Lecture 34 – Post Colonialism and Beyond in Latin
America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East
Beyond the Post Colonial Era: It can be argued that with the end of apartheid in South Africa, the age of
postcolonialism is over. Eastern Asia has entered on an age of great prosperity. Since 1945, two distinct
developments emerged in the post-colonial world.
1. First of all, as European power retreated, new governments emerged in Africa and Asia with
the task of resuming self-government after generations of foreign rule and the problem of
rendering their homelands less dependent on Europe, America, and Japan. This has been
accompanied by four stages of relations to the more developed areas:
The Cold War: During this period, most new nations became proteges of one of the two
quarrelling superpowers. The alliance of the US with old colonial master-states led many
nations to turn to Russia.
The Problem of Globalization: Since the end of the Cold War, the rising economic
interdependence of the world (globalization) has posed problems for the new nations due
to their inheriting economies shaped to be dependent on the colonial motherlands.
Rising Democracy: Though some nations still struggle with authoritarianism,
democracy has tended to increase over time.
Rising Religion: In many countries, assertive religious movements have arisen, not
always in harmony with rising democracy. Some people see this as a clash of
civilizations, a war of the modern west against resurgent anachronism. (Many Americans
took this view in the wake of 9/11/01.) Others argue this overestimates the strength of
religious resurgence and the unity of various global cultures. They argue the world has
always had clashing cultures and that the problems of the present (pollution, climate
change, famine, war, etc) require more cooperation between nations. Whatever the truth
here, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity continue to be relevant at the global
scale. (And many other groups endure—Jews, Sikhs, Jains, Taoists, Shinto, etc.)
Latin America Since 1945: Since World War II, the leaders of Latin America have tried to reduce
dependence on the outside world, with generally mixed success. After World War II, Latin America found
itself drawn into the ongoing struggle of the superpowers, though not so much so as some regions. US and
Russian investment was used to expand economies, but often they could not pay their debts, leading to
further subjection to US or Soviet power.
Social Structures: Latin America remains mired in poverty. At the same time, huge urban slums
have grown while an urban middle class, well educated and prosperous, has also arisen. (In
Bogota, Colombia, at night you can see the lights of one of the mountainside shanty towns on the
fringe of the city, climbing the mountain slope skyward like stars. Half a mile away, grand
apartment buildings, with large and spacious apartments that have cable TV, electricity, running
water, air conditioning, etc, arise skyward tens of stories.) The successful middle class has little
desire for social change or revolution, just for their own comforts. They supported status quo
supporting military governments in the 60s and 70s.
Political Changes: The Cold War tended to either bring Soviet-backed Communists to power
(Cuba and Nicaragua) or US-backed authoritarian anti-communists (such as Pinochet in Chile) to
power. Only Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and Costa Rica remained democracies consistently,
though Colombia was torn by civil war. The military took on increased political power in most
nations. The Catholic church attacked poverty and social inequality; some theologians formulated
a religious critique of social and economic inequality known as Liberation Theology, though it
was condemned by the Vatican. It advocated a Christian, non-violent form of socialism and
political protests and action to aid in achieving social justice. Since 1990, however, Latin America
has moved away from authoritarianism and back towards democracy. International Drug cartels
are an ongoing problem for many nations due to the US insatiable appetite for Latin American
drugs, especially cocaine, grown by many peasants to survive economically.
Revolutionary Challenges: There have been four attempts to establish genuniely revolutionary
govenrments pursuing major social and economic change: Cuba in 1959, Chile in 1970,
Nicaragua in 1979 and Peru in the 1980s. (Heritage, p. 1030.) All involved some sort of Marxist
political organization and all but Peru were connected to the Soviet Union.
