Difficulties faced by Middle East empires.

Historians view the core Middle East to be the region stretching from the Nile to the Ox us. The region also includes North Africa and Turkey which are regarded as the peripheral parts of the Middle East (Gelvin, 2005, p. 10).  Three major events are regarded as having been primarily behind the rise of Middle East to what it is today. First, the large empires notably the Ottoman Empire that spanned for four centuries, the revolution in European commerce during the period and the protestant reformation which was behind a politically aggressive Europe. The rise of modern Middle East endured a turbulent past due to its wars, the impoverished millions, the rich few, the authoritarian politics, stagnant economies and an almost fatalistic attitude towards religion that has been the basis of some of the greatest fatalities in the 21st century.  The interest of the Western nations in Middle East had developed well in the start of the 20th century especially buoyed by the oil reserves found in the area. The entry of Europe to the region was not smooth as the ruling empires saw it as a threat to their sovereignty (Sullivan, 2009, p. 1). A major difficulty included poor finances since the empires had gradually weakened as a result of poor leadership. This meant that the empires were not fully able to adapt to some of the new introductions brought by the western foreigners. Another major issue that faced the empires in adapting to the west was the religious conflicts between their Islamic faith and the foreigners Christian values.  There was also a language barrier that barred the sultans to effectively make trade deals with the oncoming European powers. In addition, there was a power conflict as the Western powers aimed at establishing themselves therefore overriding the powers of the ruling Sultans.

It can be concluded that due to the challenges faced by the empires, new modalities had to be adopted including education systems, infrastructure and social amenities which relied heavily on the west and served as a link between the western nations and the local empires. Some of the changes put in place to overcome the barriers were the restructuring of legislative practices which led to the creation of new constitution and establishment of legislative bodies. There was also an attempt of adopting new education and political systems which gradually eroded the power of the traditional empires.

Peoples Reactions to Westernization

The major determinants of people reactions to western civilization incursion in the area were primarily based on their religious views and customs. Their reactions were also partly a reflection of the government stand on western civilization. The Islamic hold on social and individual interpretations was the base upon which westernization was viewed. First, Islam formulated the life ideals that individuals would practice in their private lives. In addition, it defined enemies as those people who were not practicing the Islamic way of faith. As such, westernization was initially viewed as the perfect enemy due to its practice of alien and enemy religions such as Christianity. The intrusion of westernization to the political and economic fronts of the country was associated by the people as the genesis of poverty in the region. In the modern world, extremist Muslims who combine fundamentalist Islamic faith and Marxist ideas continue to incite the Muslims against the west based on this notion. From the western point of view, this ideology is wrong since it is evident that the western countries have grown more after their withdrawal from their colonies that when they were in the colonies. The introduction of a westernized economic pattern that rewarded the educated elite was socially accepted in the communities. As urban areas grew gradually, the elite who had acquired a western education were able to afford good jobs and therefore lived in better parts of the urban areas. The trading patterns of the West was also positively received as people viewed it as an improvement of the restricted trade practices they had endured during the Islamic Ottoman empire.  The people also welcomed an organized judicial system that replaced the atrocious jihad system which was strictly based on Islamic faith. Westernization was positively welcomed especially by the non-Muslim communities who had endured a tyrannical legacy under the past Islamic empires. It can be summarized here that westernization was viewed as a double edged sword in the Middle East. Its economic and social benefits were embraced while its religious and social cultural interferences were strongly resisted.

Competition over Persia

Persia, currently known as Iran, has a long history spanning several thousand years. The history spans from the earliest known kingdom of Elam (2700 BC- 539 BC) to todays Islamic Republic of Iran. Persia has had a considerable occupation and competition by world superpowers which have at every turn altered and influenced developmental patterns for the country. The most notable foreign invasions have been by the Arabs, Mongols, Turks, Russians and British. The British forces began incursion in Iran in the empire in the 17th century (Gelvin, 2005 p. 147). Countries such as Portugal, France, Imperial Russia and Great Britain established colonial footholds in the region which made Iran loose its sovereignty through the Gulistan and Turkmanchai treaties among others. The major item for competition in the region by the foreign powers was oil. Britain was the premier discoverer of oil in the region which resulted to the formation of a British oil company, Anglo-Iranian Oil Company which is referred to as BP in the modern world. In their incursion, the colonial powers divided the Persian regime into regions of influence which meant that every colonial power had an area of supreme authority. The major region competition was however between the Russians and the British. To end the conflict, a codified agreement, the Anglo-Russian entente was entered into in 1907 between the two powers to divide the entire country into regions of influence where their rule and exploration would be concentrated. This period was also characterized by a unique westernization in the countrys politics as the Iranian natives pushed for a new constitutional regime and the exit of the traditional Shah ruler. Through the influence of British and Russias, the country got a constitution in 1906 and convened its first parliament (Majlis) in October, 1906 (Shaw, 1976). The occupation by the foreign forces and adoption of an organized constitution were instrumental in establishing stability in the region.

