The End of the Cold War

The Ottoman's ruled Arab lands for 400 years until the end of the First World War. Local leaders became more powerful as European influence encroached on their empire at the end of the 17th C. In the 18th C leaders in Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Damascus, Iraq and Arabia posed a challenge to Ottoman rule. However, France and Britain created artificial borders for nation states to be placed under colonial rule, disappointing those encouraged by U.S. President Woodrow's Wilson's call for national self-determination.

British officers drive a car past theArab army in Damascus on 1 October 1918.

Nation-state nationalism caused tension between pan-Arab nationalist ideologies and do to this day.

By the time Arab states achieved independence in the 40s and 50s the divisions between Arab states had become permanent.

'The colonial exoerience left the Arabs as a community of nations rather than a national community, and Arabs remain disappointed by the results.'

The Second World War ended colonialism and started the Cold War. Alergeria, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Iraq and South Yemen sided with the Soviet Union. Tunisia, Lebabanon, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States sided with the United States.

The Cold War ended shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

A West-Berliner hits the wall next to the Brandenburg Gate, 10 November 1989 .

The Soviets then voted in favour of a UN Security Council resolution authorising a U.S.-led war against their old ally Iraq.

After 9/11 Georg W. Bush led a war on terrorism that focused on the Muslim world. Violence and instabilty have been the norm in the Middle East since 1989. Only the Arab Gulf states have prospered.

Ottoman Conquests

Today the sun is shining and the temperature has risen. Being outside is a real pleasure because the weather is almost perfect.

Getting back to Rafiq Hariri, Syria was blamed for his assassination. Bashar-al-Alsad allegedly threatened Hariri.  There were huge anti-Syria demonstrations and the last of Syria's soldiers withdrew from Lebanon by the end of April 2005. Critics of Syria continued to be assassinated. One of the victims was journalist Samir Kassir who wrote with regret about the nahda, a time during the 19th C when secular modern Arab culture was blossoming. Kassir blames Arab stagnation and frustration as having caused the lean towards the Islamists.

Rogan talks about the dissembling of Western powers when explaining their intentions towards the Arab world. Napoleon invaded Egypt in 1878 under the guise of liberating the people rather than putting one over the British strategically.

Lieutenant General Sir Stanley Maude said the same thing (more or less) when he entered Baghdad in March 1917 at the height of WWI. Iraq was placed under direct British rule from 1920, following the brutal suppression of The Iraqi Revolt.

By the time George W. Bush arrived in iraq in 2003, they'd heard it all before. Rogan says 'It is bad enough to invade people without insult their intelligence'.

Modern Arab history begins with the gunpowder fuelled Ottoman onquests of 1516-1517.

Jerusalem Under Ottoman Caliphate.

Why The Arabs?

The BBC Middle East news pages claim that 10,000 Islamic State fighters have been killed since a US-led coalition launched a campaign against it nine months ago (according to the US government).

Earlier today I was chatting to some young pro-Assad Syrian ex-pats who believe America have in fact been financing IS, as a way of softening up the Middle East for the next big push.

I was in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan earlier this year doing some filming with a Christian band raising awareness about the plight of Christians fleeing IS. During our six day stay we spent a lot of time getting permissions from the Peshmerga and ministries of state. Even though IS controlled Mosul is just 50 miles North West of Erbil, one local man described life as 'normal'.

Me in Erbil earlier this year.

I'm not really a journalist - I was a news photographer for 20 years, now working in feature films. The purpose of reviewing, however messily, Eugene's Rogan's impressive book: 'The Arabs - A History' is to research a film I have in development

It's a big book, over 600 pages long and I plan to not so much review it here as to experience it. There will be some asides to garnish the information.

Part of me recoils from this exercise, largely because it is so self-indulgent, self-serving and bourgeoise. Part me me recoils from complacency of Brighton, where I live, with all its first-world problems. It can be difficult to embrace the good life we have when you know a few hours away horrific things are taking place.

Morgan Spurlock's 'Super Size Me' set out to bring McDonald's to account about the poor lifestyle choices it encouraged (allegedly - don't sue me). He was nominated for an Oscar and the film made $30m. He did the One Direction documentary in 2013. Sarcasm and mockery aside, Spurlock's altrusim is questionable in retrospect. Did he really want to save the world from harmful fast-food or was he all about the money? We'll never know. Art always fails one way or another but putting it out there does at least show how far short we've fallen. I think that's the point - to inspire those who follow us to do better.

Anyway, I'm not sure what all that was about. It's getting late and I haven't even read the first page of Rogan's tome. What I'm hoping is that it will inspire me to make a film about the middle-east that shows some knowledge of the region's history. At the end of the day, all films can do is entertain and make a few people some money. For me, its OK for a film to address contemporary issues with a bit of laissez-faire if it can remind people that life without love is meaningless. We are here to love each other and its not always easy.

The imagination must be given its head because it transcends logic and unites us with it's anarchic, preposterous creations and their unknowable origins. When writing about darker subjects what comes out of the subconscious is neither right nor wrong: it is what is it. It could even be who or what we are. Making a film about the middle-east, through the lens of the subconscious is a frightening prospect, but in the absence of reliable intelligence or consensus, we can only imagine what's going on in this crazy world of ours.

On Reading Eugene's Rogan's: 'The Arabs - A History' 

INTRODUCTION

On Valentine's Day 2005, former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was killed by a car bomb in Beirut. He'd left himself open to corruption charges while rebuilding downtown Beirut (he was also a building contractor).

Hariri resigned as PM because he was sick of Syria interfering with Lebanon's politics.