The Middle East Encounter with the Expansion of European International Society

Abstract

This chapter examines the impact of the expanding European international society upon the Middle East and the latter’s response to the former. The Middle East encountered European international society via the Ottoman Empire which ruled much of the Middle East during the period of European expansion. Therefore, the chapter begins with an analysis of the integration of the Ottoman Empire into European international society and concentrates on such questions as to what extent the Ottoman Empire became Europeanised and how successfully the Ottoman Empire was (or was not) socialised into the institutions of European international society. This is to be shown through five institutions of the classical English school, namely the balance of power, diplomacy, international law, great power management and war. Then comes a treatment of whether the penetration of the Ottoman Empire by European international society, and later the break-up of the Empire and the colonisation of much of the Middle East by European powers, set the stage for the emergence of the post-colonial Middle East. Here, the Ottoman legacy and European impact is the major focus of analysis in respect of such issues as the formation of states, nationalism and secularism. Finally the chapter concludes by pointing out the weakness of ‘world society’ in the Middle East and relates it to the European expansion and its ramifications for the contemporary period.