Major Problems Faced by the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire was established by Osman I around the beginning of the 14th century. The empire progressed so that at its zenith, it had acquired substantial wealth and controlled massive territories including North Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The empire would then span for a period of over 600 years under the leadership of different Sultans. Its demise occurred gradually primarily as a result of external pressures and internal degeneration. Some of the major problems that contributed to the demise were

Declining power of the sultanate at the beginning of the empire, the sultanate was well organized and there was a clear criteria for selecting successors. The succeeding successors especially Sultan Suleyman and Selim did not input zeal and prudence in governance and that weakened the base for succeeding Sultans to govern the empire. The progressive prosperity of the sultanate led the sons brought up in the Sultans Harlem to be lazy and incompetent for running the empire.

Another major cause of the decline was a weakening central government. At its start, the empire had a strong central government whose control emanated from the ruling sultan. As succeeding Sultans became less and less competent, peripheral sections of the empire became more autonomous. This weakened the Sultanate capital and military base and eventually led to its collapse which was precipitated by individual countries in North Africa clamoring for independence while Greece began its clamor for sovereignty (Khater, 2003).

The empire also underwent economic stagnation which was triggered by its instability to adopt changes that were occurring in other parts of the world. The empire had for a long time served as an important trade link between Europe and Asia and this connection served positively in enhancing its economy. Development in Europe in the 19th and 20th century enabled them to develop new trade routes that by-passed the Ottoman Empire therefore decreasing its trade and economic prowess. The disillusionment of the army commanders in the Ottoman Empire due to its demise propelled some army commanders such as Murat and Mahmet Ali to organize other conventional armies to strengthen the empire. This army comprised of young soldiers primarily of Turkish origin who were trained in the Islamic ways and general life of the Ottoman Empire (Shaw 26). In a way, the young Turks helped in prolonging the life of the empire since they were royal to the empire and were not motivated by money and power as those who were directly in the sultanate.

Enduring Western Influence in the Middle East

Unlike in other parts of the world where westernization involved a complete cultural transformation through direct rule or assimilation, the entry of western ideals in middle East have done little to change the social cultural foundations of the people. It is to be noted here that the Middle East is fundamentally established in Islam and any Western influence is filtered through the teachings of Koran. Despite this, there have been fronts where western influence has proliferated albeit unconsciously. First, the Middle East relies entirely on the West for technology training and as such, their technological infrastructure such as roads, vehicles and military equipments are heavily reliant on the western civilization. Also, the structuring of the Middle East systems of education borrows to a great extent in the western content. As such, course content in areas such as medicine, engineering, pharmacy and other departments are a reflection of the west. In regard to the media, the Middle East has borrowed greatly from the west and their stations operate on westernized models. Examples are Al Jazeera whose modus operandi resembles that of the CNN. In terms of media content, the media in Middle East has over time progressed from strict religiously bound reporting to more secularist attitudes. This is evident in the movies and American culture flashed in a majority of Middle East media.

Another influence that established as a result of westernization was a growing bureaucracy in governance modeled along western lines. The traditional forms of government where almost all people were equal were eroded gradually and this had an effect on the social structures that evolved. Social classes emerged with the politicians and the elite occupying modern suburbs and villas in the emerging urban areas while the poor people elected semi permanent residences all over the emerging urban areas (Burke  Yaghoubian, 2006, p. 17).  Westernization however did not affect units such as the family kinship, religious ideals, social activities such as marriages and burials. It can be conclusively said that westernization affected the political, economic and social stratas of the society but had little influence on religious and family values and activities.