- Generally Arid Environments
- Desert, drought and unreliable precipitation
- Localized water sources and rich agricultural lands
- World’s major source of oil
- Divided between haves and have-nots
- Center of some of the world’s earliest and greatest civilizations
- Cultural hearths
- World’s three great religions
- Judaism
- Christianity
- Islam
- Volatile transition zones at borders and within region
- Conflict over water a growing concern
- Major population increase
- Religious, ethnic, and cultural discord and instability
- Arab World
- Islamic World
- Refers to the interdependence between geographic areas
- Movement of people between places
- Flow of goods from one region to another
- Diffusion of ideas from a center of knowledge
- The amount of spatial interaction is a function of the size of the interdependent populations and the distance between them
- A Post-Industrial World collapses distance between places
- Thus the amount of spatial interaction depends not on distance but on relationships between areas and populations
- The decline of an activity with (perceived) increasing distance from the point of origin.
- The perceived distance beyond which cost, effort, and/or means cause a reduction in our interaction.
- A measure of the amount of distance decay on spatial interaction
- A measure of the cost or effort, in time, to complete a distance activity
- Distance as perceived by the individual or group
- Mental maps
- Distance
- Actual or perceived
- Fiscal Cost
- How much does it cost to bridge the distance
- Internet connections, airline tickets, fuel prices, etc…
- Physical Environment
- Cost in time, perception, and effort
- Culture
- Language, Government interference, beliefs, etc…
- Psychological
- Maintenance of privacy, prejudices, familiarity, etc…
- Technological
- Incompatible systems, absence of proper technology or education
- More people with more interaction increases the rate of innovation
- Cities as foci of innovation
- Communication technology as an enabler of innovation
- Cultural and Governmental openness to interaction and communication
- When innovation spreads in relation to social context as opposed to spatial context
- Innovations which are less accessible to certain genders, races, social classes, or ages.
- Unable to afford it or have the education to access or understand it
- The process by which a concept, practice, or substance spreads from its point of origin to new areas
- Concept
- Idea or invention – memes
- Practice
- A process or action
- Substance
- A tangible object or thing
- Items being diffused leave their original area and move to new areas
- People moving from one area to another, taking their culture with them
- Items being diffused spread geographically by spreading from one person/area to another person/area while remaining with the original person.
- Disease is an example of this as are most concepts and ideas
- People and places closest to the origin will be affected first while the farther away you area the longer it takes for the item to reach you.
- Disease
- Spread of items follows a hierarchical pattern of distribution
- From large urban centers, to smaller cities, to towns
- Up or down a ruling hierarchy
Religion
- One of the single most important unifying or dividing socio and ideological aspects of culture throughout history.
- Formalized view of an individual’s and group’s relationship with the world
- Universalizing Religions – faiths that claim applicability and openness to all humans and generally seek to spread their beliefs through evangelism and conversion.
- Christianity, Islam, Buddhism
- Ethnic Religions – generally strongly associated with a specific territory and cultural group – must be born or adopted into the religion
- Judaism, Hinduism (Indian), Shinto
- Tribal Religions – a sub-form of Ethnic Religions, generally defined by their association with a small group and is defines close ties to the natural world.
- Animism (
- Bunk! Typical geographer failure to understand these types of religions and cultures
- One of the earliest Monotheistic Religions
- Foundation of both Christianity and Islam
- Ethnic religion
- Primarily a single ethnic group – descendent of Abraham
- Complex and restrictive set of laws and beliefs – the Torah
- Origins in the
- Defined by early military successes and later defeats
- Diaspora –
- Destruction of the
- Pogroms and Holocaust
- Founding of modern
- Quasi-Divided
- Reformed
- Conservative
- Orthodox (Ultra-Orthodox)
Christianity
- Developed from Judaism with Jesus’ teachings
- Universalizing religion
- Defined by Jewish roots and pagan heritage
- Evangelism and conversion
- Initially a religion of the underclass and dispossessed
- Not a religion of the victorious
- Adopted by the
- Spread into Europe, Africa, and the
- Followed European Colonialism in 17th through 20th Centuries
- Divided Religion
- Western Christianity and Eastern Orthodox
- Catholic and Protestant
- Developed out of Judaism, Christianity, Animism
- The Prophet Mohammed
- Universalizing religion
- Defined by roots and Arabic culture
- Origin in the 7th Century CE
- Religion of the Victorious
- Crisis in modern, Middle Eastern Islam – Loss of the Caliphate
- Divided Religion
- Sunnis
- Majority
- Accept the Four Caliphs (not necessarily related to Mohammed)
- Ruled the Middle East until WWI –
- The Mahdi has not yet come
- Shiites
- Only Fourth Caliph legitimate (family of Mohammed)
- 12th Imam disappeared in 931 and will return (the Mahdi)
- Safavid Empire of Persia/Iran
Judaism
- Settlement patterns centered on the synagogue.
