictsbetween Arab nationalism and nation state identities; the politicization ofsectarianism; and finally the emergence of ethnicity in politics.
CR  - References
CR  - Books
CR  - Isaiah Friedman, The Question of Palestine, 1914-1918 (London, 1973)
CR  - Articles
CR  - Aaron S. Klieman, “Britain’s War Aims in the Middle East,” Journal of Contemporary History, 3 (3), July 1968, 237-251.
CR  - Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), “The MaMahon-Hussein Correspondence,” Factsheet series No. 140, October 2011 (29.03.2016).
CR  - Ernest Dawn, “The Formation of Pan-Arab Ideology in the Interwar Years,” International Journal of Middle East Studies, 20 (1), February 1988, 67-91.
Isaiah Friedman, “The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence and the Qustion of Palestine,” Journal of Contemporary History, 5 (2), 1970, pp. 83-122.
CR  - Mahmoud Haddad, “Arab Religious Nationalism in te Colonial Era: Rereading Rashid Rida's Ideas on the Caliphate,” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 117 (2), April-June 1997, pp. 253-277.
CR  - Mark Levene, “The Balfour Declaration: A Case of Mistaken Identity,” The English Historical Review, 107 (422), January 1992, pp. 54-77.
CR  - Mehdi Mozaffari, “What Is Islamism? History and Definition of a Concept,” Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, 8 (1), 2007, pp. 17-33.
CR  - Nader Hashemi, “Toward a Political Theory of Sectarianism in the Middle East: The Salience of Authoritarianism over Theology,” Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies, 1 (1), 2016, pp. 65-76.
CR  - Steven L. Foster, “The Historical Implications of Defining Sovereignty in the Middle East, 19.01.2016 (29.03.2016).
CR  - William I. Shorrock, “The Origin of the French Mandate in Syria and Lebanon: The Railroad Question, 1901-1914,” International Journal of Middle East Studies, 1 (2), April 1970, 133-153.
CR  - Internet Sources
CR  - Adel Suleiman, “Will the Sykes-Picot Agreement Collapse?” Middle East Monitor 21.01.2016, https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/ middle-east/23471-will-the-sykes-picot-agreement-collapse (27.03.2016).
CR  - News
CR  - Tarek Osman, “Why Border Lines Drawn with a Ruler in WWI Still Rock the Middle East,” BBC News, 14 December 2013 (26.07.2016).
UR  - https://doi.org/10.17134/khosbd.405246
L1  - https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/440245
ER  -