FOR MADAM PROFESSOR

Essay Questions 1. Between the years 1915 and 1922 Great Britain embarked upon a series of conflicting initiatives and agreements that shaped the landscape of the Middle East and simultaneously became fertile grounds for intense and protracted conflicts. Identify and very briefly explain the factors underlying Great Britain’s behavior. List and explain these agreements, examine their impact on the nature and scope of Middle Eastern state boundaries, and analyze the extent to which these agreements have advanced or impeded the processes of state formation and nation building in the Middle East. 2. Compare Iran’s and Israel’s multifaceted political systems and explain its impact on their domestic, regional, and foreign policy. This question seems to be deceptively simple. Make sure you identify and outline the similar aspects and different elements of both systems. Then explain how those differences influence the policies of the respective countries. 3. List, explain, and analyze the underlying, intermediate, and immediate causes of the “Arab-Israeli” conflict. Explain the distinction between the “Arab-Israeli” and “Palestinian-Israeli” conflicts and examine the ramifications of such distinction on the nature, scope, and outcome of international relations of the Middle East. Assess the prospect for a peace between Israel, Syria, and the Palestinians (make sure you understand the issues that may serve as obstacles or opportunities for peace). 4. From the chapter by Roger Owen, identify the underlying components of the colonial state and explain their impact on the formation of the modern state in the Middle East: how it shaped the exercise of power and defined the political arena in the Middle Eastern countries created and dominated by the European powers