Cuba: In the 1950s, Cuba was ruled by Fulgencio Battista, a military dictator who was
strongly allied to US organized crime groups. Cuba became their haven from the law in
the US. But he was also supported by the US government and it was the usual corrupt
authoritarian anti-communist regime. Between 1956 and 1959, a group of Cubans led by
Fidel Castro (1926- ) and Che Guevarra (1928-1967). Battista fled in January 1959 and
Castro took over. Castro undertook one of the largest reshapings of a nation ever, setting
up an authoritarian Communist government, backed by Russia. The land was
collectivized (or broken into small private holdings in some cases) and the wealthy fell
from power; many fled the country. Cuba focused on agriculture, especially sugar. The
US was hostile to Castro and made many attempts to overthrow him, some rather insane
(exploding cigars) and some simply flops (an effort to sponsor an invasion by Cuban
exiles, the Bay of Pigs catastrophe in 1961). In 1962, Soviet attempts to put missiles in
Cuba almost caused a nuclear war. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba plunged
into the ‘Special Period’ of the 1990s, in which the loss of Soviet subsidies led to
economic meltdown. By the 2000s, Cuba has recovered from this crisis through
agricultural innovations, opening up lands to private enterprise of agriculture. Further, it
has recently allied itself to Chavez’s Venezuela and its willingness to provide medical
help to other nations has earned it a lot of goodwill. With Fidel Castro too sick to
continue governing, however, the future of Cuba remains unclear; his brother Raul has
stepped in to lead Cuba, but he is unlikely to last too much longer, due to his own age.
During the reign of Castro, Cuba’s attempts to export first revolution, and then
educational and medical aid to other countries and its ability to poke the US in the eye
has given it disproportionate fame and influence. (While Cuba remains poor, Cuba has
some of the best education and medical care in Latin America.)
Chile: Until the 1970s, Chile was a model for parliamentary democracy. Economic
decline in the 60s heightened class and political tensions. The election of Salvador
Allende (1908-73), a socialist and Marxist, however, brought the growing crisis to a
head. He became president but lacked control of Congress or the military. The Chilean
congress blocked many of his measures, but he began appropriating foreign companies
by decree. (Many were US owned.) This panicked small to medium Chilean
businessmen. At the same time, this did little to help the poor. Attempts at land redistribution did not increase agriculture. By 1973, Allende had many enemies and few
allies. He was unable or unwilling to compromise with other factions. The Nixon
administration then backed a coup by the military. Allende was overthrown and killed.
From 1973-88, a brutal military junta ruled the nation, led by General Augusto Pinochet
(1915-2006). It allied itself to the US, killed and kidnapped its own people, and directed
a free market program dictated by the ideas of US laissez-faire economists like Milton
Friedman. The economy briefly rallied then declined again. (In 1973, 20% of Chileans
lived in poverty; by 1988, 40% did.) In 1988, he was removed as President and the
nation has been a democracy ever since; Pinochet and his supporters had to flee to avoid
prosecution. He was eventually returned to Chile, but was too ill to stand trial, then
finally died.
Nicaragua: In 1979, the corrupt Somoza family dictatorship was overthrown in
Nicaragua by the Sandinistas (Sandanista National Liberation Front). The Somoza had
ruled since the 1930s with moderate support from the US. The Sandinistas were a
mixture of Marxists, Roman Catholic priests, and others left wingers seeking social
reform. It remained in power until 1990, winning a series of democratic elections.
However, the continuing struggle with the ‘Contras’, anti-Sandanista guerillas backed by
the US, prevented much reform. The Reagan administration (1981-9) was very hostile to
the Sandanistas. They feared it would become another Cuba. Indeed, Cuba provided
major assistance to the Sandanistas in the areas of education, economic development, and
medicine, while Nicaragua shipped food to help feed Cuba. They stepped down in 1990
after losing an election but remain one of the major parties. (Indeed, in 2006, their leader
Daniel Ortega was elected president.)
Pursuit of Stability Under the Threat of Revolution:
Argentina: In 1955, the Army overthrew Juan Peron, who fled into exile. Two decades
of unrest and economic stagnation followed. (Heritage, p. 1033.) By 1976, the military
took over. Thousands of people simply vanished under military rule, and in 1982, the
military tried to seize the Falkland Islands from Britain. They lost and in 1983, civilian
rule resumed. President Raul Alfonsin (1927 - ) purged the military and restored civilian
authority. Since then, Argentina has remained a strong democracy. The economy,
however, continues to stagger from crisis to crisis.
