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By Arthur G. Sharp
The center East has lengthy been a spot the place religions, cultures, and politics clash--today greater than ever. How can a quarter referred to as "the cradle of civilization" proceed to stand uprisings and violence? This consultant is an target, specialist, and knowledgeable source that can assist you comprehend the interesting zone, masking such subject matters as:
• the entire heart japanese international locations (including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait, Turkey, and Syria)
• The background of the 1st civilizations and the increase of empires
• The roots of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict
• Threats of ongoing terrorism and the loss of life of Osama bin Laden
• fresh revolutions and coups in international locations like Egypt and their future
Packed with easy-to-follow details and heritage, this guide will increase your figuring out whereas following present headlines. With this advisor, you'll discover ways to delight in the wealthy cultural historical past of this sector.
Read or Download The Everything Guide to the Middle East: Understand the people, the politics, and the culture of this conflicted region PDF
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Additional resources for The Everything Guide to the Middle East: Understand the people, the politics, and the culture of this conflicted region
Sample text
His extensive knowledge of the country was not easy to replace, and the next two British ambassadors, Geoffrey Furlonge and Charles Duke, were to prove to be uncertain custodians of bilateral relations at a time of significant turbulence in Jordan. In comparison with the real affection that Kirkbride had been able to invoke, Furlonge was a failure. 23 In his reportage on the political situation Furlonge affected a careless disregard of the plight of the Palestinian refugees in Jordan while keeping a cautious eye on the inconsequential manifestations of Soviet interest in the country at that time.
General Glubb held a pejorative opinion of the Zionists that was common among those British soldiers who had witnessed the death throes of the Palestine Mandate. He felt that if Israel did not seek some form of lasting peace, the Arabs would one day put aside their differences to ‘wreak a terrible revenge’ on the Jewish state. 28 Glubb nevertheless believed that the Israeli armed forces could destroy the Arab Legion within a matter of days if it came to a direct confl ict. This disparity of strength was brutally exposed by the savage Israeli reprisal raid led by a young officer, Ariel Sharon, on the West Bank village of Qibya on the night of 14 October 1953.
On 11 January 1956, Nasser explained to Humphrey Trevelyan, the British ambassador in Egypt, that he saw the pact as a ruse to isolate Egypt. 62 By this time, however, the wind had been taken out of the sails of the demonstrators by the clampdown of the Arab Legion and a series of hasty political concessions by the monarchy. An initial casualty was the new government led by Ibrahim Hashim, which collapsed on 7 January after only being in power for eighteen days. Following the resignation of Hashim, Hussein asked Samir al-Rifai to take the premiership.