Unit 4- Declaration of the Rights of Man

PDP4- Declaration of the Rights of Man

Author Bio: The authors in this primary document are stated as the "representatives of the French people," but the main drafts and ideas of this document were set forth by Gilbert Lafayette. Lafayette was one of the main military officers fighting during the french revolution, and was recognized as one of the most important figures in this revolution. He was friends with Thomas Jefferson and was inspired by the Declaration of Independence. There is not much bias that can be seen in this declaration by Lafayette, mainly because of how he is talking and representing the french people as whole.

Date/Context: At the time this declaration was being written, one of the main events to have occurred was the independence that the United States had gained. As stated earlier, the Declaration of Independence, written mainly by Thomas Jefferson, was used to convey a sense of freedom and independence that inspired many people, including the french. This shows that the Decalartion of the Rights of Man was inspired by the events happening around the world at that time, mainly in the United States, and helped push the revolution of the French and the publication of this document.

Summary: The main reason this declaration was created was to identify and remind the public of the indispensable rights that the citizens had, and that corruption of governments and tragedies occurred because of the lack of recognition and recognition of these rights. The main details and rights that are mentioned in this declaration include the idea of everyone being born equal, and born with equal rights, the preservation of the main rights that include liberty prosperity and security, the idea that individual liberty can be exercised as long as it doesn't hurt others, that no one can be arrested for no important reason, that punishment should be sensible and legal, that freedom of speech is protected and that everyone should have the right to own property, among others. All these helped support the main idea, which was that citizens had certain "unalienable" rights that can never be taken away by the government.

Key Quotation: "To set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties"

PDP4 - Magna Carta

PDP4 - Magna Carta

Author Bio: The document had been created by the barons of England. There was a bias towards their cause because it was made to prevent a Civil War and to control the King. They were opposed to the king and were in favor of the king being monitored and restricted in some areas. 

Historical Context: This document comes at a time when England was at the brink of war with the barons in that country. This was to be a peace treaty between the barons and the King. It is important because it states that every man shall be free. It also states that no man shall be sold or denied Liberty. 

Summary: The purpose of the document was to describe the importance of the Magna Carta. This occurred when several of the Barons of England confronted the king when there was the impending threat of a civil war occurring. This however did not stop the civil war when the pope invalidated the agreement. Although it did not prevent the civil war, there had been several other copies of the document that was made. The Magna Carta had been made to restrict the king from controlling the land ruled under the baron. It was also to protect their rights. The people would have to be judged before they were prosecuted and the people could not be sold or denied rights. The Americans took the Magna Carta into mind as they were creating the Declaration of Independence. Some of the rights mentioned in the document were included in the bill of rights. 

Important Quote: "'No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will We proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.'" 

SJS3: "Syria in the Abyss"

SJS3- "Syria in the Abyss"

Source: Weiss, Max. "Syria in the Abyss." Current History, vol. 113, no. 767, Dec. 2014,
     pp. 372-73.

Author: Max Weiss is the author of In The Shadow of Sectarianism: Law, Shiism, and the Making of Modern Lebanon. He is also the current associate professor of History and Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.

Summary: This article examines the uprising in Syria and analyzes how an American journalist, Reese Erlich, voices their opinion on the situation. Since 2011, more than 200,000 people have died during this war, and more than nine millions have been forced to relocate, mostly in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. Many citizens took matters into their own hands and tried to attack the Assad government. He also touches on how Syria is not all to blame for the outbreak of war. The author being examined, Erlich, claims that tries to understand Syria's perspective and view on the uprising and rebellion. The article also voices that there are double standards when dealing with Syria. According to Weiss, Erlich feels that Israel is being hypocrites, in the fact that they are promoting bombing because they do not like Assad. In addition, he states that the United States and other countries do have an effect on Syria. According to the author, Syria has the best location that will be able to work effectively with the United States. Weiss then ends with saying that although very insightful, no person with power will see and evaluate what Erlich claims is right for the country of Syria.

