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The Makers of the Modern Middle East
A century ago, as World War I got underway, the Middle East was dominated, as it had been for centuries, by the Ottoman Empire. But by 1923, its political shape had changed beyond recognition, as the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the insistent claims of Arab and Turkish nationalism and Zionism led to a redrawing of borders and shuffling of alliances—a transformation whose consequences are still felt today.
This fully revised and updated second edition of Making the Modern Middle East traces those changes and the ensuing history of the region through the rest of the twentieth century and on to the present. Focusing in particular on three leaders—Emir Feisal, Mustafa Kemal, and Chaim Weizmann—the book offers a clear, authoritative account of the region seen from a transnational perspective, one that enables readers to understand its complex history and the way it affects present-day events.
This fully revised and updated second edition of Making the Modern Middle East traces those changes and the ensuing history of the region through the rest of the twentieth century and on to the present. Focusing in particular on three leaders—Emir Feisal, Mustafa Kemal, and Chaim Weizmann—the book offers a clear, authoritative account of the region seen from a transnational perspective, one that enables readers to understand its complex history and the way it affects present-day events.
454 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
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About the author
T.G. Fraser
21 books2 followersT.G. Fraser is Professor Emeritus at Ulster University, and is also a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Royal Society of Arts, and the Royal Asiatic Society.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 12, 2020
It’s nearly end of the year and time to clean up the shelf of unfinished books! Ordnung muss sein! “Making the Modern Middle East” (Gingko, 2017) was supposed to be my onboarding read to working in the middle east but I have been sitting on this all year courtesy too much reality TV dating shows. Great that I finally got through it.
Also: For someone who likes to think of herself as a solid anti-imperialist, I am a little too intrigued by the character of Lawrence of Arabia.
Given my very, very limited knowledge about the history of ‘this part of the world’, it’s been a great read about the fairly breathtaking period between the First World War and early 1920s, the end of nearly four-century rule of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of literally all conflicts we see in the middle east today. It’s interesting to read it from a perspective of hindsight where you go like ‘naah, not a good idea at all!”
The book also ties in very nicely with one my best reads 2020 which was Adom Getachew’s “Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination” (Princeton University Press, 2019) which includes a very insightful account of the origins of the League of Nations (later the United Nations) and shows how these presented from the beginning a framework for oppression and unequal integration. Obviously, the kind of nation states and polities that were set up in the Middle East were entirely dictated by the interests of the victorious Allies after the end of the First World War rather than the interests of the peoples of the Middle East (duh!).
The continuity to what we refer to today as ‘geopolitics’ is of course very striking which makes it even harder to believe that it remains so difficult to build support for an anti-imperialist foreign policy and that even the educated liberals fall for the scam of 21st century ‘humanitarian interventions’ aka regime change politics (as they did 100 years ago for the project of ‘civilization’). THIS is the fundamental difference between a socialist political project of the 21st century and the rest of social democracy, labour, conservatives, democrats, republicans. Socialism is really not about the level of minimum wage and taxation in a western country, lol.
Also: For someone who likes to think of herself as a solid anti-imperialist, I am a little too intrigued by the character of Lawrence of Arabia.
Given my very, very limited knowledge about the history of ‘this part of the world’, it’s been a great read about the fairly breathtaking period between the First World War and early 1920s, the end of nearly four-century rule of the Ottoman Empire and the birth of literally all conflicts we see in the middle east today. It’s interesting to read it from a perspective of hindsight where you go like ‘naah, not a good idea at all!”
The book also ties in very nicely with one my best reads 2020 which was Adom Getachew’s “Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination” (Princeton University Press, 2019) which includes a very insightful account of the origins of the League of Nations (later the United Nations) and shows how these presented from the beginning a framework for oppression and unequal integration. Obviously, the kind of nation states and polities that were set up in the Middle East were entirely dictated by the interests of the victorious Allies after the end of the First World War rather than the interests of the peoples of the Middle East (duh!).
The continuity to what we refer to today as ‘geopolitics’ is of course very striking which makes it even harder to believe that it remains so difficult to build support for an anti-imperialist foreign policy and that even the educated liberals fall for the scam of 21st century ‘humanitarian interventions’ aka regime change politics (as they did 100 years ago for the project of ‘civilization’). THIS is the fundamental difference between a socialist political project of the 21st century and the rest of social democracy, labour, conservatives, democrats, republicans. Socialism is really not about the level of minimum wage and taxation in a western country, lol.
April 19, 2020
This is an excellent overview of how the current Middle East was created out of the Ottoman Empire after the end of World War I and the key people involved in that process: Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), Chaim Weismann, King Feisel. It provides background on Arab nationalism, Zionism and the establishment of modern Turkey, and how these relate to and continue to influence current affairs. At fewer than 400 pages, it packs a lot of information but does so with remarkable clarity. The authors also provide ample resources for finding more in-depth analyses, histories and biographies. But for a first-rate primer on the region in modern history, I can't think of a better book to recommend.
