HOW ARAB COUNTRIES GOT THEIR MODERN BORDERS

The crumbling of the Ottoman Empire left behind a power vacuum and a web of vague and ill-defined boundaries in its former lands. The political intrigues of European powers before and after World War I produced today’s boundaries, which many Arabs say are arbitrary. Borders rarely mattered before oil was discovered; now they are one of the reasons that Iraq invaded Iran in 1980 and Kuwait in 1990. 1878: Ottoman suzerainty (nominal lands with autonomous rulers)

The Ottoman Empire ruled most Arab lands, including Mesopotamia and the Al Hasa coast of the Persian Gulf, since the reign of Suleyman I in the 1560’s. By the late 1800’s, Ottoman control of its vast empire was weakening, and a number of areas were ruled by tribal leaders with the title of emir (prince) who had considerable local autonomy. Borders were not set in desert areas. 1914: British protectorates (Britain runs defense and foreign policy)

Britain allied itself with the Ottomans through most of the 19th century, mostly to keep it from being swallowed up by Russia. But by the 1890’s Britain was dealing directly with emirs around the Arabian peninsula. Kuwait became a British protectorate in 1899. Britain and the Ottomans negotiated a border for Kuwait, a 40-mile radius from Kuwait city, but it was never ratified. 1916: Sykes-Picot agreement (British rule, British area of influence, French rule and French area of influence)

The Ottomans sided with the Germans in World War I. Britain, France and Russia secretly agreed in May, 1916 to carve up former Ottoman lands under the Sykes-Picot agreement. France and Britain would each get direct-rule areas and spheres of influence, with part of Palestine under international control. 1916: British claims (areas it would not agree to let be included in an independent state)

At the same time, Britain offered to back an Arab rebellion headed by Hussein, sharif of Mecca and sheik of the Hasehemite clan, to overthrow Ottoman rule and set up an independent Arab state. Hussein wanted a promise that all lands between Egypt, Iran and Turkey would be part of it, but Britain wanted to exempt the regions around Basra, Baghdad, and Alexandretta. 1920: British mandate Other British protectorates; French mandate Neutral zones; British backed Hashemite rulers

After World War I, Hussein’s territory in Hijaz and King Saud clan’s territory in Najd becameindependent Arab states. The League of Nations gave “mandates” to France for Lebanon and Syria, and to Britain for Palestine and Mesopotamia. Britain installed Hussein’s sons as kings of Iraq and Jordan. 1990: Border disputes or changes

The Saud clan united most of Arabia in the 1920’s. Syria and Lebanon became independent after World War II. British protectorates, including Kuwait, gained theirs after 1960. Over Arab objections Britain split Palestine into Israel and the West Bank. A military coup overthrew the Iraqi monarchy in 1958. Some border disputes in the region have been settle peacefully, but since the birth of Israel and the rise of Aran nationalism, more have led to war.

Source: Atlas of the Islamic World; Times Atlas of World History; Border and Territorial Disputes; A Concise History of the Middle East; Cambridge Atlas of the Middle East and North Africa; Encyclopedia Britannica.