Saddam Hussein was hanged
The Middle East Since 1945
The Anglo-American coalition launches war against Iraq
President Hafez Al-Assad dies
The ‘Declaration of Principles on Palestine Self-Rule’ aka Osla Accords was signed. PLO recognised Israel’s right to exist, and Israelis simply recognised the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people
Iraq invades Kuwait
First Intifada (meaning ‘shaking-off’ or ‘trembling’) by the Palestinians
This was not done or started by the PLO. It was done by the people of Palestine who were constantly under “siege” by Israel. It was a people’s movement.
Sadat was assassinated by Muslim extremists
Start of Iran-Iraq War
Ayatollah Khomeini comes back to Iran from exile
Shah flees Iran
Camp David Accords was signed
Egypt & Syria launch the fourth Arab-Israeli war, popularly known as the Yom Kippur war
MoD Hafez Assad carried out a military coup in 1970 following the military defeat & loss of territory after the six day war and made himself president in 1971.
Nasser dies of a heart attack & is succeeded by Anwar Sadat as the president who then tries to offer peace with Israel which was rejected by both the US & Israel.
Yasser Arafat was elected the PLO chairman
Nasser accepts ceasefire after the start of The Six-Day War with his reputation in tatters.
Six-Day War: Israel launched an offensive against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.
Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) was established
Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq invade Israel.
Britain ended its Palentine mandate.
Israel declares independence
Egypt organized an Arab League with Syria, Saudi, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Yemen, & itself as members. Primary objective was to foster unity & cooperation among Arab peoples. Activities were largely social, cultural, & economic. Political activity was very limited.
Eventual demise of the Ottoman Empire was brought about by its decision to join WW1 on the side of the Central Powers. They signed armistice in 1918.
One of the destabilising effects of the Iranian Revolution stemmed from Khomeini’s determination to export it.
Today's readers, used to interpreting events in the Middle East largely in religious terms, may recall that, before Iran's Islamic Revolution (1979) and the collapse of the USSR
(1990), the secular left-right (communist-capitalist) divide was as significant as any Shia-Sunni-Alawite-Christian distinction, perhaps even more so.
After WW2, the British split the Palestinian mandate into 2: It retained the fertile & politically sensitive region towards the west of River Jordan (Palestine) and handed over the eastern part to Abdullah as Emirate of Transjordan.
When WW1 ended, the allies were pondering what to do with the Ottoman Empire possessions. Three were high contentious: The McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, The Skyes-Picot Agreement, The Balfour Declaration
Middle East is the only region of the plant where 3 continents meet: Europe, Asia, Africa
The Middle East is widely associated with the word 'Arab'. This, unfortunately, adds little to our understanding of the region.
Before the emergence of Islam almost 1,400 years ago, an Arab was someone, almost certainly a nomad, who lived on the Arabian Peninsula. Around them dwelt such varied Semitic peoples as Syrians, Persians, Egyptians, Jews, Babylonians and so forth, all speaking their own languages. With Islam the situation became more complex because Arabic, the language of the Arabian Peninsula and now the Quran, became the formal language of much of the Middle East. This has left us with only one reasonably coherent definition of an Arab: someone who speaks the Arabic language.