Post on 11-Jul-2015
Historical Context to 9/11/2001
Objectives
1. Understand the political contours of Egypt in the 1950’s
2. Understand how the Cold War shaped American and Soviet foreign policy towards the Middle East
1. Understand how the World Wars shaped the history of the Middle East
Ottoman Empire
A War to End All Wars
Gallipoli
Arab Resistance
Why did the Arabs resist the Ottoman Empire
The Mandate System
The Holocaust
Israel, 1948
Pan-Arab Nationalism vs. The Muslim Brotherhood
Nasser,1952
Came to power in the context of the Cold War. Aligned Egypt with the Soviet Union.
Wanted to defeat Israel.
Soviet Union
Dialectical Materialism
Atheism
Sayyid Qutb 1906-1966
Born in an Egyptian Village
Raised on the Koran
1929-1933 Educated in Cairo
1939 Official in Ministry of Education
1948 – 1950 Scholarship to the U.S.
r
“The most important thing for these people is the tending of their gardens.”
“Arms circled waists, lips met lips, chests met chests, and the atmosphere was full of passion.”
"'Let them kill Nasser. What is Nasser but one among many? My fellow countrymen, stay where you are. I am not dead, I am alive, and even if I die all of you is Gamal Abd al-Nasser.'"
Imprisoned
Milestones
In the Shade of the Koran
Jahiliyyah (Preaching and Jihad)
Executed in 1966
Mohammed Qutb fled to Saudia Arabia
Nasser Fails to Defeat Israel
Nasser Dies in 1970
Anwar Sadat (Tried to work with the Muslim Brotherhood)
Ibn Saud gives U.S. Rites in 1933 (Standard Oil Co.) ¼ Planet’s Oil Reserves (ARAMCO)
Mohammed bin Laden (1908-1967)
An estimated $18 Billion in religious buildings alone
Married 22 times and sired 54 children
Was a devout Muslim
17th Child
Born in 1957
Osama Bin-Laden is introduced to the works of Sayyid Qutb through the preaching of Mohammad Qutb and other Islamic
preachers of Jihad
1988al-Qaeda = Base
Osama bin Laden—Returns a hero (humble, affable, quintessential hero)
Osama claims to have a dream about Saddam Hussein
Osama seeks an audience with King Fahd
Gulf War
Kenya and Tanzania Bombings