International Conflict and the Media

ACTIVITY 9: Geography of the Middle East

Introduction

Most students will be unfamiliar with the political and physical characteristics of the Middle East.Maps are models of reality which cannot include all information, but emphasize particularfeatures. The maps in this activity focus upon those features which became important during theGulf War.

Student Objectives

• To understand the geographic characteristics in the Middle East that were important during theGulf War.
• To understand the religious and ethnic divisions in the Middle East.
• To understand the historical transitions that the Middle East has undergone since World War I.
• To understand the importance of Middle Eastern oil.

Time

1 class period

Materials

Copies of Maps 9A-C for each student

Recommended Procedures

1. Distribute Map 9A, Urban Population Centers. Ask the students to name the majorpopulation centers of the Middle East. Answers should include: Egypt, Iraq, Iran and Syria.The students should note the relatively low populations of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates.
2. Distribute Map 9B, Religions of the Middle East. Ask the students to name the religions inthe Middle East. Answers should include: Muslims, divided into two sects (Sunni and Shiite),Jews and Christians (Orthodox, Catholic and Coptic). Ask the students to name the importantreligious centers for these religions. Answers should include: Jerusalem (for Jews, Christians,and Muslims); Mecca and Qom (Muslim); and Istanbul (Orthodox Christian).
3. Distribute Map 9C, Proven Oil Reserves. Ask the students to consider:

What is the importance of oil in the United States, Western Europe and Japan?

What percentage of known oil reserves are in the Middle East?

How important is Middle Eastern oil for Europe and the United States?

Note:

The students should note that there is a difference between oil reserves and oil production. In1990, the largest oil producers were the Soviet Union and the United States. Despite its largeproduction of oil, the United States was a major oil importer. It was likely that Americandependence on imported oil would increase during subsequent years.

While the Soviet Union did export oil in 1990, Soviet oil production was declining andprojections indicated that they would soon become an oil importer. In addition, Western Europeand Japan imported oil extensively from the Middle East. Hence, Middle Eastern oil wasextremely important for the West, and would be increasingly significant in the future.

The students may not be familiar with the demise of the Soviet Union that occurred shortly afterthe Gulf War. Although the Soviet Empire had disintegrated by the Gulf War, the Soviet Unioncontinued to exist. Shortly after the end of the Gulf War, the Soviet Union disintegrated andbroke into 15 separate nations, the largest being Russia.

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