MODERN MIDDLE EASTERN HISTORY AND POLITICS
Essay #1
Write a 3-5 page typed, doub
MODERN MIDDLE EASTERN HISTORY AND POLITICS
Essay #1
Write a 3-5 page typed, double-spaced essay in response to the question below. Be sure to answer
all parts of the question in standard essay form (with introductory, body, and concluding
paragraphs) and to support your arguments with specific evidence from the assigned readings.
You do not need to consult sources outside of the course readings for this assignment. Provide
in-text citations (with page numbers to the Kamrava text) for all quotations and references in your
essay. Please contact me if you have any questions about this assignment or the course readings
Your essay is due no late
Background
In his book Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence writes the following: “I meant to make a new
nation, to restore a lost influence, to give twenty millions of Semites the foundations on which
to build an inspired dream palace of their national thoughts.” These words expressed the great
hopes of many that the years following World War I would mark the arrival of a new era in the
Middle East.
Essay Question
Based on your reading of chapters 2 and 3 of the Kamrava text, write an essay in which you
identify and discuss the hopes and aspirations of at least two different peoples of the Middle East
in the aftermath of World War I and then evaluate the extent to which these hopes and
aspirations were in fact realized in the years 1920-1960.