IRAQ by: Andria Cox

Iraq is known right now as the country in battle with the United States of America, this once rural and religious country used to be quite structured before the wars. Iraq was once full of culture, family life, religion, and loyalty.

In Iraq, the basic structural unit of a family consists of a “senior couple” and the children. There are also other relatives living within the facility as well. The ‘senior male is the head of the household, the head male’s jobs typically consisting of managing the property and makes the final decisions. Next is the lineage, which consists of all other people, male and female citizens who trace their decent for a common ancestor. The number of generations by which this ancestor is removed from the oldest living one varies; the height of four to six generations is usual (U.S. Library). In the rural areas of Iraq, the wife moves in with her husband’s parents, where the future husband and wife remain for a current period. Families may even live together with the other families after the main member of the household passes away, to help support and continue to progress the family projects. The main person of the household is determined by seniority and sex. In general, the father has the authority of the activities of the members of the household, inside and out of the house. As time passes, the seniority of the men being the head of the household has diminished. As far as marriage is concerned, the 1959 Law of Personal Status, which was amended in 1963, eased up on various provisions that affected the status of women. The Iraqi government is more conservative when it comes to divorce and women’s rights. Overall, the male still has to power to decide how the divorce turns out, who gets what, and what the woman’s rights are. The custody of children is based on the welfare of the child.

In Iraq the country is so dry, there is little planting and natural foods being distributed. The main plant being grown in Iraq which supplies 80% of the world’s supplies is Dates. Some history of the growth of food in Iraq begins between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. In the “Land between rivers,” the first human civilization was thought to begin here in four-thousand B.C. With little rainfall, the rivers nurtured the soul that created many types of crops. Leaks, onions, and lentils were some of the crops grown. Barely, wheat, even grapes were known to grow in this area. The Olive tree produced fruits. Figs that were baked were used for sweeteners. Iraq, with the central religion being of Muslims celebrates holidays, which consists of certain foods to be eaten. The Iraqi people are known to be very generous when it comes to sharing food. Meals tend to be jovial rather than festive. If the guests do not eat all of their food, the Iraqi people believe this meal to be a failure in the making. The Iraqi culture was taught to let their guests eat first, before they eat. Some typical meals of the Iraqi culture are Mezze (kebabs), Soups are served next, and the lunch and dinner meals use the same types of dishes for food. Side dishes such as salads and flat bread with jell-o.

Iraq’s economy has taken a huge hit since the War in Iraq started in 2001. The EIA reports that the Iran-Iraq war, the Kuwait war, has created a plunge in the economic sanctions. Infrastructure and society during the 1980’s and 1990’s has also deteriorated (Rumsfield, 2007). Iraq’s Gross domestic product grew by twelve percent in 1999, and 11 percent in 2000, this GDP has remained even since 2001. Inflation in Iraq is expected to be around twenty five percent. The unemployment and the underemployment are very high in Iraq. The merchandise trade surplus is around 5.2 billion and possibly more with the growth of debt. Speaking of debt, the debt of Iraq is estimated to be around 200 billion. Iraq also has no significant taxation system, which leaves them to suffer from erratic fiscal and monetary policies (EIA reports, 2007). Oil prices rising is always a question on most Americans’ minds, this is some insight as to why the oil has risen. During December 2002, the United States imported around 11.3 million barrels of oil from Iraq (EIA, 2007).

