Turmoil in the Middle East: Imperialism, War and Political Instability

Journal of Third World Studies, Spring 2004 by Kumaraswamy, P R

Berboroglu, Berch. Turmoil in the Middle East: Imperialism, War and Political Instability. New York, NY: State University of New York Press, 1999. 163 pp.

When volumes and series have been devoted to the turbulence in the region, Berch Berberoglu makes a valiant attempt to describe 'Imperialism, War and Political Instability' which caused turmoil in the region within 125 odd pages. It is undeniable that much of the troubles faced by this region during the past century, especially since the decline and dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, were largely due to periodic intervention by forces of imperialism.

Berberoglu tries to cover the vast canvas stretching nearly two decades of Middle East history through the prism of external, primarily western intervention. Initially the rivalry among European powers, then the Anglo-French alliance and finally the US-Soviet rivalry dominated and at times sealed the fate of the region. The discovery of oil, cheap source of rapid industrialization, provided a strategic rationale for imperial designs.

Using various developments since the demise of the Ottoman Empire, he tries to present western, particularly American efforts, to dominate the region through surrogate neocolonial states "stretching from Turkey and Israel to Iran and Saudi Arabia" (p. 18). Indeed, writing long before the advent of President George W Bush (Jr.) and his determination for regime change first tested in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, Berberoglu was critical of the prolonged American efforts to establish "a new form of imperialist control and domination of the Middle East under the aegis of the United States" (p. 19). In his assessment, the Kuwait war was also due to power rivalry between the US and its allies Japan and Germany towards establishing an American domination.

Even the regional leaders do not escape from his wrath. Gamal Abdul Nasser, who deposed monarchy in Egypt, introduced state capitalism which in turn "facilitated the transition to a neocolonial capitalism dependent on imperialism" (p. 48). In his obsession with unwanted western intervention in the Middle East, the author, however, ignores the role played by the Soviet Union during the Cold War in contributing to regional tension and instability.

Some of his contentions such as 'the Jordanian West Bank' (p.99), "The October War was an outcome of the failure to resolve the Palestinian question",^ 100) and "UN Resolution 242, which called for the return of all territories captured by Israel during the Six-Day War" (p. 102) would be seriously contested by many in the Middle East and elsewhere. Moreover, the author's penchant for long quotations might dilute the interest of the readers.

His assessment is that problems facing the Middle East such as nationalism, self-determination or legitimacy were local problems and hence required local solutions but they "became compounded when they began to increasingly reflect US foreign policy interests in the region" (p. 121). Perhaps one might extend this argument to include other European powers who dominated the region for the past two centuries. Such an argument, however, needs a more detailed and exhaustive treatment.

RR. Kumaraswamy Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India