- Based on Religions belief
- May only walk on the Sabbath.
- Live within walking distance of the synagogue.
- Formation of Jewish Ghettos in
- Continues to this day
- One
- Destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE
- Only place where sacrifice is done
- Restrictive access
- Synagogue
- Much smaller
- Based on a village or neighborhood place of worship
- For everyday interaction with the sacred
- More egalitarian/open
- Focus around the community
- Centered around Cathedrals and Churches
- Interior geography of worship spaces – symbolic space
- Centered on
- Focus on the Mosque
- Similar to Jewish Temple architecture
- Restricted Access
- Pilgrimage for every devout Muslim if possible
- Tigris and
- Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Hittites, Islamic Empires,
- Hydraulic Civilization Theory
- Control of irrigation leads to rise of civilization and control of others
- Open to movement of people and armies
- Defended hearth - desert
- Mesopotamia and the
- The
- Battleground of the Egyptians and Mesopotamians
- Death of Muhammad in 632 CE
- Controlled all of the Middle East and
- Reached Europe,
- Capitals in
- Contagious/Geographical Diffusion
- Peoples converted after defeat and through trade
- Hierarchical Diffusion
- Conversion of monarchs and leaders spreads faith to followers
- Islamization
- The process of peoples become Muslim
- Ottoman Turks
- Originally pagans from the Caucuses
- Osman I – first emperor
- Took
- Occupied Southeastern Europe,
- Fought for control of the Mediterranean and Southern Europe,
- Turned back at
- Loss of
- Loss of North Africa and
- Slow decline until World War I
- Defeat by the allies
- Rise of secular
- Colonial Powers take control of the Middle East and
- Modern national borders
- Majority of the world’s oil reserves are in the
- The big five
- Unevenly distributed resource
- Divisions between Islamic neighbors
- Other Impacts
- High National Incomes
- Many times concentrated among the elite
- Used to “buy off” dissenters and populace
- Price declines cause large disruptions of society
- Modernization
- Modern infrastructure in urban areas
- Industrialization
- Very limited, mainly in oil poor nations
- Intra-Realm Migration
- Shi’ites and Palestinians as laborers
- Dependence upon migrant labor
- Inter-Realm Migration
- From other Muslim countries to work outside the oil industry
- Further dependence upon migrant labor
- Institutionalized lower class, foreign labor force
- Regional Disparities
- Concentrations of wealth and poverty
- Foreign Investment
- Wealth, skills, and technology necessary to extract the resources
- Strong, foreign, non-Muslim presence in Islamic nations
- Interference and meddling by foreign governments to maintain stability
- The
- Periphery of
- The
- The
- The
- The Empire States
- Mostly former
- Oldest continuous civilization in the world (most likely)
- >5000 years
- Most populous country in the “Arab” world (
- 95% of its population live within 12 miles of the
- Basin Irrigation
- constructing fields along a flood plain to receive annual infusions of new nutrients during the flood season(s)
- Perennial Irrigation
- Use of artificial (usually) means to ensure necessary water to farm even during the dry season.