Iraq has one main religion, and a very unique type of government. The Iraqi government is known to be a republic divided into eighteen provinces, which are subdivided into districts. A National Assembly is elected every four years with two meeting a year to work with the Revolutionary Command Council. The RCC makes the decisions over the legislature which makes the leader of the RCC considered to be the president of the country as well. The president makes all of the executive decisions for the country. There are two hundred and fifty seats in the National Assembly, and the president chooses the thirty seats that are remaining. The president also makes the decision as to who is appointed judge. Probably the most famously well-known name in politics with the Iraq War is a person known as Saddam Hussein. Saddam was elected president in 1979, and was relinquished his presidential right when he was captured by the American soldiers, and placed in hold of the American government with suspicion of 9/11. Islam which is also known as Muslim is practiced by about 95% of the Iraqi population. The two forms of Muslims are the Shia and the Sunnis. They were once a combined community, but when the leader passed away there was a conflict between the two forms that led to a bad split between the two to this very day. Allah is the only god for the Muslims, and Muhammad is Allah’s prophet. Prayer is a very popular thing to do in the Muslim religion. On Friday, this is considered to be the holy day for prayer in the Muslim community.

Kinship groups are the fundamental social units, regulating many activities that in Westernized societies are the functions of political, economic, religious, or neighborhood groups. Rights and obligations center on the extended family and the lineage…… In a Feb. 26 address, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield called suggestions that the US is really after Iraq’s oil “utter nonsense.” “We don’t take our forces and go around the world and try to take other people’s real estate or other people’s resources, their oil. That’s just not what the United States does,” he said. “We never have, and we never will. That’s not how democracies behave.” There us a universal suffrage at age eighteen, and the population vote elects 22 of the 250 seats in the National Assembly. The president chooses the remaining 30 seats, which belong to the three provinces of Kurdistan; he also appoints judges……..
The America Soldiers are in my thoughts and prayers.

References
Family and Society
http://countrystudies.us/iraq/44.htm
U.S. Library of Congress

Iraq: Oil and Economy
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aairaqioil.htm
EIA-U.S. - gov.
All rights reserved, 2009

Metz, Helen Chapin, and ed. "Iraq: A Country Study." Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, May 1988. http://www.loc.gov/ (search "Iraq")
Copyright, 2007

Picture Reference
www.markhumphrys.com/Bitmaps/iraq.ur.3.jpg
Image may be subject to copyright.
www.markhumphrys.com/iraq.html

Turkey

The creation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 is the most significant historical event describing how the population’s social structures, religious beliefs, and cultural arts were formed into its current status (“Historical Background”, 2000). Turkey was known as the Ottoman Empire which ruled the country for several centuries, until its fall in 1923. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, who later became known to the Turkish people as the “Father of the Turks” or “Ataturk”, a secular and democratic government was formed allowing religious freedom, where 98 percent of its people are Muslim. This event marks the beginning of Turkish society becoming more westernized by the expansion of cultural arts through the creation of theaters, opera and ballet companies, and fine arts academies (“Historical Background”, 2000). This expansion led to the arts, drama, and classical and contemporary music becoming more popular with the individuals of the Turkish social structure (“Historical Background”, 2000).

The Middle East is an area where conflict is a common occurrence, due to differences in religious beliefs, cultures, and ethnicity of the populations living in this part of the world. This report describes Turkish conflicts that involve the Kurdish Worker’s Party, and the Turkish War of Independence to exhibit how differences in societies can produce either a peaceful culture or a culture of war.

The Turkish War of Independence lasted from the years 1919 to 1923, which led to the creation of the Republic of Turkey (“Historical Background”, 2000)). Turkey was previously known as the Ottoman Empire, which acted as a dominion for several centuries ruling the country with Islamic law. Under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, who later became known to the Turkish people as the “Father of the Turks” or “Ataturk”, a secular, democratic government was formed allowing religious freedom, where 98 percent of its people are Muslim (“Historical Background”, 2000). This conflict played a vital role in Turkish history because it produced a more westernized society by the changes in social configuration, religious beliefs, cultural arts, economies, and agriculture. Currently this conflict still continues, but other countries like
the United States are trying to help promote a promise to bring peace between the Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (Holliway, 2007).