Brazil: From 1964 to 1985, the military ruled Brazil. It was very repressive, yet many in
the Army feared military rule would destroy civilian respect for the military. This led to
a peaceful surrender of power in 1985. Under military rule, foreign investment was
invited in to develop the country. It was very successful, but it also racked up huge
foreign debt. The Amazon rain forest has come under attack as part of economic growth,
eliminating 12% of it. (Heritage, p. 1033.) Brazil has also become a world leader in
production of sugar-based auto fuels and cars designed to run on biofuels.
Mexico: Mexico remained under control of the PRI until the 1990s. However, the PRI
became more conservative after 1945, at least in comparison to Marxist regimes. In
1988, election results were heavily disputed, weakening the PRI’s hold on the country.
The party became more decentralized and President Carlos Salinas moved to privatize
economic enterprises and to negotiate free trade agreements. The most important of these
was NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which removed trade barriers
between the US, Canada, and Mexico. Internal conflict, a revolt, the assassination of the
PRI’s 1994 candidate, economic downturn, armed rebellion in Chiapas, and other
problems chipped away at the PRI’s position. In 2000, Vincente Fox (President from
2000 to 2006), leader of the National Action Party (PAN), became President. He had a
close friendly relationship with President George W. Bush of the United States but the
Mexican economy floundered. The 2006 election was full of accusations of fraud, but
Felipe del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa, candidate of PAN, emerged as
the victor, though some 36% of Mexicans think his election was fraudulent.
Post-Colonial Africa: In Africa, colonial era divisions were turned into new states by independence
movements, though many were torn by conflicting nationalities and lacked long-term historical identity.
The period between World War I and II generated the nationalism and independence movements which
first liberated then held these new nations together. The role of Africa in World War II helped to catalyze
this process.
The Transition to Independence: Since World War II, nearly 60 independent states have
emerged in Africa. By 1980, every state except for Spanish Morocco and Western Sahara were
independent, though Namibia and South Africa were white dominated. Men such as Jomo
Kenyatta (1893-1976) in Kenya emerged as symbols of their nations. Only a few movements had
to use violence to get the Europeans out. French Algeria (1955-1962), Portuguese Angola and
Mozambique (1961-75), Belgian Congo, Northern and Southern Rhodesia (now Zambia and
Zimbabwe) from 1960 to 1980 were the main sources of violence. Unfortunately, many states
succumbed to internal civil war as different nationalities fought for control of national resources
and what few sources of wealth the colonizing nations had created in their colonies. Most nations
lacked enough educated people to run an honest government, and corruption was rife.
Nigeria: The Republic of Nigeria, home to 100 million people, is the most populous
state in Africa. In 1960 it gained its freedom and in 1964 became a federated republic,
combining Eastern, Western, and Northern regions. The Igbo dominate the east, the
Yoruba in the West, and the Hausa and Fulani in the North. The official language is
English, but these four major languages are accepted for government business. In 1966,
an Ibo leader staged a coup, only to die, then the Eastern Province rose in revolt after a
brief period of military rule, declaring itself the nation of Biafra. Civil War ensued.
Over a million died by the time of Biafran surrender in 1970. The war built a sense of
nationalism over the corpses of the Biafrans. Continual instability has plagued Nigeria
ever since. In 1999, the nation finally returned to civilian rule with a peaceful election.
2003 and 2007 have seen successful elections, though heavy charges of corruption and
fraud have marred them. Nigerians continue to squabble over control of the oil
producing Niger Delta, over Christian and Moslem relations and over the problem of
inadequate infrastructure. Nigeria has, unfortunately, also become a major center for
internet scams, the most famous of which is the ‘Nigerian minister’ scam, due to having
higher levels of internet access than much of Africa.
