Empire Reflection on Rashid Khalidi's Term Paper

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S. must keep in mind when dealing with the Middle East and Central Asia. Khalidi states in no uncertain terms that because the U.S. is what he terms enthusiastically rather than apologetically ignorant about the region's past, the United States has assumed the mantel of imperialism and carrying the white man's burden, in this case to bring democracy rather than Christianity. America is seen as trying to make over the Middle East into a mini-America, and a de facto if not de jure colony, in contrast to so-called fundamentalists who attempt to liberate the Middle East from American cultural forces. Even if secular nationalist dictators like Saddam Hussein are not beloved (nor religious fundamentalists like the Taliban regime in Afghanistan) one's own enemy is seen as preferable to the West. That, in the eyes of many residents of the Middle East would be true, backward progress.

How does Khalidi present the contemporary history and political situation with Iraq and Iran?

The media tends to present the current conflict of America with Iraq and Iran only as a snapshot of the presence. But Khalidi locates this conflict in a historical context. First of all, it is important to remember that once upon a time, the Shah of Iran was America's friend, only to be displaced by an anti-American Shiite Islamic 'fundamentalist' who was supported by many people who wished to eradicate the nation's government of American influence. During this period of conflict, the Sunni Islamic nation of Iraq was America's friend, simply because it was historically opposed to Iran. America did not care, during this period that Iraq's leadership was not democratic, so long as it protected American interests.

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Thus, America's assertion that is the force of democracy in the region seems self-serving in the eyes of both Iran and Iraq.

Khalidi also provides a wider, regional context for opposition to America, noting that the people of the Middle East have sacrificed much, including their lives against seemingly insurmountable odds, to be free of Western control. Algeria and Tunis are some of the potent examples he brings up at the beginning of his text. He makes an analogy between the ways the French attempted to control Tunis, with indirect rule, and local puppet regimes, that seem, in the eyes of many people, very similar to the ways that the United States is attempting to exert control over Iraq today.

Final Comments and Conclusion

Algeria, after many years of terrorist and bloody warfare eventually gave up the ghost of French rule. This is a sobering and sad reminder for Americans, as they attempt to negotiate peace and create a new regime for Iraq. The only real critique of Khalidi's cultural analysis is that it provides little hope for the present, with the only healing medicine perhaps the suggestion that greater cultural understanding of how the U.S. appears to other nations is necessary. America will fail, the author suggests, for even if it does not see itself as an imperialist power, that is what the people it is supposedly attempting to help see, in the face of every American serviceman or woman. It is impossible for the United States to not be regarded as a harbinger of imperialism, just as it is impossible to forget the past, as much as it may try.

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