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.

4. Stereotypes Have No Place In
This Activity

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

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

13. Freshwater Resources

14. Freshwater Resources: the
New Countries

15. Land Use & Resources

16. Petroleum Reserves: the New
Countries

17. Ethnic Distribution

18. Ethnic Distribution: the New
Countries

19. Language Groups

20. Language Groups: the New
Countries

21. Religions

22. Religions: the New Countries

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

26. The Modern Middle East

27. The Importance of Oil

28. Population Strains Limited
Resources

29. The Arab-Israeli
Conflict

30. The Lebanese Question

31. The Iraq Question

32. Maps & Cartoons
 Maps:
Global Connections:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mid
east/maps/index.html
www.maps.com
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_an
d_asia/middle_east_pol_2003.jpg
 Cartoons:
http://www.adl.org/main_Arab_World/arab_medi
a_cartoons_depict_aug2006.htm
1987 Universal Press Syndicate