South Africa: Only in Africa did white colonists hold onto power in the new states into
the 1990s, though Rhodesia’s two halves came close. From 1948, when the Afrikaanerled National Party (NP) came to power, a brutal system of white/black segregation known
as apartheid was imposed on South Africa. The 5.4 million whites governed; blacks
were used as labor and kept out of any power or voice in the future. 31 million blacks,
3.7 mixed ancestry “coloreds”, and 1 million Indians were forced to do the worst work
and live in the worst places. Heavy repression maintained this. After 1960, South Africa
found itself increasingly isolated as the rest of Africa became hostile to it. Organized
resistance to apartheid by those on the bottom was rising. International pressure mounted
in the 1980s, despite some concessions by Pieter Botha, leader of the NP after 1978.
Starting in 1986, many nations responded to Anglican bishop Desmond Tutu (winner of
the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize. Zulu Chief Albert Luthuli had won it in 1960. Both won for
their efforts against apartheid.) when he called for economic sanctions on South Africa.
Botha resigned in 1989 and now his successor F. W. De Klerk (1936- ) began to
dismantle apartheid. The African National Congress was allowed to operate and its
leader Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison in 1991. Even the white
community approved an end to segregation in 1992. De Klerk and Mandela and the
leaders of 18 other parties approved a new constitution. (This got them the Nobel Peace
Prize jointly in 1993.) The ANC won 63% of the vote in 1994 and Apartheid was over.
South Africa still struggles with problems of education, income inequality, black poverty,
militant groups, and poor public facilities, despite its copious natural resources.
The African Future: Efforts at larger unions of states have not had much success.
Some states have had success at political stability and boosting their economy; others,
like Liberia and Sudan, remain disaster zones. Further, overpopulation, disease
(especially AIDS), famine, a shortage of technology experts, and economic
underdevelopment plague almost everyone. The growth of cities has disrupted
traditionally agricultural societies.
Central, South, and Southeast Asia: The Islamic Heartland: Lands dominated or strongly influenced
by Islam stretch from northwestern Africa to the Phillipines. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia
have more Moslems than any Arab nation; Indonesia alone has 180 million and the four collectively
outnumber the Arab Moslems by more than 2 to 1.
Turkey: In Turkey, democracy has been the rule since the 1920s, and Turkey has tried hard to
westernize itself. However, the Turkish military has deposed multiple governments to try to
maintain the secularity and civil nature of the state. Turkey overlaps both Europe and Asia but has
tried to orient itself towards Europe politically, especially since World War II, joining NATO and
applying to join the EU. (It also participates in European soccer and the Eurovision Song
Contest.) It’s also built ties with the new ex-Soviet Turkish republics of central Asia. Many in
Europe are skeptical whether it can fit into the EU. Human rights violations against Armenians,
Kurds, journalists and other groups has led many to oppose its admission. Its future is yet to be
decided.
Iran and its Islamic Revolution: From 1925 to 1941, Reza Khan ruled as Shah of Iran; he was a
former army commander. He tried to modernize Iran as a highly centralized but scientific,
efficient, and rational monarchy. The Russians and the British deposed him in 1941 in favor of his
son Muhammed Reza Pahlavi (ruled 1941-1979). Between 1951-3, he lost his absolutist power
to a nationalist revolution (in response to the Shah’s attempt to remove the prime minister from
office after he nationalized all oil companies) led by Muhammad Mosaddeq (the prime minister in
question, who lived 1881-1967), only to be restored by a revolt aided by the US and British.
Mosaddeq had imposed democracy and secular nationalism for a short time; the Shah returned to
rule autocratically. This turned many Iranians against the US. Popular pressure forced the Shah to
institute land reforms in the 1960s, but there were growing inequalities and oil wealth enabled the
Shah to eventually end multi-party government in the 1970s. In 1978-9, secular nationalists
joined with religious leaders to drive the Shah into exile. Over the next several years, previously
exiled religious leader, the Ayatollah Khomeni (1902-1989), consolidated his control over the
new Islamic Republic. Khomeni and his successors struggled to reconcile the demands of
realpolitik with Islamic religious teachings. In 1997, the first real leadership contest since 1979
took plce, placing Mohammed Khatami as President of Iran. Khatami tried to steer Iran on a more
moderate course, but was unable to overcome economic problems and the rejection of Iran as part
of the ‘Axis of Evil’ by the second Bush administration. In 2005, he was succeeded by Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, former mayor of Tehran. Ahmadinejad has pursued an aggressive foreign policy in
order to cover up his entire ineptness at dealing with the growing problems of the Iranian
economy, spewing rhetoric about the Holocaust being imaginary and pursuing a nuclear program.