Analysis: Although Weiss included some ideas of his own, he mainly focused on examining what the author of Inside Syria, Reese Erlich had to say about the civil war going on in Syria. However, Weiss does put forth a concise, well written analysis of what Elrich stated in his writing.

SJS3- After Mubarak, Mubarak?

Source: Shehata, Samer. "'After Mubarak, Mubarak?'" Current History, vol. 107, no. 713, Dec. 2008, pp. 418-24.

Author: Samer Sheheta is an Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Politics at the University of Oklahoma. He has taught at Colombia University, Georgetown University and the American University of Cairo. His research interests include U.S foreign policy with the Middle East and Egyptian politics, which shows his qualifications on the topic of Egypt and its politics.

Summary: This article mainly examines what is going to happen after Hosni Mumbaraks presidency ends. Shehata explains that Mubarak is close to the end of his fifth term, and that he is close to eighty years old, signaling the end of his close to three-decade presidency, and because of this, debate over who might succeed him has been constantly discussed any time he has had a health issues or problems. What Shehata discusses in depth in this article is the different scenarios that may transpire after Mobaraks death or end of presidency. The main candidates he talks about are Gamal Mubarak (Hosni’s son) and different military leaders. He says that Gamal has had political experience in Youth and Development Comitee and the National Democratic Party, which have made him a viable candidate. The only things that hold him back are his lack of experience with the military and his father being the president. The other candidate he discusses is Omar Suleiman, who is the director of intelligence for Egypt. He has strong ties to the military and is well liked by the public, making him a possible candidate too. Shehata also discusses the major obstacles the president after Mubarak is going to face, which include amending ant-terrorist laws, enhancing and reforming the economy and creating more jobs, all of which have been constantly proven as very hard things to accomplish. Shehata believes that whoever does become president is going to be faced with a multitiude of problems facing Egypt.

Analysis: Shehata makes a very strong argument that helps us understand the problems that Egypt and the future president are going to have. He adequately discusses why there is debate on who should be the next president and gives us likely candidates that can be future presidents. He also talks about the experiences of the candidates and the ways they can win the election. He provides a sufficient amount of evidence that helps us understand more about the candidates and their qualifications. He does distinguish between fact opinion by giving us the actual numbers, at the same time giving his take on the issue. He is a reliable source because of the experience he has and because of the different colleges he has taught at.

SJS3- How Syria Fell to Pieces

Source: Abboud, Samer. “How Syria Fell to Pieces.” Current History, vol. 114, no. 776, Dec. 2015, pp. 337-42.


Author: Samer Abboud is an associate professor of international studies at Arcadia University. He is also the author of Syria. He has a doctorate in Arab and Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter.

Summary: Arab uprisings, socioeconomic decline, and political restraint in Syria all lead to an uprising in Syria. This uprising started in Daraa, Syria and within five years of 2011, when it started, the uprising turned into a civil war. Before this developed into a civil war however, it started with protestors in Daraa. These protests against the Syrian's government and its regimes. These quickly spread throughout the country, including to the capital city, Damascus. Protestors started to organize in Local Coordination Committees and The Syrian National Council which brought the uprising to the international level. These protesting group even pushed back regime forces by the pressure of the uprising. The SNC and LCC faced internal crisis though, one example being that the leaders of these groups being exiled out of the country. Despite some international moral support, little was done to help maintain the pressure put on the regimes. This made room for groups like the Islamic Front. The regime in turn started fighting back with local military groups, this eventually formed National Defense Forces. Outside military forces from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq also helped aid Syrian's regime forces. Syria was then split into areas of different control. This split of power has created insecurity and fighting throughout Syria. More than half of Syrians have been killed, displaced, or injured by the fighting. The economy has basically fallen apart because of all the fighting. Although this uprising has made some progress, there is little plan for the future and post-conflict Syria with the protesting groups having power.