Each culture contains a different set of ethics, which can be defined as a system of moral principals or the rules of conduct required in order to be respectful to a the human actions or a specific group or culture. As a Turkish businessman, one ethical issue to consider when negotiating a contract within Turkey is government intolerance of the freedom of expression. An example of this intolerance would be the prosecution of Orhan Pamuk for disputing the government version of the Armenian deaths caused by Turkish security forces during and after World War I (“Government Targets Turkish Novelist for Off-Limits Comments”, 2005). Business people operating in Turkey must be aware of how their expression is displayed, because of Turkish control in keeping any atrocities on migrates or refugees ordered by the government quiet to the global community.

Turkish citizens comprised the third largest group of asylum seekers in Europe in the mid 1990’s causing the European Union to become involved in making Turkey control migration rates in the country to prevent security risks that arise from the large population flows (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 11).

Globalization has drastically impacted Turkey’s migratory flows within the country. Turkey’s recent lack of migration policies have led to large volumes of people within the country to emigrate to Europe, as well as thousands of other migrants from various different regions to pass through the country to enter Europe (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 2).Turkey is known for its three major roles relating to global migration since its formation in 1923, which include the country being a recipient of large numbers of refugees, becoming a passage country for asylum seekers, and also being known for its lasting reputation of being a producer of migrates and refugees (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 6). Most of Turkey’s migration flows are from east to west or from south to north because of the many countries it borders, and its central position between Europe and Asia (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 10).

Women in Turkey are not better or worse off than women in our country. They are just different. In some ways they seem acquiescent to men; but they had a female supreme court justice before the United States did, and they have even has a female head of government, which we all know has not happened in the United States, The status of women in Turkey is dissimilar from what it is in your home country. Not "better," not "worse," but different. In some ways, women may seem subservient to men; but Turkey had a female supreme court justice long before the United States did, and Turkey has had a female head of government, something the USA, for all its success in women's liberation, has not yet had. (Varol, Gülgül, Padir, 2009)

Out of the millions of people who migrate to Turkey, only a few live there permanently. Most of the people migrating are seeking asylum from their country due to conflict regarding religion, ethnicity, or political issues (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 8). The two main groups migrating to Turkey have come from Iran and Iraq, which has greatly increased the Kurdish population of Turkey (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 8). Turkish citizens comprised the third largest group of asylum seekers in Europe in the mid- 1990’s causing the European Union to become involved, making Turkey control migration rates in the country to prevent safety measure risks that arise from the large inhabitant flows (Icduygu & Keyman, 2000, p. 11). The end results of globalization are produced by Turkey’s migration rates, which have created cultural integration and transformation to occur within the country making it more of a melting pot of various different ethnic groups.

Turkey’s ability to send, receive and take in refugees from various regions of the world have created the ineffective migration polices it has in place today. The constant levels of migration that Turkey allows will remain a security issue and continue to produce massive overflows of populations into the country.

As a Turkish citizen, I would want stronger policies on migration in order to stop some of the traffic streaming into and out of the country. The massive flows of various populations create a security risk for its citizens by migrants moving around so frequently. Having an effective migration policy would also provide more security for Europe, whose security risks is greater due to Turkey lax policies. Finally, decreasing the number of refugees accepted from other nations can help provide a more educated and developed environment for Turkish society by its not having to deal with so many impoverished people who all come from different ethnic backgrounds.

Each culture contains a different set of ethics, which can be defined as a system of moral principals or the rules of conduct required in order to be respectful to a the human actions or a specific group or culture. As a Turkish businessman, one ethical issue to consider when negotiating a contract within Turkey is government intolerance of the freedom of expression. An example of this intolerance would be the prosecution of Orhan Pamuk for disputing the government version of the Armenian deaths caused by Turkish security forces during and after World War I (“Government Targets Turkish Novelist for Off-Limits Comments”, 2005). Business people operating in Turkey must be aware of how their expression is displayed, because of Turkish control in keeping any atrocities on migrates or refugees ordered by the government quiet to the global community.