Afghanistan and the Former Soviet Republics: 40 million Moslems live in the Turkish
republics which formerly were part of the Soviet Union in central Asia. 30 million more live in
China. Both groups faced heavy pressure to lose their identities to the communist imperialism of
Russia and China. By the 1980s, these groups began to assert themselves; Soviet Moslems won
free in the 1990s with the collapse of Soviet rule in Afghanistan and the collapse of the USSR.
However, the newly independent states lacked the proper infrastructure for independence. Many
have become dictatorships. Afghanistan became a power vaccum, eventually filled by the
conservative Taliban movement, one of many Afghan groups the US had supported against
Russia. The Taliban imposed a mixture of strict Islamic law and heavy Islamic customs (veiling,
etc). They also allowed al-Qaeda to take refuge there. This led to their overthrow by US and
other forces in 2001 after the 9-11 attacks.
India: India, Hindu-dominated, and Pakistan, Moslem-dominated, were created out of British
India in 1947. Ever since, the two nations have often been enemies. The displacement of millions
in 1947 began this problem. With Ghandi assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu fanatic, the Congress
Party, formerly led by Ghandi, has tended to dominate India’s political leadership, at first under
the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964). Nehru set India’s pattern of trying to remain
neutral in the Communist/Capitalist struggle. His secularist and reconcillatory policies helped to
ease tensions between castes, nationalities, and religions. (Heritage, p. 1042.) Hindi and English
became national languages, while 14 regional languages are also used. From 1966 to 1977 and
1980-84, Indira Ghandi, daughter of Jawahral Nehru, led India. Her defeat of Pakistan in 1971
and its partition into West and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), cemented her power. Like her
father, she stayed neutral in Cold War conflicts. She developed atomic weapons with Russian aid,
making India the premier regional power, but was unable to improve problems with the economy.
India continues to struggle with many problems in the modern era. Runaway population growth
has left many poor and the entire population pushing the limits of some of India’s resources
despite economic growth and higher levels of education. Seperatist linguistic movements threaten
the unity of India. Religious conflicts batter at the gates as well.
Pakistan and Bangladesh: Pakistan has struggled since its founding by Muhammad Ali Jinnah
(1876-1948) to hold together and to resolve conflicts of religious and secular groups, tribes against
modernists, etc. In 1971, East Pakistan seceded, aided by India; many had felt they were being
economically drained for the benefit of West Pakistan. Coups and civil wars and conflicts with
India have kept the nation in turmoil. Prime minister Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) was the first
female leader of a dominantly Moslem country, serving 1988-1990 and 1993-6, before being
imprisoned on corruption charges. In 1999, General Parviz Musharraf, Chief of Army Staff,
took over Pakistan. Pakistan has faced on-going problems with radical Islam, leading among
other things to Bhutto’s assassination in 2007.
Indonesia and Malaysia: The Republic of Indonesia was created in 1949, when the Dutch gave
up after centuries of rule of the area. It is home to 180 million Moslems (out of 200 million total
citizens), making it the largest Moslem nation in the world. It struggles with balancing Islam and
secular government. Malayasia got its independence from the British as a monarchical federation
in 1957. It has to deal with a split between the 32% Chinese, 9% Indian, and 59% Southeast
Asian Moslem populations.
The Postcolonial Middle East:
New Nations in the Middle East: The modern Middle East is the result of the slow collapse of
the Ottoman Empire and the intervention of European powers during and after World War I.
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt became soveriegn nations (to various degrees of sovereignty) after
World War I and Lebanon and Syria were freed by France during World War II. (Heritage, p.