- Use in
- Increased
- Produces approximately 40% of
- Forced relocation of over 50,000 people and drowned countless archaeological sites
- Breeding ground for malaria and other diseases
- Halted flow of silt into the
- Forced to use artificial fertilizer
- Major ecological damage to the region
- Destruction of the Nile Delta due to erosion
- Impoverished farming economy
- The fellaheen
- Little to no modernization of farming technology and practices
- High Infant mortality rates and disease
- Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism threatens modernization plans
- Resistant to population controls
- Destabilizing to the government
- The Upper Nile (
- A divided country
- North and
- Two Civil Wars
- Settled in 2005
- Fight between Islamic North and Christian and Animist South
- Intermittent fighting in the last decades of the 20th Century
- As many as 400,000 killed
- Between Arabs and Africans
- All combatants Muslim
- Spreading into
- Exacerbated by oil
- Dominate
- Orographic Rainfall support rich coastal agriculture
- Rain shadow on southern side and the
- French Colonialism (
- Focused on
- Brutal and bloody battle for independence
- 10% of the population fled to
- Rich in Oil and Natural Gas
- Capital is
- Conflict with Islamic revolutionaries
- Smallest and most westernized of the states
- Limited oil reserves
- Last of the North African Kingdoms
- Seeks to annex
- Poor and economically weak
- Settlement and agriculture focused on northwest –
- Highly urbanized
- Focused on oil
- Until recently a pariah nation to the west
- Periphery of
- Hearth
- Former part of the
- British (
- Hashemite Monarchy (1932 – 1958)
- Installed by the British
- Series of Military Coups
- Military Rule
- Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party (1968 – 2003)
- Largest State in the
- Similar in size to
- 40% of the
- About 26 to 27 million (probably lower)
- 97% Muslim
- Shiite about 60%+
- Sunni about 40%-
- 70-74% Arab
- 23% Kurdish
- Mainly desert
- Tigris-Euphrates Rivers
- Very fertile but damaged
- Second largest proven oil reserves in the world
- Borders on
- Strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the
http://www.obleek.com/iraq/index.html
Factors behind the rise of Separatist Movements
- Ethnic Cleansing
- Government Oppression
- National Identity and Territory
- Peripheral Location
- Social and Economic Inequalities
Terrorism (Fourth Generation Warfare)
- Calculated violence to publicize a cause, intimidate or coerce a civilian population, or affect the conduct of a government.
- Purpose to Create Fear
- To achieve political or other goals without winning a military victory
- Generally focus on “soft” or civilian targets
- Symbolic targets
- A weapon or a type of warfare or directed violence
- Confusion over who is a terrorist
- International Terrorism
- Acts which transcend state boundaries
- Domestic Terrorism
- Acts against their own country
- State Terrorism
- Acts committed by agents of a government
- As old as states –
- Subnational Terrorism
- Domestic Terrorism conducted by sub-national groups
- Addressing the causes of the terrorist
- Increasing international cooperation
- Increasing domestic security
- Military response
- Population of almost 19 million
- 74% Sunni Muslim
- Part of the
- Ruled by Baath Party
- Bashar al-Assad, President
- Alawis ethnic group
- Involvement with
- Golan Heights conflict with
- Population of almost 6 million
- 92% Sunni Muslim
- 6% Christian
- Constitutional Monarchy
- Stable and at peace with neighbors
- Population of almost 4 million
- 60% Muslim
- 39% Christian
- Former French Mandate
- Center of former Phoenician influence
- No oil but rich agriculture
- Parliamentary Republic
- Tension between
- Major infrastructure damage during Hezbollah war with
- About the size of
- Population of just over 6 million
- 76% Jewish
- 16% Muslim Palestinian
- Mainly secular Jewish movement
- Originated in the late 1800’s
- Response to rampant anti-Semitism in Europe and
- Focused on resettling Jews in the
- Goal of reestablishing a Jewish nation
- Tension under the British mandate
- Holocaust gives major impetus to movement
- Fleeing Nazi
- Guilt of Western democracies
- Rise of Jewish Terrorism against the British Mandate
- Resistance to a Jewish Homeland by Palestinians and other Arabs
- Created as a Jewish Homeland in 1948 by the United Nations
- Immediate war with neighbors
- Israeli victory leads to increased land
- Forced removal of Arab Palestinians
- 900,000 Palestinian refugees
- Continued war through the early 1970’s
- Peace treaties with
- Tensions with
- Focal point for Arab angst and anger
