Deconstructing the Sykes-Picot Myth: Frontiers, Boundaries, Borders and the Evolution of Ottoman Territoriality

Year 2020, Volume: 9 Issue: 1, 83 - 104, 20.12.2019

Ali Murat Kurşun

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.541258

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the emergence of the Sykes-Picot order and
deconstruct its mythologization by proposing an evolutionary assessment of
border understanding. This study addresses the following primary research
questions: How did the interplay of domestic, regional, and international developments
lay the groundwork for the formation of the Sykes-Picot territorial order? How
was the administrative structure and regional divisions before the Sykes-Picot
agreement and to which border categorizations did these structures correspond?
Was the Sykes-Picot agreement the only international intervention that affected
the borders of the region or were there other international interventions
before the Sykes-Picot agreement? This study argues that the history of Middle
Eastern border formation is not only an international one but also involves
many aspects that have not widely been taken into consideration. In doing so, this
paper adopts a critical historical perspective to analyze the evolution of
Middle Eastern borders. This paper proposes a three-tracked evolutionary
analytical framework (frontiers, boundaries, borders) to analyze the emergence
of borders and applies it to the emergence of Ottoman territoriality. This
study concludes that the Sykes-Picot agreement is only one, complementary part
of a long process in the emergence of Middle Eastern geopolitics.

Keywords

Ottoman territoriality, Sykes-Picot Agreement, Middle Eastern borders, border studies

References

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