The Role of Taxonomy and Ontology in Semantic Layers - Heather Hedden.pdf
Creating the modern middle east gt
1.
2. Student Objectives
Students will be able to:
identify and explain roots of conflicts in the Middle
East
give examples of the various ways groups of
people view the Middle East
explain the geographic factors that shape the
foreign policies and international relationships in
the Middle East
analyze the processes that lead to the formation of
boundaries in the Middle East through the creation
of maps to answer geographic questions and to
infer geographic relationships
3. Warm-up
Write down the first three things that
come to mind about the Middle East.
5. Sources of Conflict
What are some universal
sources of conflict?
What are some specific
reasons for conflict?
Colonial Rule
Religious Differences
Natural Resources:
6. A History of Empires
Mesopotamia – one of the earliest
civilizations
Babylonians, Assyrians, Phoenicians,
Hittites, Sumerians, Egyptians
Persian Empire
Greek and Roman Empires
Byzantine Empire
Ottoman Empire
7.
8.
9. Ottoman Empire
Controlled Middle East from1299 to
1922
Capital in Constantinople (Istanbul)
Ottoman emporer was both political and
religious leader of all Muslims
(regardless of ethnicity)
Both Sultan and Caliph
Attempts to modernize & “westernize”
Middle East
10. World War I (1914-1918)
Allied Powers: Great Britain, France,
Italy, & Russia
Central Powers: Austria-Hungary &
Germany
Ottoman Empire: in decline & desired to
regain power for modernization
Aligned with Central Powers
On losing side of war
Great Britain & France decide to divide
up the remnants of the Ottoman Empire
11. Creating Countries Activity:
Instructions
Your group’s job in this activity is to create new
countries in the “Middle East.”
Each group (5) will create countries based on one of
the following topics:
freshwater resources
land use & resources
ethnic distribution
language groups
religion.
12. Instructions (cont.)
Each group will have 10-15 minutes to
discuss & create their new countries.
After the time ends for creating new
countries, groups will present their new
countries to the rest of the class.
Identify reasons for division of countries
All members need to be prepared to answer
questions and defend your new boundaries
23. So… let’s debrief
What did you find most difficult about this,
and why?
How were you equitable & fair when you
created the new countries?
What changes would your group make?
How would you go about creating new
countries if you had to consider multiple
factors?
How difficult do you think that it was for Great
Britain & France to carve up the Middle East?
Why?
24. Back to Our Story…
WWI brought the downfall of the
Ottoman Empire
Great Britain & France carved up the
Middle East into spheres of influence
1916: Sykes-Picot Agreement
Hussein-McMahon Correspondence
1917: Balfour Declaration (Palestine)
The Kurdish Question
25. Post-WWI Middle East
Turkey was all that
remained of the
Ottoman Empire
Great Britain & France
governed mandates
until ready for
independence
Created new countries
out of broken promises to
leading Arabs
Created distrust & set
stage for future conflicts
Ideally students will come up with stereotypical things that intertwine w/ conflict.
Link students comments to stereotypes. Also link American stereotypes to concept of conflict.
Historical setting… will need to elaborate and explain.
Explain challenges that were left by this. Also, link to colonial interests in region.
Modern issue with the haves v. have nots; has created conflict; strategic resource for the global economy
Link between the environment and a rapidly growing population; creates challenges with water distribution on the river basins
A continuous legacy with complex issues
A good reminder that issues in this region are complex. The cartoon shows the Arab perspective in the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Remind students that when studying complex issues that it is important to understand the other side or point of view on an issue.
Also important to remind students that region of cultural convergence and religious convergence that was there long before modern boundaries, which may have complicated things.