Analysis: The author presents all his opinions as facts, and always provides backup facts as well. I agree with everything he says. His main theme throughout the article is that Syria is going through a major conflict that many groups, internal and external are trying to take advantage of.

SJS3- The Fragmentation of Palestine

Source: Robinson, Glenn E. "The Fragmentation of Palestine." Current History, vol. 106, no. 704, Dec. 2007, pp. 421-26.

Author: Glenn E. Robinson is an associate professor and worked for the Center of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. His work has been published in many scholarly journals, mostly focusing on the Middle East. He has also worked extremely diligently with the U.S. Agency for International Development to help design and implement developmental projects in the West Bank and Gaza.

Summary: This article is about the divide in Palestine between the Hamas and the Fatah. Fatah has usually been the dominant political party but in recent decades, Hamas have gotten more involved in politics. Hamas’s candidate won the election in 2006 which spurred many difficult times in the Palestinian society. Fatah did not agree with this and attempted to take action which resulted in a back and forth match between the Hamas and Fatah. The West Bank was then divided and it has become seemingly impossible for Palestinians to travel from village to village. The Israeli colonies in the West Bank region are essential to the reasoning for the fragmentation of Palestinian lands. Most people feel that to form a stable Palestinian society, in the future they are going to have to form a union from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and form a binational state. No one really wants this to occur; Israelis prefer the idea of the Jewish state and Palestinians support the illiberal version of a binational state.

Analysis: The author does make a strong argument because he backs up all of his information with examples. With every argument and opposing viewpoint that the author brings up, he does provide factual and historical evidence to verify his statement. I do not believe that the author used much opinion in this piece, yet if he did, it was quite obvious when and where he was using it in the text. I do believe that the author is a reliable source because he seems to be in the right state of mind and he presents his information objectively in the article.

SJS3 - Storms of the Arab Spring

SJS3 - Storms of the Arab Spring

Source: Dunne, Michele. “Storms of the Arab Spring.” Current History, vol. 112, no. 758, Dec. 2013, pp. 364-65.

Author Credentials: Michele Dunne is a contributing editor to the Current History magazine, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and she was the founding director of the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East from 2011 to 2013. Dunne has been to the Middle East multiple times, and she had friends from Palestine to help explain occurrences to her. Clearly, Dunne has much experience with the Middle East, since she has been there many times, and has many accomplishments.

Summary: In the Middle East, much violence and political/social polarization has occurred recently in Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Syria, and Egypt causing the Arab Spring. Egypt elected its first president freely, and the president put the country in a coup and violence. Libya was in a situation of chaotic security. Yemenis negotiated a transition and were wondering whether it would lead to real reform or just perpetuate mechanisms of state capture. Tunisia is carefully trying to build a democratic order, but Salafist groups are assassinating and causing violence.Syria is focused on a regime determined to fight change and go with their interests. These issues came up around 2011, and there has been little progress in the demands, all outside countries trying to help have barely done anything. Some progress has been made in freedom; elections have become free and fair, and there are many gains in free media and civil society. The fewest gains have occurred in social justice and economic inequality. Going back to the peace before the Arab Spring is basically impossible for the countries involved. The Middle East is in a state of turmoil due to violence and recent changes, putting certain countries into the Arab Spring.

Analysis: The author, Michele Dunne, provides a very thorough argument with many specific details to each individual country. Dunne breaks down every country involved in the Arab Spring, and provides details on the problems in each. The author provides his thoughts, and clearly demonstrates opinions and facts, making sure to set them apart. At the end of the journal, Dunne states her opinion on the outcome of the Arab Spring, while the rest of the article contains facts about the Arab Spring. The author is a very reliable source, since she has been to the Middle East multiple times, and she has many qualifications and lofty achievements.

SJS3- "ISIS and the Third Wave of Jihadism"

Source: Gerges, Fawaz A. "ISIS and the Third Wave of Jihadism." Current History, vol. 113, no. 767, Dec. 2014, pp. 339-43.