- The
- Site of potential
- Confused by massive illegal (but allowed) Jewish settlement
- Palestinians neither compensated nor recognized
- The
- Captured from
- Major strategic significance for
- Major sticking point for peace with
- Shabba Farms
- Technically
- Rallying cry for Hezbollah
- Originally intended as an international city
- Declared
- A forward capital
- Center of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Faiths
- Large Palestinian population
- Much illegal Jewish settlement
- Security Fence
- A wall to prevent/reduce infiltration of Palestinian suicide bombers into
- Designed purely by
- Built mainly on Palestinian territory
- Annexes almost 10% of the West Bank into
- Breaks up Palestinian areas of habitation and agriculture
- Surrounded by water
- Desert
- Traditional rule by emirates and sheikdoms
- Great Oil Wealth
- Limited agriculture
- Birthplace of Islam
- Birthplace of Islam
- Wahhabi Islam
- Founded 1932
- Monarchy (somewhat constitutional)
- Largest reserves of oil in the world
- About 25% of the world’s total
- Population of 27 million
- 21.5 million Saudis and 5.5 million foreign nationals
- 90% Arab
- 100% Muslim
- 13%+ unemployment
- Poorest country in the Arab World
- United in 1990
- North and South (communist)
- Republic form of government
- Center of ancient spice trade
- British Protectorate
- Population of around 21 million
- Predominately Arab and Muslim
- Strategic Position
- Controls south side of
- Remained independent of British rule
- Population of 3 million
- Ibadhi Muslims – conservative school
- Similar to and allied with Sunni Islam
- Sultanate government
- Economy focused on oil
- Former small city states
- Quasi-British control
- Strategic location in the
- Population of 2.5 million
- 96% Muslim
- 15% Shiite
- 50% South Asian
- Federation Government
- British Protectorate –
- Practice Wahhabi Islam
- Surprisingly liberal for an Islamic state
- Economy based on oil
- One of the highest per capita incomes in the world
- Population almost 900,000
- 95% Muslim
- 40% Arab
- Emirate
- Island state in the
- Ancient center of trade and strife
- British Protectorate –
- Tensions between religions conservatives and liberals
- Population of 700,000
- 450,000 natives and 250,000 foreign nationals
- 81% Muslim (predominately Sunni)
- Constitutional Monarchy
- British Protectorate –
- Occupied by
- Cause of 1st Gulf War
- Population of 2.5 million
- 1.2 million natives and 1.3 million foreign nationals
- 85% Muslim (70% Sunni)
- Constitutional Monarchy
- Oldest directly elected parliament in the Gulf
The Empire States - Physiography
- Islamic Culture
- Turkish and Iranian ethnicity (not Arab)
- Mountain ranges and plateaus
- Rocky sand deserts
- Capital of the
- Population of 70.5 million
- Growth rate comparable to Europe and
- 99.8% Muslim
- Predominately Sunni
- Parliamentary Democracy
- Strong military involvement in politics
- Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
- Following WWI
- Moved capital to
- Westernization – Threshold to
- Secularism
- Islam lost official status
- Roman alphabet replaced Arabic
- Islamic law replaced by western code
- Monogamy became law
- Quasi-equal rights for women
- Separation from the “Arab” world
- Armenians
- Former minority located in the Northeast of the country
- Ethnic Cleansing at the outbreak of WWI
- 600,000+ died
- Kurds
- Ethnic minority in the southeastern portions of the country
- About 20% of the population (+/- 15 million)
- Oppressed by the Turkish government
- Migrations to
- Hurdle for acceptance by the European Union
- Former British Colony – Independent in 1960
- Population of almost 800,000
- 77% Greek
- 18% Turkish
- Civil War in 1974 (started by the Greeks)
- Turkish Military Intervention
- Island split between South Cyprus and the
- U.N. mediation almost successful in 2003 but distrust between the Greeks and Turks kept a settlement from happening
- Non-Turkish
- Country of mountains and deserts
- Meeting of the Eurasian and Arabian tectonic plates
- One of the oldest civilizations in the world
- Large Empire ruled the Middle East, controlled trade with
- Population of almost 70 million
- Highly urbanized (67%+)
- 98% Muslim
- 89% Shiite
- 51% Persian (Indo-European)
- Large oil reserves
- Almost 90% of the economy
- Iranian Revolution – 1979
- Overthrow of the Shah
- Declaration of an Islamic Republic
- Started by
- As many as 1 million Iranian dead
- 100,000+ to Iraqi gas attacks
- Theocratic Republic
- Elected representatives and religious leaders
- Incipient Nuclear Power
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