Turkish men and women work in the farming business, but this hard work continues to decline due to the rapid development of other modern industries and services (“Historical Background”, 2000). The Turkish government’s conception of economic reform over a span of fifteen years permitted for the increase of the private business segment, but this is the reason for its constant problems concerning price increases over the past few decades (“Historical Background”).

References:
Historical Background. (2000). Turkey Economic Studies. p. 137. Retrieved on
March 5, 2009 from Business Source Complete database.

Turkey’s Curriculum. (2005). Economist. 374 (8418). p. 15-16. Retrieved on February 28, 2009 from Business Source Complete database

Ethics Newsline. (2005). Government targets turkish novelists for off-limits comments.
Institute for Global Ethics. Retrieved on February 28, 2009 from www.globalethics.org/newsline/

Historical Background. (2000). Turkey Economic Studies. p. 137. Retrieved on
March 2, 2009 from Business Source Complete database.

Icduygu, A. & Keyman, E. (2000). Globalization, security, and migration: the case of Turkey. Global Governance. 6, (3). Retrieved on March 3, 2009 from
Business Source Complete database.

Turkey’s Curriculum. (2005). Economist. 374 (8418). p. 15-16. Retrieved on March 2, 2009 from Business Source Complete database.

Varol, Bahar, Gülgül, Sirma, Padir Sila, (2009).Women in Turkish Society. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on March 2, 2009. http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/details/WomenTravelers/WomenInTkSociety.html

Holliway, R. (2007). Turkey/PKK. Retrieved on March 1, 2009 from Country
Watch database.

Egypt

As we all have been taught, Egypt is the land where civilization began, a land of indescribable wealth and one of the oldest contiguous cultures still existing. Egypt was already over 2500 years old during their golden age, a time of pyramid and empire building. Egypt figures prominently in the religious and cultural makeup of a vast majority of the world’s population based on Hebrew, Christian, and Islamic formative involvement there over the centuries. Empires, however, rise and fall and Egypt was no exception.

Greece, led by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C., conquered an already divided Egypt. Since then, a series of conquests including a period of Roman domination, then Islamic rule whose language and customs formed the economic and cultural backbone of Egypt to this day. This period was followed by a takeover by the slave class of Mamelukes, and then an extended reign by Ottoman Turks, punctuated by a brief but culture changing occupation by Napoleon in 1798 which set the stage for the formation of a revitalized Egypt (Isseroff, n.d.).

Napoleon employed scientists to survey and catalogue the hitherto unknown lands, character, and culture of the Egyptian people, which among other things, led to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone and the deciphering of hieroglyphics. Conversely, Napoleon’s presence allowed the Egyptians and Ottomans to become educated in the particulars of European achievements, commerce and technologies. This was a major turning point in the direction that both Egypt and Turkey would take going into the future as they began to adopt major elements of the French culture (Isseroff, n.d.). When the French were defeated by the British in 1805, an Ottoman dynasty rose to power to bring Egypt into the modern era. This was a time of major modernization in Egypt. Muhammad Ali Pasha (1807–1848) was an Ottoman governor who was determined to make Egypt into a prosperous and powerful country. He worked to build up its population, its army, and its economy. Under his reign, modern medical practices were established which brought about a steady rise in the population. Dams were constructed to increase irrigation for the cultivation of new cash crops in the form of cotton and sugar. The country’s main ports were developed to handle the expanding import and export trade. He worked with Western advisors to establish processing facilities for importing finished goods to Western consumers (Mokyr, n.d.). The Pasha dynasty established railroad and communication networks and culminated in the construction of the Suez canal, vital to Western trade, which was ironically built jointly by the French and British who were the main beneficiaries of Egypt’s trade.