Author Credentials: Fawaz A. Gerges is a professor of Middle Eastern politics and international relations in London. Gerges has written several books on Jihadism and the Middle East. Gerges is qualified to discuss ISIS and Jihadism because of his extensive research on these topics.

Summary:  The author argues that ISIS is an Islamist terrorist group that has asserted their dominance in the Middle East, and is a wide-spread group that will continue to inflict terror upon the world if nothing is done. With the involvement of the U.S. in Iraq in the early 2000s, terrorists groups formed, as Saddam Hussein's government was overthrown, and Iraq remained in a fragile position. When ISIS formed in Iraq, it was formed through a mixture of Iraq-based al Queda members and members from Saddam Hussein's government. This meant that experienced terrorists and government officials that were used to dictatorship were joining forces. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is considered the leader of ISIS in Syria and Iraq.  ISIS formed after the Taliban and al Queda, but it has more similarities to the Taliban than al-Queda. It is a Sunni majority extremist group that managed to use the fragile environment of Iraq to assert dominance. It started out only targeting Shiite Muslims, and not Western powers which caused the leaders of al-Queda and the Taliban to not support ISIS. However, ISIS has at least 30,000 fighters and several thousand other supporters throughout the world. It does not use theology or the holy word of the Quran to explain it's violence, and because it only participated in violence in the Middle East at first, it managed to gather supporters. Baghdadi's slogan is "victory through fear and terrorism," and those are the exact ways ISIS has become powerful. They do not target anywhere in particular, but instead target everywhere and work to instill fear. When ISIS first came about leaders in the Middle East were not concerned with ISIS and believed it would fall apart. However ,with growing numbers of recruits and increasing attacks, Gerges believes the only way to destroy ISIS is to get Sunni muslims to disown ISIS, and fight against it, so that ISIS no longer has an immense number of supporters. ISIS is a very powerful extremist group that continues to become stronger.

Analysis: Gerges makes a strong argument for why ISIS is so dangerous, and how they must be stopped. He discusses how ISIS gathered supporters when Iraq was unstable, and how many leaders in the Middle East disregarded them at first, which allowed ISIS to grow and expand. Gerges does an excellent job of focusing on the facts, and trying to avoid opinions. He is a reliable source because of his research and knowledge on jihadists and the Middle East.

PDP3- The Arab-Israeli Conflict (1967)

PDP3- The Arab-Israeli Conflict (1967)

Author Bio: The author of the first excerpt is Abba Eban. Abba Eban was an Israeli ambassador, diplomat, and politician. He felt that he was a professional protector of Israel; he had a very strong nationalist view of life. He was against Zionism, as well. The Palestinian National Charter, the third excerpt, was drafted by the Palestine Liberation Organization. This organization used armed struggle in order to achieve the liberation of Palestine.

Date/Context: These texts were written during the late twentieth century, in the 1960s, after World War 1. The discrepancies between Arab and Israel had remained constant after World War 1, then exceedingly intensified after Israel declared statehood in the late 1940s which then led to their greatest conflict: “Six Days War” of 1967. This time period was generally consumed by religious and nationalist disagreements and general harshness.

Summary: In Abba Eban’s speech, states that the main topic of his speech will be about the harsh past and hopeful future of the Middle East. His central idea, however, revolves around his homeland of Israel and the unfairness it has received. However, his speech ends by discussing the ways to end this controversy and that is by recognizing the necessity of true cooperation and true contact with other countries. The path to achieving this positive outcome, the author believes, lays within the city limits of Jerusalem. He asks both developing countries and great powers to make changes, or even sacrifices, to the way that they view themselves and other countries or nations. The second excerpt talks about how the Security General and others need to follow the Charter’s guidelines and principles to ensure the best possible outcome for them. The final excerpt then discusses the relationship of Arab Palestinian people and their identity. It also distinguishes the main points of a Palestine community and the different prospects of Arab unity. Finally, the excerpt talks about how necessary the liberation of Palestine is to Arab unity and vice versa and the way that Zionism is very unnecessary and not beneficial to any society, especially Israel.