1045.) Jordan became independent in 1946. In 1948, Britain abandoned its mandate in Palestine,
leading to the emergence of the state of Israel and the annexation of portions of the mandate by
Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia became independent in the 1950s, Algeria
in 1962, and the fringe states of the Arabian peninsula in the 1970s. These states share a common
written form of Arabic, but speak their own dialects (except for Israel, anyway). Elements of
shared culture have not been quite enough for pan-Arabic movements to successfully take hold,
however. Many of the pan-Arab leaders after World War II were sympathetic to socialism or
communism and/or the Soviet Union, due to its support of national self-determination movements
(so long as they happened OUTSIDE Russia). Arab authorities who rooted their power in
nationalism had to come to terms with local Moslem authorities, which didn’t always work
perfectly (see Saudi Arabia). Moslem religious leaders were highly critical of the atheistic Soviet
Union.
The Arab-Israeli Conflict: At the heart of many middle-eastern disputes is the existence of the
state of Israel and the problems of its relationship to the ‘Palestinians’, Arab Christians and
Moslems who had inhabited the British mandate of Palestine for centuries, ever since Arab defeat
of the Byzantine Empire (or even before) in the 7 th century AD. The World Zionist Movement
had striven since 1897 to revive the long defunct state of Israel. (Multiple revolts against Rome
had led to the driving of the Jews into exile in the first and second century AD.) After the Balfour
Declaration of 1917, in which the British endorsed creating a Jewish homeland state, Jews had
begun to flood into Palestine, coming into increasing conflict with the British authorities and the
hundreds of thousands of Palestinians already resident in the area. The Holocaust convinced many
Jews it was time to have a country of their own and helped lead to massive immigration to
Palestine and the poorly handled 1948 British withdrawal. In 1947, the UN resolved on a partition
plan to create seperate Jewish and Arabic states, but the boundaries drawn were rather convoluted
and jumbled.
75% of the land assigned to the Jews was desert. Upon British withdrawal, the Jews declared the
state of Israel and their neighbors attempted to slaughter them. From 1948-49, the first ArabIsraeli war raged in which Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia attacked Israel in
unison, only to be defeated by the superior Israeli Army, which knew that surrender meant death
for them and all their kin. The end result was the capture of half the planned Arab state of
Palestine by Israel, while Jordan annexed the rest. An armistice was signed in 1949, ending the
war.
Israel’s victory created a tide of fleeing Palestinians, a refugee problem yet to be solved. Since
1948, Israel has been perpetually either at war with its neighbors or at best in a state of armed
truce, though Egypt and Israel finally did make peace in 1979, thanks to Jimmy Carter’s
diplomacy (Anwar Sadat and Menachim Begin led Egypt and Israel respectively. Sadat would
later be killed by the Moslem Brotherhood as a result). Israel’s neighbors refuse to admit its right
to exist and Israel has mistreated any Palestinians under its rule and violated the laws of war for
occupied territories. Since 1948, Israel has fought these wars: 1956 Suez War (Israel, France,
Britain vs. Egypt), the Six-Day War (June 1967, Israel crushed Egypt, Syria, and Jordan, taking
land from each), the 1973 Arab-Israeli War (Israel smacks down Egypt and Syria), and 1978 /
1982 / 2006 incursions into Lebanon. Ever since 2000, growing Palestinian resistance to Israeli
rule has trapped both sides in a cycle of bloody retaliation, despite efforts to create a Palestinian
state in the territories taken from Egypt and Jordan in 1967, set up through outside intervention.
Arab states have supported anti-Israel terrorists, though in recent years, many Arab nations have
increasingly sought some sort of final settlement to end the fighting and create seperate Palestinian
and Israeli states with everyone admitting each other’s right to exist.
Middle Eastern Oil: Those nations with oil have been able to exert great power, especially in the
1970s, when OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) was at the height of its
influence. It provided wealth, enabling some Arab countries to create extensive social support
networks and to build beautiful, comfortable cities (especially in the small states fringing the
Arabian peninsula) and it gave Moslems a feeling of more control. However, it has also
sometimes tangled up Arab nations in international politics as everyone wants a piece of their oil.