Having overspent on the development of their country and heavily in debt to British and French interests, and facing bankruptcy, Egypt was forced to allow concessions to the Western powers and became a British protectorate in 1922 (Isseroff, n.d.). Due to mounting riots and unrest, Britain granted Egypt their independence in 1923, but remained firmly entrenched to protect the canal and other commercial interests. “Other political forces emerging in this period included the communist party (1925) and the Muslim Brotherhood (1928), which eventually became a potent political and religious force” (U.S. Department of State, para. 3, 2009). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, with regard to European control of the Egyptian economy offers:

Apart from the large landowners, the top of Egypt's economy was in European hands, with control of the banks, insurance companies, cotton manufacturing and export firms, transportation, utilities, and the best professional posts. Some
technical, administrative, and commercial skills were supplied by other Middle
Eastern minorities (Jews, Syrians, Lebanese, etc.). That bourgeoisie blocked the
development of an indigenous economy until after World War II (Mokyr, n.d.,
para. 11).

Toward the end of WWII, the Arab League was formed to protect Middle East countries from the meddling of Western Powers and to stop the development of Palestine as a Jewish homeland by the dictates of the British Mandate (Isseroff, n.d.).

An ill prepared Egypt led by King Farouk joined other Arab states in a failed 1948 attack on the fledgling nation of Israel. One of the defeated Egyptian soldiers, Gamal Nasser, responding to the humiliating circumstances led a bloodless coup against the corrupt King and gained control of Egypt in 1953 declaring it a Republic. Nasser, despite 2 more failed attempts at the liberation of Palestine, and an unrealized non aligned effort to unite the Arab peoples of the Middle East, emerged as a charismatic and beloved leader.

When he was snubbed by The U.S. and the World Bank to help fund the Aswan High Dam project, he turned to the Soviet Union for alliances.

He nationalized the Suez Canal and, later, the banks, insurance companies, and other international businesses. Reforms transferred one-sixth of all land from large landowners to small farmers and many people benefited from rent reduction. The new Aswan High Dam of the early 1960s, built with Russian assistance and moneys, provided flood control, irrigation, and hydroelectric power, while
creating new environmental problems throughout the Nile Valley (Mokyr, n.d.,
para. 12).

Nasser also turned to the Soviets for aid in increasing their military might.
Despite the communist influence, Nasser insisted on keeping the government out of the way of business and to remain idealistically capitalistic in an attempt to lure investment in industry to bridge the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. By 1960, however, it was becoming increasingly evident that the new nation’s 5 year economic plan was destined to fail. Nasser was forced to nationalize the banking system and private sector businesses to stabilize a state capitalist system. At his death in 1970, the state capitalist system was unable to be maintained (Aoude, 1994).

Anwar Sadat succeeded Nasser and quickly opened up areas of free trade allowing foreign joint ventures with domestic capital and a number of Arab/European banks were opened. “Sadat introduced greater political freedom and a new economic policy, the most important aspect of which was the infitah or "open door." This relaxed government controls over the economy and encouraged private, including foreign, investment” (U.S. Department of State, Domestic Change para. 1, 2009). In an effort to reach out to the U.S. to renew trade and investment, Sadat expelled 15,000 soviet “advisors”. After a surprise attack by Israel, Sadat appealed to the U.S. to arbitrate which resulted in the withdrawal of Israeli forces to behind the lines they had won in a previous battle allowing Egypt to once again profit from the transport of goods through the Suez canal. It was at this point in his administration that he stopped meddling with the economy and turned to gaining back lands lost to Israel during Nasser’s reign (Aoude, 1994). The results of the semi-successful 1973 war against Israel helped solidify Sadat as an autonomous and influential Arab leader and brought about better relations with the U.S. (Sela, 1999).

Although Sadat sought for and attained a peace treaty with Israel brokered through the U.S., Sadat employed an Islamic fundamentalist group to further solidify his position and to exhibit strength against any future oppressive tactics by Israel. This relationship was not successful for Sadat, as the fundamentalists increased in number and popularity due to the unpopular partnering with the West and the peace treaty with Israel. Sadat was assassinated by a splinter group of the fundamentalists in 1981 (Aoude, 1994).

