The story of the Arab Revolt and the Hashemite princes who led it during the First World War is inextricably linked in modern eyes to the legend of Lawrence of Arabia as portrayed in David Lean's 1962 film. But behind this romantic image lies a harsher reality of wartime expediency, double-dealing and dynastic ambition, which shaped the modern Middle East and laid the foundations of many of the conflicts that rack the region to this day. Arab nationalists claim that British instigation for the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire was a commitment to independence for the Arab people, but in this book Robert McNamara shows how the British cultivated the Hashemite Sherifs of Mecca more as an alternative focus during the First World War for Muslim loyalty from the Ottoman Sultan, who as Caliph had declared a jihad against the Allies when the Turks joined the Central Powers, than a leader of an independent and united Arabia. At the same time, the Sykes-Picot Agreement divided up the Middle East between British and French spheres of influence. The sense of betrayal that this caused has coloured Arab nationalists' views of the West ever since. The main countries of the Middle East —Jordan, Syria and Iraq—are all the creations of the post-First World War settlement worked out at the Paris Peace Conference. The story of the Hashemite dynasty at the Paris Peace Conference is the story of the birth of the modern history of a region that is now more than ever at the centre of world affairs.

Timothy Paris examines Winston Churchill's involvement in the struggle for power in a number of Middle Eastern countries between 1920 and 1925. His study traces the development of the Sherifian policy, a policy that was devised by the British.

This atlas aims to provide the reader with key pointers for a spatial analysis of the social, economic and political dynamics at work in Jordan, an exemplary country of the Middle East complexities. Being a product of seven years of scientific cooperation between Ifpo, the Royal Jordanian Geographic Center and the University of Jordan, it includes the contributions of 48 European, Jordanian and International researchers. A long historical part followed by sections on demography, economy, social disparities, urban challenges and major town and country planning, sheds light on the formation of Jordanian territories over time. Jordan has always been looked on as an exception in the Middle East due to the political stability that has prevailed since the country’s Independence in 1946, despite the challenge of integrating several waves of Palestinian, Iraqi and - more recently - Syrian refugees. Thanks to this stability and the peace accord signed with Israel in 1994, Jordan is one of the first countries in the world for development aid per capita.

Examines the crucial role of the Hashemites in Arab nationalism throughout the 20th century, from the 1916 Arab Revolt through the creation of Arab states after World War I, the attempts at Arab unity, and the establishment of two kingdoms, to the current Palestinian debate.

The essays that make up this study provide a wide-ranging survey of the special relationship that exists between the Israelis and the Hashemite family. This relationship is shown to have far-reaching implications for Middle Eastern affairs.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Arabia was forged in the crucible of the Arab Revolt in 1916, during World War I. Its leader, Sharif Husayn ibn 'Ali, struggled to put together a tribal confedereacy. This study examines Husayn's efforts at state formations, efforts that eventually failed.

The complex, often uneasy, relationship between Transjordanians and Palestinians has profoundly influenced not only Jordan but also the entire Middle East peace process. At different times, Jordan's Hashemite royalty has sought to accommodate, embrace, exclude, or cooperate with the Palestinians and the PLO, and the impact of these efforts has been felt throughout the region. Today, Jordan has signed a peace treaty with Israel, and Palestinians account for over half of the Jordanian population--yet the dynamic relationship between the regime and its Transjordanian and Palestinians citizens still arouses powerful sentiments at home and can send shock waves through the West Bank and Israel. Abu-Odeh explores this relationship from its origins in the 1920s to the very latest attempts to cope with competing national identities and to sustain a peace process.

This timely book analyzes the political events in Iraq that gave rise to one of the most brutal and sophisticated regimes of the modern era. Analyzing the country's history from 1941 to the Ba'ath Party's takeover of the government in 1968, Michael Eppel re-creates the domestic, social, and ideological climate that led to the establishment of Saddam Hussein's despotic control of Iraq in 1979.

This book covers the modern history of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from the resign of the founder, King Abdullah I to the present monarch, King Abdullah II. The honesty that the Hashemites have been carrying over years and the mission initiated by King Abdullah I and ably resumed by King Abdullah II are a light of civilization and giving undertaken by men true to what they promised Allah and their people. This book is an essential reading for all those who wish to learn more about the history of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

This Handbook presents a broad yet nuanced portrait of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, its socio-political rifts, economic challenges, foreign policy priorities and historical complexities. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has traditionally been an oasis of peace and stability in the ever-turbulent Middle East. The political ambitions of regional powers, often expressed in the form of territorial aggrandisement, have followed the Hashemites like an inseparable shadow. The scarcity of natural resources, especially water, has been compounded by the periodic influx of refugees from its neighbours. As a result, many—Arab and non-Arab alike—have questioned the longevity and survival of Jordan. These uncertainties were compounded when the founding ruler, King Abdullah I, became involved in the nascent Palestinian problem at the end of World War II. The annexation of the eastern part of Mandate Palestine or the West Bank in the wake of the 1948 War transformed the Jordanian demography and sowed the seeds of an uneasy relationship with the Palestinian component of its population, citizens, residents and refugees. Though better natural resources and stronger leaders have not ensured political stability in many Arab and non-Arab countries, Jordan has been an exception. Indeed, since its formation as an Emirate by the British in 1921, the Kingdom has seen only four rulers, a testimony to the sagacity and political foresight of the Hashemites. The Hashemites have managed to sustain the semi-rentier model primarily through international aid and assistance, which in turn inhibits Jordan from pursuing rapid political and economic reforms. Though a liberal, multi-religious and multicultural society, Jordan has been hampered by social cleavages especially between the tribal population and the forces of modernization.