The Rise of Political Islamism: In recent decades, groups which mix a desire for purification of
Islam with a desire to assert Moslem political power have arisen. These groups gain a lot of their
influence by their willingness to provide social services—food aid, medical aid, legal aid, housing
aid, etc. Arab governments have failed to provide such services, and many secular Arab
governments feel threatened (with reason) by these movements. In Iran, these groups took over
after the 1978-9 Revolution. These groups refer to themselves as Islamic reformists and wish to
purify the faith and use it to cleanse Moslem societies of their flaws. These groups range from
democratic parties in Turkey to terrorist groups (Taliban, Al-Queda) to theocrats (Iran) to
Pakistani quietists. These movements rose in reaction to secular autocracies which have tended to
dominate the 20th and 21st century Middle East. Efforts at socialism and western democracy alike
have tended to fail. All these secular states created a blatant gap between government and Islamic
faith, unprecedented in the Middle East. Even in Iran today, religion is sometimes set aside in the
name of pragmatism. The reformist movements are less wedded to any specific model of
government than to a desire for political and social justice. The call for jihad is aimed inwards as
well as outwards. Most of them are political but nonviolent. But even the violent groups are
rooted in the same discontent.
Al-Queda: “The Base”. This group was founded by Saudi businessman Osama Bin Laden in the
1990s in response to the stationing of US troops on Saudi soil (seen as a defilement, due to the
Saudi possession of the two holy cities of Islam—Medina and Mecca), the US blockade of Iraq,
and US support for Israel. After several minor attacks in the 1990s, it pulled off its greatest
accomplishment on September 11, 2001, hijacking 4 planes in the US, crashing two into the
World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. (Rebelling passengers stopped the fourth plane,
but it crashed, killing everyone.) The defeat of the Talibani government of Afghanistan in the
fall/winter of 2001 forced Bin Laden and Al-Queda into hiding; they have not accomplished much
since then and it’s not clear if Bin Laden is even alive.
Iraq and US Intervention: Iraq had been created after World War I; the British imported a Saudi
politician—Faisal ibn Husayn—to become King of Iraq in 1921; his dynasty ruled until 1958,
aided and sometimes dominated by British advisors. Foreign oil companies controlled Iraq’s oil.
But the nation had multiple hostile religions and ethnic groups—Sunni Moslems, Shi’ite Moslems,
and the Kurds. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown. By 1968, the Baathist party controlled
Iraq and in 1979, Saddam Hussein emerged as its leader. In the 1980s, he was backed by the US
in a long war with Iran (1980-9). However, in 1990, he took over Kuwait, having managed to
delude himself the US would not intervene. This led to the 1991 Gulf War. President Bush I
assembled a coalition of over 30 nations, many of them Middle-Eastern, to oppose Hussein. In
1991, Operation Desert Storm liberated Kuwait and smashed up Hussein's army. But the US
stopped short of overthrowing him for fear of turning the Arabs against us. Meanwhile, the
Shiites and Kurds rose up against him; the Shiites were put down brutally, while the Kurds were
somewhat more successful in gaining autonomy. General Norman Schwarzkopf, the field
commander, and General Colin Powell emerged as the American heroes of the war. For a decade,
parts of Iraq were aerially occupied (the no-fly zones), and Iraq was an international pariah. In
2003, President Bush II of the US trumped up false excuses to invade Iraq, supposedly to
eliminate Weapons of Mass Destruction hidden by Saddam Hussein. The US faced heavy
international opposition. This invasion was opposed by many of the US’ normal allies, such as
France and Germany, though Britain provided 25,000 men and many nations sent small
contingents. The war has hurt the US reputation abroad and strained its old alliances. The US
coalition has not had much success restoring order or rebuilding the country. As of spring 2008,
multiple conflicting uprisings are in progress and the Iraqi semi-democratic government is
struggling to address its nation’s problems. The future of Iraq remains to be seen.