Although economic growth was demonstrated both during the Nasser and the Sadat eras, a rising gap between rich and poor and a growing number of poor and ultra poor people were creating unrest within Egyptian society. The population increase wiped out any gains made by increasing irrigation, and the land is being over farmed. This brings us to the present day administration of Mubarak who follows in the footsteps of Sadat by continuing the cultivation of alliances with the U.S., the abandonment of Soviet ties and capitalistic free market economic practices.

Mubarak’s long term of office has been marked by less repression as demonstrated by his two predecessors and an increase in efforts towards democratization, although constant and ongoing battles with the Islamic militants rages on (Ryan, 2001). Mubarak has also increased militarization to support his position. The armed forces are also heavily involved in state and civil infrastructure projects.

It is widely viewed that Mubarak’s son is being groomed to take his father’s place as leader within a few years. He is highly educated and has been heavily involved with banking and international financial institutions for years and has served on the President’s council. He is considered very presidential material (Egypt, 2009). Mubarak’s son, if elected, promises to further democratize and encourage global economic growth practices.

The current state of the economy has shown steady growth averaging about 5% GDP in all sectors including exportation, agriculture, manufacturing and tourism through the first seven years of the 21st century (The economy, 2008).
Issues remaining to be dealt with include the problem of food shortages and sharply rising costs which have resulted from increased importation, and the growing popularity of the Islamic militant party that the increasing number of poor people are looking to, to ease their frustrations about their plight.
The strategies and decision making of the Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak administrations in the past 57 years since the formation of the Republic of Egypt reflect the reactionary “survivalist” nature of the regimes in preserving their own political standings within the country and the region.

The implications of this are important not only for understanding government stability and survival in Egypt and elsewhere in the Third World, but also for understanding the limiting effect survival strategies have on otherwise
ambitious plans for development and change. Lacking well-developed institutions
with which to affect their plans for economic and social change, leaders in the
Third World often focus on strategies aimed at a more immediate concern: their
own political survival (Ryan, p. 26, 2001).

The success of these strategies often erode any advances toward establishment of durable commercial enterprise, economy, and political environments that can sustain the country in the long term, and may even hinder the formation of liberalization and democratization in Other World countries (Ryan, 2001).

Egypt is indeed in a position that would enable it to achieve greatness again if it were to implement meaningful long term policies designed to sustain and encourage growth while continuing to develop their infrastructure invest heavily on their domestic problems.

References
Aoude, I. (1994, Winter94). From national bourgeois development to Infitah: Egypt 1952-1992. Arab Studies Quarterly, 16(1), 1. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

Egypt. (2009, January). Political Risk Yearbook: Egypt Country Forecast, February 27, 2009, from Business Source Complete database.

Forbes, S. (2004, February 16). Mideast miracle?. Forbes, 173(3), 27-28. Retrieved February 28, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

Isseroff, A. (n.d.). History of Egypt. MidEastWeb GateWay. Retrieved February 26, 2009 from http://www.mideastweb.org/egypthistory.htm

Mokyr, J., ed. (n.d.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History. Egypt: Islam and modern periods. [Electronic version]. Accessed from http://0-ebooks.ohiolink.edu.olinkserver.franklin.edu/xtf-ebc/view?docId=tei/drs/t168/t168.xml&chunk.id=e0233&toc.depth=1&toc.id=e0233&brand=default&query=cambridge%20histories#1

Ryan, C. (2001, Fall2001). Political strategies and regime survival in Egypt. Journal of Third World Studies, 18(2), 25-46. Retrieved February 25, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

Sela, A. (1999, September). The 1973 Arab war coalition: Aims, coherence, and gain-distribution. Israel Affairs, 6(1), 36. Retrieved February 27, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

The economy. (2008, December). Country profile. Egypt, Retrieved February 26, 2009, from Business Source Complete database.

U.S. Department of State. (2009). Bureau of near eastern affairs. Egypt: European Influence. Accessed from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5309.htm#history