Key Quotation: “Israel’s rights to peace, security, sovereignty, economic, development and maritime freedom­-indeed its very right to exist-has been forcibly denied and aggressively attacked. This is the true origin of the tension which torments the Middle East.”

PDP3 - A Turkish Republic for the Civilized World

PDP3 - A Turkish Republic for the Civilized World

Author Bio: The author, Ghazi Mustapha Kemal, was the president of the Turkish Republic and he was very pro modernization. In 1923, Kemal established the Turkish Republic and became the first president, and by doing this he ended the Ottoman Empire. Kemal had many modern ideas for the Turkish Republic, and wanted to modernize the republic, so he is biased for modernization.

Date/Context: This document comes at a time when the Ottoman Empire and World War I had just ended, and some civilization was needed to replace the Ottoman Empire. The solution to this problem is the Turkish Republic/present-day Turkey. This document contains a speech that Kemal gave when a tribal sheik rebelled because they did not agree with Kemal's modernizing ideas. Overall, this document contains information on post-Ottoman Empire in the Turkish Republic.

Summary: Musafa Kemal had a goal for the Turkish Republic, he wanted it to be modernized and completely independent. Kemal was born in 1881, and joined the Young Turk revolution of 1908. During World War I, Kemal commanded the Ottoman forces with success, but was then ordered to disband the Ottoman army. Instead, Kemal resigned and fought for Turkish independence, and was victorious in 1923. Due to this, Kemal established the Turkish Republic, thus ending the Ottoman Empire. The first few years of the empire caused much turmoil, and Kemal tried to modernize Turkey into a better place. Although, in 1924, a tribal sheik led a rebellion, and in 1926, a plot to assassinate Kemal was uncovered. In response to this, Kemal gave a thirty-six hour speech. The speech described the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and how the people were left exhausted and empoverished. Kemal had a plan to save the Empire including, demanding protection from England, accept the U.S. as a Power, and deliver the country. The Turkish nation needed to be free, wealthy, and independent, or the nation would fall to slavery. Kemal also declared that the Caliph is abolished. New laws were created to make sure the nation was prosperous. Kemal had a goal to make sure that Turkey was modernized and independent.

Key Quotation: "...we applied [the law for Restoration of Order and the Courts of Independence] to restore peace and quietness in the country. We made use of them to insure the existence and independence of the country. We made use of them with the object of contributing to the social development of the nation." 

PDP1 - The Uprising of Kurdad 15, 1979

PDP1 - The Uprising of Kurdad 15, 1979

Author Bio: The author Ruhollah Hendi was the leader of the Islamic Revolt and greatly opposed the Shah. He ruled Iran until his death. He was a major bias toward his cause and is very much against Western culture. He opposes it violently and is therefore biased against it.

Date/Context: This document comes at a time when western culture had spread all over through globalization, but Middle Easterners were coming to realize that they did not want western culture. In this case they were protecting their own culture even with the use of violence. This document is the ideals of the leader Ruhollah Hendi and how he felt about westerners and what he felt his people should do about it.

Summary: Hendi argues that only through normal Muslim citizens can tyranny be overthrown and protection of their homes and religion be established. Hendi goes to say that only through regular Muslims, not rich or from any other country, but only normal people can truly protect themselves and undermine the tyranny they found themselves under. Westerners do not have Muslim’s best interests in mind when they come to help. They only wish to protect their positions as world superpowers. Muslims must protect themselves and care for their own needs because they can do it better than any other organization or country. Islam is capable of running its own politics and taking care of itself as it used to. The mosques brought rise to this sense of self preservation and independence and they will be the ones to sustain it..

Key Quotation: “As for those who oppose us because of their opposition to Islam, we must cure them by means of guidance, if it is at all possible; otherwise, we will destroy these agents of foreign powers with the same fist that destroyed the Shah's regime.”