My only complaint is with the final chapter, which brings the reader into the current era (early 21st century). This final chapter started out well enough, but felt increasingly hurried and lacked the long view of the the other chapters. Whereas most of the book expertly distilled key events and decisions into a cohesive narrative, the final chapter, especially the final half, got mired in minutia, losing the book's broader perspective. The final few pages seemed particularly hastily written, and the book's final paragraph hangs there like an appendage. I note that this is a "revised and updated second edition" (published in 2015), which might explain this last chapter, much of which was clearly written after 2011 (when the first edition was published) and, I suspect, hastily revised to include events of the "Arab Spring" that probably transpired shortly after the first edition went to press. It certainly feels like a last-minute add on and contains a rather large number of copy errors (which are also evident elsewhere in the book). A more polished third edition would be nice.
Such quibbles aside, I can still heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of this fascinating and perpetually troubled region. Many of the insights this book provides are invaluable to understanding how things got to where they are today.
My only complaint is with the final chapter, which brings the reader into the current era (early 21st century). This final chapter started out well enough, but felt increasingly hurried and lacked the long view of the the other chapters. Whereas most of the book expertly distilled key events and decisions into a cohesive narrative, the final chapter, especially the final half, got mired in minutia, losing the book's broader perspective. The final few pages seemed particularly hastily written, and the book's final paragraph hangs there like an appendage. I note that this is a "revised and updated second edition" (published in 2015), which might explain this last chapter, much of which was clearly written after 2011 (when the first edition was published) and, I suspect, hastily revised to include events of the "Arab Spring" that probably transpired shortly after the first edition went to press. It certainly feels like a last-minute add on and contains a rather large number of copy errors (which are also evident elsewhere in the book). A more polished third edition would be nice.
Such quibbles aside, I can still heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of this fascinating and perpetually troubled region. Many of the insights this book provides are invaluable to understanding how things got to where they are today.
November 21, 2020
The Makers of The Modern Middle East by TG Fraser, Andrew Mango and Robett McNamara. I thought the read was going to be complicated. It was surprisingly easy to follow.
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Main reason being the writers placed the focus on three sides - the Arabs, the Turks and the Jews, each of them represented by King Feisal of Iraq, Mustafa Kemal Atarturk and Chaim Weizmann. The period covered is from World War I to World War II, with some postwar politics as well. What is most interesting is the whole colonialism thing going on. The French and the Brits obviously had a lot of parts to play in 'handling' the region. Many treaties and many negotiations that might have not considered the lives of real people living there, particularly the Palestinians. It does make one wonder who gave them that much power. Perhaps, that is the danger of a power vacuum.
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Highly recommended if you are into history. I am shocked to see that there are only 4 reviews on Goodreads about this book.
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Main reason being the writers placed the focus on three sides - the Arabs, the Turks and the Jews, each of them represented by King Feisal of Iraq, Mustafa Kemal Atarturk and Chaim Weizmann. The period covered is from World War I to World War II, with some postwar politics as well. What is most interesting is the whole colonialism thing going on. The French and the Brits obviously had a lot of parts to play in 'handling' the region. Many treaties and many negotiations that might have not considered the lives of real people living there, particularly the Palestinians. It does make one wonder who gave them that much power. Perhaps, that is the danger of a power vacuum.
.
Highly recommended if you are into history. I am shocked to see that there are only 4 reviews on Goodreads about this book.
June 24, 2020
starts all nice and definetley well written, offers much details as far as biographies is concerned and the socio-ecomical power structures are concerned.
BUT is extremely off putting and annoying is the brief paragraph in the chapter on the first world war, euphemiscally entitled: "the Armenian question" The authors do not even discuss the term "genocide"but depict the mass killings of the Armenians as individual actions of criminals.
The deportations are being compared with other more or less forced migrations within the ottoman empire, und thus being played down.
NOW what to tink of a book, the authors of which present such distorted facts in one short chapter? Can you trust the rest ?
yours gerd
BUT is extremely off putting and annoying is the brief paragraph in the chapter on the first world war, euphemiscally entitled: "the Armenian question" The authors do not even discuss the term "genocide"but depict the mass killings of the Armenians as individual actions of criminals.
The deportations are being compared with other more or less forced migrations within the ottoman empire, und thus being played down.
NOW what to tink of a book, the authors of which present such distorted facts in one short chapter? Can you trust the rest ?
yours gerd
September 5, 2024
I have challenged myself to read something out of my usual reading. This book reminds me of local Ustaz saying less study on the modern Islamic world, particularly the Middle East. Our history has paused since the end of the Ottoman Empire. This is the piece of the missing puzzle in the modern Islamic world. This book is a good compilation of each 'maker' playing each part in making the current Middle East.
July 27, 2024
I think this is an excellent and balanced view of a tumultuous period where so much was going on. The author does well to weave the narrative through multiple regions.
As a Muslim myself who is resident in the Middle East, I feel that I learned so much about the region's recent history.
Importantly, the author does not take sides. With the mayhem going on in Palestine currently, people would do well to read the chapters on the Zionist movement and judge for themselves the injustice that was done and still continues with regards to the native Palestinians
As a Muslim myself who is resident in the Middle East, I feel that I learned so much about the region's recent history.
Importantly, the author does not take sides. With the mayhem going on in Palestine currently, people would do well to read the chapters on the Zionist movement and judge for themselves the injustice that was done and still continues with regards to the native Palestinians
February 1, 2013
I recommend attaining a fundamental understanding of the topic (the Mid. East during the pivotal WW1 era) before endeavoring to read this book.
August 27, 2018
Provides a detailed and fascinating account of the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the subsequent re-partitioning of its territories by the victorious allied powers.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews