Thursday, September 11, 2014

Persian Gulf: Questions to Consider


WELCOME BACK TO BLOG HEAVEN! At this point in time we do not have access to Turn It In. Therefore I will be uploading your responses to another site - DO NOT plagiarise. 

Questions to Consider

  1. Why is the Persian Gulf region so important?
  2. What are the strategic waterways of the region?
  3. What is Huntington’s civilization theory?
  4. How are Iran and the Arab countries different?
  5. Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
  6. What were the first, second, and third Gulf Wars about?
  7. Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf War?
  8. How did U.S. diplomacy blunder in Iran and Iraq?
  9. Would you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?

23 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Erick Volquez
    IB History 12
    Ms.Noce
    Oil and Turmoil: The Persian Gulf Blog

    1. The Persian Gulf region seems to be so important because of the natural resource every country wants and needs; oil. Oil is definitely the reason why this region is important because most of the world’s oil derives from this place and then is exported to all parts of the world including our country; the United States. In 1990 the Persian Gulf War began and the United States allied with Iraq; why? For the simple selfish reason of keeping a good “connection with the country” to keep the smooth flow of imported oil to the country. This Gulf region contains the world’s largest and greatest oil reserves which to many countries, is a strategic prize. Since this region is rich in Oil and manages to hold up a lot of the resources that comes from there like for example; coal, and even gas that you use for your car today.
    2. The Strategic waterway that can be found in the map is the Arabian Sea, By sea this is the only way that Boats can come in the Persian Gulf and take the Oil to ship back to their designated place. I think that this a strategic water way because whoever has this area controlled has the entrance to Oil Heaven. Today we have U.S navy troops who maintain order of those who come through the Persian Gulf and Out threw the water way of Oman.
    3. The Huntington’s civilizational theory’s origin derives from the colonial period and then adapted by a man called Samuel P. Huntington. The theory touches upon an idea and that is that people’s cultural and religious identities tend to be the primary source of conflicts that dive into wars like the cold-war. Samuel expanded on this theory based of others who worked on this theory in the book “The clash of civilizations: the debate” in the early 1990’s. Huntington’s idea was to explore major civilations who have a high rate of cultural and religious conflict; these were North American and European branches, Slavic/Orthodox, Islamic, Confucian, Hindu, Japanese which is claimed as (unique) and of course Latin American. One Important factor to Huntington’s claim’ is that he states that the greatest conflict is where Muslim civilization meets other civilizations. Continuing in the order of countries vs. each other like Christians versus Muslims in Lebanon, India versus Pakistan and the one we know most; Islamic Terrorism aimed at the United States.
    4. The Article states that Iran is Muslim but not Arab. The difference between Iran and the Arab countries is that Iran was a main target; Iran was once known as Persia but the Arabs took over Persia and took on the roll of turning Persians from Zoroastrianism to Islam. The minority branch of Islam in the Iran’s state region persisted and so did the Sunni which are the mainstream of Islam. The Arab population’s based on the culturalism and religion being first before any governmental reign; unlike Iran, even if they share common religious background (Islam) the government acts first which is where we have a clash of civilizations.
    5. In 1979 Iran erupted a Islamic Revolution was a revolution that was caused by the overthrown of power in Iran and the United States Supported this by then establishing the Islamic republic. Saddam wasn’t happy with this and from Iraq’s point of view, it was a disgrace. The reason why Iran caused this revolution was because the Government that was implemented at the time (Pahlavi Dynasty) wasn’t doing a good job with mobilizing the country so the Iranian went on an outrage and moved on to the revolution to establish the Islamic republic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 6. The First gulf War was based on the creation of Iraq (ancient Mesopotamia). The British forces that came from India took over Iraq in 1921 because they own a debt to a wealthy dynasty for a favor they had provided them with. They place a prince from the Hashemite to rule over Iraq and his brother to look over the new provinces which would become Palestine. In early 1930’s Iraq became independent but when allied with Germany in the 1940’s this led to having them be under British occupation. The British didn’t like the idea of this family ruling so they were executed which moved them towards the Soviet Union to look into. Saddam later started a revolutionary assassin and became a dictator in 1979. The second gulf war was composed of many aspects. The United States failed to see that that Iraq was in a bad state under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein; all they wanted was to keep them as friends for Oil (so greedy!) The U.S in 1984 reestablished diplomatic ties with Baghdad to increase their trust, contact and arm supplements to keep things good and very cooperative with Iraq. Iraq had been receiving massive products from Germany and all around the world to make gas; all the U.S wanted was to keep Iraq away from Moscow. Even if it seem like there was cooperation; Saddam began to complain because The U.S had come into Kuwait and pump excessive amount of Oil keeping the prices down and Iraq disagreed saying to have the prices up; so it began this conflict of economy and natural resources. The third Gulf war derived from the occurrences after the attack of 9/11; President W. Bush decided to overthrow the fanatic Islamist Taliban regime of Afghanistan for hosting and helping Al Qaeda and its leader Osama Bin Laden. U.S special forces went in to the country to look for Bin Laden; Bin Laden fleet the country and escape but left the country alone enough time for the United States to retreat but still look for him.
    7. Saddam Used chemical weapons in the first Gulf war but not in the second or third because of his ideals and plans. When you try to have something disappear you give a first strong shot at it and boom! Gone. Saddam thought that by using these chemical weapons would install fear upon the United States and retreat but also install feel fear on the Iranians. Of course it was a fail but he knew that using the same strategy of using chemical weapons; the United States would have to deal with it and attack back with more massive force (that didn’t happen till 9/11 and 2003 war.) Saddam did Use terroristic attacks towards the U.S and anyone who opposed.
    8. The Biggest Blunder (mistake) that the U.S did towards the fighting back and forth between the Iranian and the Iraqi was that they took sides. I Understand that the United States needed to side with someone but if we look at it this way, it would tie in to why they would feel it was a mistake. If the united states hadn’t given Iraq resources; they would have felt the need to find out on their own the way to get weapons from other countries and the United states would have preserved money and lives from the war that came after in 2003. The U.S diplomacy felt ashamed that this happened but it was a lesson learned and immediately moved into war.
    9. I think that I wouldn’t be willing to fight to keep the Gulf Oil flowing. If I was to be in charge of a country that can influence others into making decisions I think that I would promote a way to distribute the Gulf Oil flowing and be distributed since it is one of the World’s OR the largest Oil Natural Area. Keeping it moving would mean that the world would continue to take out from there so if another country buys and purchases more then what they need to; my country could obtain that % interest on Oil from that country and it wouldn’t be a direct connection to keeping the Gulf Oil running. Regardless I believe that Having most of the world involved in this, there would still be a problem since that land does belong to Arab territory.

    WORK CITED: Chapter 9 Oil and Turmoil: The Persian Gulf

    ReplyDelete
  4. Samantha Foster
    IB History 12
    Ms.Noce
    9-13-14
    Oil and Turmoil: The Persian Gulf


    1. The Persian Gulf is very important to many countries because it is rich in oil. The Persian Gulf is home to many oil reserves in which many countries rely on including the United States. It has been the source of many conflicts between many nations didn’t want the exportation of oil from the Persian Gulf to their country to be interrupted for any reasons.

    2. The Shatt al Arab “Stream of Arabs” is a 120 mile waterway formed by the confluence of Tigris and Euphrates. Because the Shatt al Arab discharges into the Persian Gulf, it serves as a easy to transport oil by ship.

    3. The Huntington Civilizational Theory was created by a man known as Samuel P. Huntington. In this theory, Samuel goes on to say that conflicts between two or more countries are likely to be caused by the cultural and religious identities of a civilization. Some civilizations are able to coexist with one another because they share similar values so therefore it is easier for them to be on the same wavelength with each other whereas it would be difficult for countries who do not share the same values to tolerate one another. Countries that support Samuel’s theory would be Israel vs. Arabs, Russians vs. Chechens, and Christians vs. Muslims.

    4. I believe what differentiates Iran and Arabian countries is religion. Iran the descendant of the ancient civilization of Persia and also speak Persian. Persia was conquered by Arabs in 642 A.D and forced the Persian to convert to Islam. In 1501, Iran adopted what is called shia- a minority branch of islam.

    5.The Islamic revolution was interrupted by Iran its form of government was overthrown in 1979 and replaced with the “Islamic Republic” which was formed by the US. Saddam wasn’t pleased that the Islamic revolution was interrupted and was even more upset that US intervention had occurred.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 6. The First Gulf War occurred when the British took over Mesopotamia, later known as Iraq, back in World War 1. It was an act of debt to the royal family of Arabia who helped the British cast out the Turks. In 1932, Iraq had gained its independence and was close to becoming allies with Germany in 1941. However, it was prevented and Iraq once again found itself under British occupation. Later on, the British decided to kill the royal family along with Iraq’s top officials which caused the country to side with the Soviet Union. During the Second Gulf War, Iraq was starting to look more menacing under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. The United States established its diplomatic ties with Baghdad in order for Iraq to remain rational. In the mean time, Iraq acquired equipment from around the world with Germany being its greatest supplier. This led to the production of dangerous weapons such as poison gas and medium-range missiles. Saddam complained that the US had been pumping too much oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and the prices were low whereas Saddam wanted the price to increase which brought about more feud between Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. The Third Gulf War shortly occurred after the tragic events of 9/11. President Bush decided that taking out Osama bin Laden, the fanatic Islamist Taliban, was a complete must. In 2001, US special forces made short work of the Taliban however, Osama bin Laden had escaped but the task was still an ultimate victory on America’s part.

    7. Many people question why Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons in the first Gulf War but not the second and third one. The reason why he chose not to use chemical weapons even though he had the ability to do so was because he knew that the United States would have taken drastic measures. There were already warnings that the use of Iraqi poison gas would arouse a dreadful response from the US. Not only that, but Israel would undoubtedly side with the US and these two nations would have no qualms on responding with nukes.Saddam knew that if he had used chemical weapons during the second and third Gulf War, his defeat would have been completely inevitable.

    8. I believe that becoming allies with Iraq was a big mistake that the US diplomacy made. The alliance was made for the sake of oil. I know that oil is something the the US relies on but we had no idea what we were dealing with. It wasn’t until we noticed the great magnitude of Iraq’s nuclear weapons that we realized we were allied with a country who had a murderous dictator as their leader.

    9. I definitely wouldn’t be willing to fight to keep the flow of oil going. To be honest, I consider my life way more important than some feud over oil or any cause for war and if I were the leader of a nation, I wouldn’t want my citizens to get hurt over something like that either. If I were the leader of a country I would highly stress that oil is something not only my country relies on, but many other countries as well. We would just have to find a way to equally distribute the oil.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Victor Harris
    9-12-14
    I.B History 12

    1.Why is the Persian Gulf region so important ?
    -The reason why the Persian Gulf region is important is mainly for oil. Most of the worlds oil gets shipped through the Persian Gulf, and oil a natrual resource that a lot of nations would like to take over. This can also be a reason why war can start because everybody is trying to be greedy.

    2. What are the strategic waterways of the region?
    -The entrance to the Persian Gulf is about 21, which you can on the map with the Arabian Sea. Around this straight "20 percent of the world's oil supply, much of it to East Asia". Another cool strategy is that it's near an the Oman which is an ally of the USA,this is a good way to keep the order and peace in the waterways.

    3.What is Huntington's civilizational theory?
    -The Huntington's "Civilization" Theory which is made by a political scientist Samual P.Huntington trying to argue the post war wasn't about "nations or trade blocs", but more on the religion aspect; and also as you can see the Civilational aspect to. Relgion and Civilization really doesn't go together as I read this theory, people that have there religion but meet others with different beliefs can cause a ruckus. Over the time Islamist starting to take over which people didn't like for example "2003 Muslims worldwide rallied to Iraq,and U.S occupation stirred Muslim hatred". This is an example of religion playing a vital role.

    4.How are Iran and the Arab countries different?
    -Main difference is the religion which is a vital role in this packet. In the text it said, "Iran is Muslim but not Arab". Reading furthermore it seems that the Arab convert to Islam, which is a major difference from the too.

    5.Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
    -The reason it erupted because when Iran converted to Islamist so did Iraq. Saddam thought the revolution would weaken Iran;with no support from the U.S it would be hard. In 1975 Iraq broke the treaty and attacked Iran but back fired and went to Iran because more people rallied.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 6.What were the first,second and third Gulf war about?
    -The first gulf war was about British forces taking over Mesopotamia during the World War 1, but in 1921 helped Britain with a debt that she had owed. This is the time in 1979 Saddam became dictator. This was because in 1958 army officers executed the royal family, reason why he became the leader. In the Second Gulf War Saddam was putting his power into use trying to become powerful by getting items as nukes, missles and poison gas but in this war didn't use it because he knew the USA would have a big say nuclear wise. And the last one is 9/11, which was very sad in the U.S stand point. This is when Iraq was the number one enemy, and couldn't be trusted no more. The U.S exile Iraq and to find Osama bin Laden

    7.Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf War?
    -During the first world war the U.S didn't have a strong hold on Iraq, or didn't see anything that stood out that would attract them over. But during the second and third the U.S was closer and Saddam knew the U.S would be right there if anything went down and Isreal . U.S was there for oil and also most of the chemical supplies came from the U.S.

    8.How did U.S diplomacy blunder in Iran and Iraq?
    -Well I feel the U.S only did it to get closer to the Oil. It was very dangerous over there and few agents knew how to talk there language. If it wasn't for the oil, the U.S would of had no business over there, and being greedy didn't see Iraq or Iran as a theart intill it was to late.

    9.Would you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?
    -No, because I'm an American and should mind my business. I know the Americans like to help other people with the international problems. But for me in general no, I think they can defend thereself and do what they have to do. But then again I would because the oil is very important and we can benefit from this cause the USA is greedy. So my final answer is no because like I said I'm going to mind my business.

    Work Cited
    Packet 9

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1. Why is the Persian Gulf region so important?
    - The Persian Gulf region was important because it contained the world’s greatest oil reserves. The Persian Gulf region was also important because it contained a high percentage of the world’s petroleum reserves there in that area. This is area was important due to all the natural resources it contained.
    2. What are the strategic waterways of the region?
    - A strategic waterway idea was used to export oil out of the region through the Arabian Sea by ship and sending it into the Mediterranean and Red sea. Most people to do this were the Iranians.
    3. What is the Huntington’s civilizational theory?
    - This theory is saying that the real divisions in the post-Cold War were not between nations or trade blocs but it was actually between civilizations that were focused around religion. There were seven major civilizations. The Western, Slavic/Orthodox, Islamic, Confucian, Hindu, Japanese, and the Latin Americans. Islam was seen to be the most “bloody borders” and would be a larger reason to a lot of conflicts.
    4. How are Iran and the Arab countries different?
    - It is said that Iranians are much, much more willingly to die in combat than Arabs. It was believed that Arabs lacked courage and staying power. Arabs have more firepower (weapons) but it was said that Iranians had greater numbers and possessed more courage. Iranians are also Muslim and Arabs are not.
    5. Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
    - Iran erupted into a state of Islamic revolution because U.S had turned their government into a Islamic Republic and Saddam wasn’t very pleased that the U.S had intervened so from the cause of that there was a revolution.
    6. What were the first, second and third Gulf wars about?
    - The first Gulf war was about a revolution for the Iranians and how Iraq thought they were weak with no U.S protection and tore up the treaty and attacked them. The Iranians were rallied behind the Khomeini and even the younger Iranians retaliated against Iraq. The second Gulf war was how Washington told Iraq not to use poison gas but they still gathered equipment from around the world to create poison gas weapons. Eventually the U.S joined the Arabians and fought against Iraq. The Third Gulf war was about the U.S going to Iraq because of 9/11. When we got there the U.S had collected “weapons of mass destruction” which was a large reason to why there was a third war in the Gulf. Long story short the post war policy in Iraq was given to the Defensive Department.
    7. Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf War?
    - Saddam was able to use WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) in the first Gulf war but not the second or third was because they were confiscated from Iraq in the Third Gulf war but the reason Saddam didn’t use WMD in the second was because he knew that the U.S would respond right back with chemical weapons and he was being smart and didn’t attempt to use them.
    8. How did the U.S. diplomacy blunder in Iran and Iraq?
    - 25% of the world’s oil goes to the U.S and 75% of U.S oil goes to themselves. So when U.S diplomacy was in Iran and Iraq I would have figured that it was only so they can get more of a resource to the oil that could be accessed by joining Iraq. They was in it to benefit their own but little did they know that
    Iraq had a very ruthless dictator that had possession of nuclear weapons so it was a bad reason to accompany them in this war.
    9. Would you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?
    - Would I keep the flow of oil going? Why not I say. I mean yeah a lot of people died because of this but I would like to keep the Gulf oil flowing because that could be really good revenue for the country when exporting it and trading it. So if it was up to me I’d still keep the Gulf Oil flowing.

    Work Cited
    Chapter 9, Oil and Turmoil: The Persian Gulf

    ReplyDelete
  9. William Portorreal
    IB History 12
    Ms. Noce

    1. The Persian Gulf region is so important because of its large amount of oil in the area and oil is shipped through here to all parts of the world. Lots of countries depend on oil and since oil is an expensive natural resource a whole lot of countries want to take part in the Persian Gulf.

    2. The Persian Gulf entrance is 2 miles wide and two ship channels are used. One channel is the east bound and the other channel is the west bound which are used by supertankers. Basically ships are the only transportation used to get oil.

    3. Huntington’s civilization theory was made by a scientist named Samuel P. Huntington who sais “The real division in the post-cold war are not between nations or trade blocs but between civilization based largely on religion. This basically means that he believes that wars between nations happen because of a disagreement between culture or religion beliefs. He also goes on to say that if two nations share some beliefs then the conflicts will be little. So beliefs and cultures of a country determine whether two nations can get somewhat along or enemies.

    4. The Iran and Arab countries are different because of their culture and their histories past. The Arabs are Islam’s while Iran was a Muslim country and also belonged to Persia. Overtime the Arabs conquered Persia forcing Iran to become Islam’s.

    5. Iran erupted in Islamic revolution because Saddam Hussein thought Iran would be weakened and he wasn’t in favor of the Islamic revolution. Since it had no protection from the U.S. he decided to tear up the treaty and attack.

    6. The first gulf war is about how British forces from India took over Mesopotamia in 1921. This resulted in a debt to the hashem family of Arabia. Iraq became independent in 1932 but then became occupied by Britain. Britain has executed the royal family and top officials; this led to saddam Hussein to become the dictator of Iraq. The second gulf war is about how Iraq had been purchasing arms from the Soviet Union to produce poisonous gas and work on missiles and nukes. Saddam Hussein also complained about how the oil prices were to low and how the U.S, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia pumped excess oil. The third gulf war is about how president bush decided they had to capture Osama bin laden.

    7. Saddam used chemicals weapons in the first gulf war but not the second and third because he already knew that the United States had chemical weapons as well so he wanted to prevent a defeat. Saddam didn’t want to take the risk and possibly lose everything he had so he decided not to use the chemical weapons in the second and third gulf war.

    8. The United States allied with Iraq because they just wanted more oil and they knew that with Iraq they could import a whole lot of oil back to the U.S. I don’t think the U.S knew that Iraq would take such measures, but since the U.S wanted more oil the consequence came along.

    9. Yes and no, because at the same time you’re losing people at war but you’re doing it for a good cause. Oil is something the United States really relies on and without it I don’t know what the U.S would do which is why I say yes and no.

    works cited: the packet

    ReplyDelete
  10. 1. Why is Persian Gulf region so important?
    The Persian Gulf region was important because it is known for oil shipments. Oil in the Persian Gulf region was discovered in 1908. There are millions of shipments from the Persian Gulf region to be shipped all around the world. Most countries get their oil from the Persian Gulf region. The Persian Gulf region was also known for having a very big fishing source. This is why the Persian Gulf region was so important.
    2. What are the strategic waterways of the region?
    One of the waterway strategies that the Persian Gulf region used was that they built a 120 mile pathway called the Shatt al Arab. It was built by confluences of the Euphrates and Tigris. The purpose of this pathway was to make oil transporting easier. Of course this strategy worked perfectly because the Persian Gulf region is the best place to get oil from.
    3. What is Huntington’s civilizational theory?
    The Huntington’s civilizational theory is that there westerners; the Slavic/ Orthodox, Islamic, Confucian, Hindu, Japanese, and Latin Americans. Huntington’s theory is that in this civilization people are supposed to able to compromise with each other they also supposed to believe in the same values but in reality this is very difficult to keep. There were so many conflicts and drama.
    4. How are Iran and the Arab countries different?
    People from Iran are Muslim and people from Arab are Islam. People that live in Iran are much older than people who live in Arab. People in Iran also speak Indo-European. People from Iran adopted the “Shia offshoot”. The people from Arab adopted the Sunni offshoot. Shia people and Sunni people dislike each other very much.
    5. Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
    The Iran against Iraq revolution occurred in September 1980. Iran erupted because Iraq invaded the western part of Iran. Iraq wanted to take control over the Shatt al Arab waterway. They felt that they can lead the Shatt al Arab waterway better than Iran. Thus, making Iran erupt and fight for their territory.
    6. What were the First, Second, and third Gulf wars about?
    In the First Gulf war Iran and Iraq both wanted the Shatt al Arab waterway. There was so much tension that they were so close to going into war. However, Iraq backed down in 1975. For backing down Iraq and Iran’s agreement was that Iraq could settle in the border. Iraq always thought this agreement was horrible. In 1979 Iran turned into an Isamist and this is what made Iraq do the same but this a different religion. In 1975 Iraq broke their agreement and attacked Iran. Many people died. 2/3 of the people were from Iran. Iran got the best doctors and cured everyone who was injured. From then they began to build their army. in the second Gulf war the government in Iraq didn't stay loyal to the United Nations. When officials became aware that Iraq wasn't being loyal they was known as terrorists. At the end of the Gulf war president Bush made it a requirement to to execute Osama Bin Laden. Although they failed getting him they still made it their first priority.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 7. Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf war?
    The reason why Saddam used chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf war was because they realized that the U.S could possibly turn against them and destroy them. There were rumors that the U.S heard that Saddam might use chemical weapons on them. To prove that this was false Saddam didn’t do so.
    8.How did U.S diplomacy blunder in Iran and Iraq?
    The U.S diplomacy’s mistake in Iran and Iraq was that they didn’t notify the shah that the domestic situation was decreasing. The Savak was supposed to pass the news onto the CIA but they failed to do so. This wasn’t a good move for the U.S to make. Iran pretended that everything was good between Iran and the U.S
    9. Will you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?
    Of course I will be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing. The Persian Gulf region was the best place to get oil from. If I was alive during that time I was fight as much as I can to get oil no matter how dangerous it was. If the oil can help me survive then fight I will do so. You only live once.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dinia Clairveaux
    Ms.Noce
    IB History 12
    9/14/14

    Persian Gulf Questions
    Why is the Persian Gulf region so important?
    The Persian Gulf region is very important because it contains the world’s greatest oil reserves. It is said that almost ¾ of the worlds proteum reserves are located around the Persian Gulf region.
    What are the strategic waterways of the region?
    The strategic waterways of the region is a 120 miles waterway formed due to the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates. There is also the Arabian sea which is the only way to enter or and retrieve oil out of the Persian Gulf.
    What is Huntington’s civilization theory?
    The Huntington’s civilization theory was the theory created by during the colonial period by Samuel P. Huntington. It states that civilizations base on religion was the main source of all the conflicts that occurred, and not between nations and trade. The biggest tiger of conflicts is when the Muslim civilization attain contact with other civilizations. and also Islam has bloody borders.
    How are Iran and the Arab countries different?
    The difference between the two is countries as stated in the reading is that Iran is Muslim but not Arab. Iran was once known as Persia was overthrown by the Arabs, which then turned the Persians from Zoroastrianism to Islam. Not to mention that the majority of the Arab population is based on their culture and religion. Unlike Iran Arab wasn't reduce to semi colonial status like China was during 1907.
    Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
    Iran turned into a Islamic revolution because of the on going conflict between it and Iraq. The conflict is due to the border between the two countries were the Shatt al Arab runs to the Persian Gulf. Iran tried to scatter the revolution think that Iran maybe at a disadvantage making it more simpler to conquer due to the fact that the United States was no longer protecting it.
    What were the first, second, and third Gulf Wars about?
    The first Gulf war about the creation of Iraq. It was first three provinces of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. It was conquered 1921 by the British when they invaded India. The second Gulf war occurred due Washington's failure of knowing the mance of Iraq under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Iraq was purchasing materials Universally to create poison gas and other amumission that it needed to to strengthen its army. Saddam had issues with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia Due to the OPEC. It wanted higher prices. and there was also the use of chemical weapons which the United States made it clear that it would retaliate in the worst way possible.The third Gulf War took place due to the terrorist invasion that took place in the U,S ,

    ReplyDelete
  13. which we all know it as 9/11 when four planes were hijacked and send to destroy some parts of the U.S to send a message. This resulted in 2001, president Bush decided it was time to take down Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban.
    Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf War?
    Saddam use chemical weapons because he new that Iran and Iraqi Kurds did not have those weapons in their position. He did not use it in the second was because the United States was now involved and it turns out that both the United States and Iraq responded to the war with nuclear weapons. Bush send a threat say that if Iraqi used poison gas the U.S would had a hustle way of responding to it.
    How did U.S. diplomacy blunder in Iran and Iraq?
    The United States had realised that the alliance with Iraq wasn't a smart choice. Even though the country supplied the U.S with oil, they should have found another alliance and should had studied its potential allies before creating an alliance. Meaning make a background check on Iraqi and make close observations of the country. If The U.S had done that they could had avoided the war and could had put it to sleep in its origins.
    Would you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?
    I wouldn't be willing to fight but I would be willing t come up with treaties or compromises that would benefit me and keep the other countries in the middle east from entering wars and conflicts with each other. Is oil really worth killing a population of people. I know that we want it but it isn't necessarily a needed because we do have other places that we could get oil.

    Sources
    chapter 9: oil and Turmoil: the Persian Gulf

    ReplyDelete
  14. Junior FanFan
    Ms.Noce
    IB History
    September 14, 2014

    1. Why is the Persian Gulf region so important?
    The Persian Gulf region is so important because it has many natural resources and it has politics and religion that draws the people in. The Natural resources that the Persian Gulf has is oil. Oil causes many problems and draws many to that place. For example America could go there and say that they found oil first but Iran and Iraq can say that they found it first and try to fight America over it. Also the politics of the Persian Gulf was important because they are run by a dictator named Saddam Hussein.
    2. What are the strategic waterways of the region?
    The strategies of the waterways is the Persian Gulf is surrounded by 3 countries Oman, United Arab Erirates, and Qatar. So whatever country was stronger to me it looks like the United Arab Erirates would have control. But I found out today America has troops out there that would control countries and the oil.
    3. What is Huntingtons civilization theory?
    Huntington civilization theory is basically saying that wars don't always start because of nation's and trade blocs but because of civilizations that are rarly large. Huntington said " Islam has bloody borders." I feel like this is true because Iraq is a fairly good size and they are always in conflicts whether it's with the United States or with each other.
    4. How are Iran and the Arab countries different.
    " Iran is Muslim but not Arab." That quote says the people of Iran are Muslims and can study the religion of Muslims and the Arab people are not able to do the same because they are not the same people. Arabs discovered Persia in 642 A.D. But Iran adopted Shia and contrasted to Sunni islams to most Muslims. The people of Iran felt like they were used for a century.

    ReplyDelete
  15. 5. Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
    The Islamic revolution happened because the government if Iran wasn't doing a good job. So the people of Iran overthrown him and they tried to move around and gain more people and overthrow more countries but the United States protected most countries and that made Saddium Hussein very upset.
    6. What were the first, second, and third Gulf wars about?
    The first Gulf war started because of the creation of Iraq. Also the British forces came in and tried to take over Iraq. But in the early 1930's Iraq because independent but was still under British occupation. The second war started because United States was being greedy for oil and didn't see that Saddium Hussein was being a horrible dictator. But the United States also went into Kuwait and took a large amount of oil and that made Saddam Hussein really upset. The last Gulf war started after 9/11 and president Bush decided that enough was enough and wanted to take the dictator Saddium Hussein out of power and give the Iran people their freedom.
    7. Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf war?
    Saddam wanted to put fear in the Americans because if the chemical he was using would make the United States retreat then he wouldn't have any problems. But the United States Army is very advance and would have either gas masks or special suits that the chemical wouldn't effect them. But after that Saddam use terroristic attacks as another strategy like 9/11.
    8. How did U.S diplomacy blunder in Iran and Iraq?
    The mistake that United States did was instead of staying neutral during the war they tried to find a side that was more fit to fight on and I feel like that caused more tension for the United States and the war that was going on so I felt that they should have stayed neutral from the beginning.
    9. Would you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?
    I feel like I would fight to keep the Gulf of oil flowing because they need people that are willing to keep the peace and I don't want another war cause countries are being greedy for the oil. I also feel that the more people we have to protect the Gulf than the less conflict would happen. So yes I would fight to protect and keep the Gulf of oil flowing.
    Work cited: chapter 9 oil and turmoil: the Persian Gulf

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Germairy Roman
    Ms. Noce
    IB History 12
    9/14/14
    Oil and Turmoil: The Persian Gulf

    1. Why is the Persian Gulf region so important?
    The Persian Gulf region is so important because of its resources. The world's greatest oil reserves are located in the Gulf region. Americans want to stay out of the Middle East but they keep going to the Middle East for its resources and that's mainly the reason for them returning.

    2. What are the strategic waterways of the region?
    The Shatt al Arab makes trading not as difficult because of all its ports. The waterway is 120-miles long and is formed by the connection of the two rivers called the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Shatt al Arab also forms a boundary between Iraq and Iran. Iran was able to have direct access to the open sea from its oil ports of Khorramshahr and Abadan.

    3. What is Huntington’s civilization theory?
    Huntington's civilization theory is a theory created by Harvard political scientist Samuel P. Hungtington. The theory basically talks about a number of different nations in a civilization sharing the same values and agree with each other on things. Also if these nations were to have conflicts, there would would be few and they would be small. Now if civilazations were to have conflicts they would be bigger and worse because it is more difficult to come to an understanding.

    4. How are Iran and the Arab countries different?
    I would say that the biggest differences between Iran and the Arab countries is religion. Iran is Muslim while Arab countries are Islamic. Iran is connected to the older civilazation of Persia and speaks the Indo-European tongue of Persian. Persia was conquered by the Arabs in A.D. 643 and the Persians were converted from Zoroastrianism to Islam. In 1501, Iran was able to adopt the Shia which was a minority branch of Islam but became Iran's state religion.

    5. Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
    Iran was forced to turn Islamist in 1979 and tried to spread its Islamic revolution. Saddam Hussein tried to take advantage of Iran because they were no longer under U.S. protection. In 1980, Iraq decided to attack Iran and that prompted Iranian nationalism.

    ReplyDelete
  18. 6. What were the first, second, and third Gulf Wars about?
    The first Gulf War came about when British forces from India conquered Mesopotamia in WW1 and owed a debt to the Hashem family of Arabia that helped Britain. In 1932, Iraq became independent but was occupied by Britain until 1947 when Iraq got close to Germany in 1941. The royal family was then excecuted in 1958 and Iraq moved towards the Soviet Union. Saddam Hussein then became dictator of Iraq in 1979. During the second Gulf War, Saddam Hussein was really terrorizing people. Iraq used poisonous gas and Washington had some things to say about that matter. The United States believed that Iraq would become cooperative if America had diplomatic toes with Baghdad. The third Gulf War happened after the terrible events of 9/11. President Bush mainly wanted to overthrow the fabric Islamist Taliban regime of Afghanistan for sheltering al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. President Bush also wanted to put forth attention on Saddam Hussein in Iraq and show people what a horrible man he was.

    7. Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf War?
    I believe Saddam used chemical weapons like poison gas in the first but not the second or third Gulf War because of America's response. America was opposed Iraq's use of poisonous gas and Saddam using it in the first Gulf War. If Iraq decided to use the poisonous gas again, then that could cause more problems between Iraq and the U.S.

    8. How did U.S. diplomacy blunder in Iran and Iraq?
    The U.S. deciding to intervene with th Middle East just to get oil resources was a huge mistake. America wanted to stay away from the Middle East and I believe they should've. The U.S. Knew the Middle East was dangerous but they still tried to get something from them.

    9. Would you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?
    I wouldn't be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing. The safety of America was on the line because America tried to connect with the Middle East. I believe the safety of other people is more important than acquiring oil resources.

    Work Cited - Oil and Turmoil: The Persian Gulf

    ReplyDelete
  19. William Reis
    History
    9/10/14
    Ms.Noce

    1. Why is the Persian Gulf region so important?
    The region of the Middle East was an important place to the United States. It was important mainly because of its oil and oil is very richful resource for the U.S. not only source wise but also economy wise. Also the Persian Gulf region is the worlds largest concentration of oil. Unfortunately going to the middle east to get oil isn’t the easiest thing. Theres religion, politicians and groups who are against the U.S. We got involved in a war with Iraq in 2003 against the powerful dictator Saddam Hussein.


    2. What are the strategic waterways of the region?
    The only strategic way that it was built in the persian gulf it was mainly focused on trasporting oil from a location to another, an stream was built to make that transportation of oil and it was called the Shatt al Arab, and it was over 100 miles long. It became a very handy form of transporting oil.


    3. What is Huntington's civilizations theory?
    Samuel P. Huntington is a political scientist from Harvard who created this Civilizational Theory. It all started in an article that caught the publics attention in which he talked about 7 major civilizations. He explains that with a given civilization “nations share the same value and can empathize with each other; conflicts are few and small. Between civilizations, understanding is more difficult, and conflicts can be big and nasty.” An example that Huntington provided is where Muslims civilization meets others civilization, or the battle between Arabs against Israel and so on.


    4. How are Iran and Arab countries different?
    They are different countries because of the history the had a very long time ago. Iran and Arab were actually the same countries A.D. 642. Arabs took over Persia in 642 A.D and forced Persians to turn into Islams. But that also not the only thing that happened, a lot of it comes from religion, culture and histories from both sides.


    5. Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
    Iran was not in favor of the Islamic Revolution, with this being said Saddan Hussein imagined that if Islamic Revolution happened, that Iran would become weak power wise also with no protection from the United States. Also Iraq wanted to take over the Shatt al Arab stream in which they thought it would be managed better by Iraq than Iran in favor.


    6. What were the first, second, and third gulf wars about?
    All three wars seemed to be related to leaders, influence, territory and alliance. First Gulf way was all about the Shatt al Arab Stream way, it was a valuable source of transporting oil which meant erichement to the country’s goverment. In the second Gulf War it was when Iraq became been known as terrorists and chemical weapons were now being used as an warfare, finally at last, 9/11 was mainly a significant point in history and Osama Bin Laden was U.S. main target, also U.S. soldiers were sent to iraq to fight for their country.


    7. Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third gulf war?
    Saddam decided to use chemical weapons in the first Gulf War because it was part of his strategy overall. Saddam did not use chemical because of the amount of poison gas he had used on battles against Iran and Iraq. When you use chemical weapon you have a lot of power but in order to defeat an army that uses chemical weapons you must deploy more army mens. Surprisingly Germany was their main supplies for creating chemical weapons!


    8. How did U.S. Diplomacy blunder Iran and Iraq?
    United States only did this to get close to their resource which is oil, and oil was a way to enrich the economy and make money for the Goverment back in the U.S. with this being said U.S got involved into bad things. Bad things in, U.S. did not know who they were gonna deal with! and look what happened!

    ReplyDelete
  20. 9. Would you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?
    From my perspective, i would not keep fighting for the oil in the middle east because that just means more and more soldiers will die in various battles with Iran. Also Middle east isn’t the place where U.S. should be getting involved, its a dangerous place and certain groups (ISIS and so on) hate America! and numerous threats are being sent to the U.S. ! I don’t see a benefit for America getting involved in the middle east, I think were just getting into more and more trouble.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Mu Ying Yu
    IB World History 12
    Ms. Noce
    9/14/2014
    Why is the Persian Gulf region so important?
    -- The Persian Gulf region so important because the region contains the world’s greatest oil reserves. Most of the countries get their oil from Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf had three-fourths of the globe’s proven petroleum.
    What are the strategic waterways of the region?
    -- The strategic waterways of the region are the Shatt al Arab, a 120 miles built by the the confluences of the Euphrates and Tigris. The other only way to get in and out of the Gulf is the Arabian Sea.
    What is Huntington’s civilizational theory?
    -- Huntington’s civilizational theory created in colonial period by Samuel P. Huntington. Civilization is based on religion not nations or trade; and religion is the main cause that caused conflicts to occurred. There are seven major civilizations and within the seven civilization they had few and small conflicts. Understanding is the most difficult part in civilization and understanding can caused big and nasty conflicts. One of the greatest conflict is the Muslim civilization contact with other civilizations.
    How are Iran and Arab countries different?
    -- Iran is Muslim not Arab. Iran once known as Persia but overthrown by Arab. It turned Persians from Zoroastrianism to Islam. Later, Iran adopted Shia offer to be the Sunni Islam of most Muslims but Sunni do not like the Shia.
    Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
    -- Iran erupted in Islamic revolution because of Iraq’s invasion to the western part of Iran. Iraq wanted to control the Shatt al Arab waterway and think that they will had do better jobs. Which this makes Iran mad and stand up to fight for their territory.
    What were the first, second, and third Gulf Wars about?
    -- The First Gulf War is to form Iraq. During the time, Iraq was the three provinces of Ottoman Turkish Empire. In 1921, British conquered Mesopotamia when they invaded India. The Second Gulf War caused by Washington’s failure due to Iraq under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. Iraq is producing poison gas and creating other military supplies to help strengthen their own military forces. Saddam get into conflicts with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia due to the OPEC, Iraq wanted to raise the price. The Third Gulf War is the terrorist attack in U.S., which known as the 9/11. In 2001, four planes were sent to US to destroy the Twin Tower in New York.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf War?
    -- Saddam used chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf War because of America’s response. America stated that no use of poison gas but which Saddam use in the first war. If Iraq tried to use the poison gas again which will cause more conflicts between Iraq and the U.S..
    How did U.S. diplomacy blunder in Iran and Iraq?
    -- U.S. did this is because of oil, the two countries had great resource of oil. Even though they had great resource of oil but is a big mistake to get involved with these two countries because they are very dangerous and America still tried to get some benefit from them.
    Would you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?
    -- I wouldn’t willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing because I think safety is the most important. If you fight which will cause more conflicts happened, it can caused unstable economy and it can damage a country. Safety is wait more important than other getting oil resources from other country.

    Work Cited:
    -- Chapter 9 Oil and Turmoil: The Persian Gulf

    ReplyDelete
  23. Carlos Callejas
    1 Why is the Persian Gulf region so important?
    The Persian Gulf is important for one obvious reason: oil, lots and lots of oil. The modern world runs on oil, EVERYONE needs oil, and especially world powers, such as Good Ol' 'Merica (the land of the free, coca cola, and all things good).
    Hence, American interest in the Persian Gulf is always high.
    2 What are the strategic waterways of the region? The Persian Gulf has two great ancient rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates (ancient in that the first known civilizations appeared hugging the edges of these rivers.) These two rivers flow into a single river known as the River of the Arabs, which in turn flows into the Persian Sea. These waterways are an easy way of transporting oil and resources out of the gulf for export.
    3 What is Huntington’s civilization theory?
    Huntington's Civilization Theory states that different groups of people are only able to coexist when their religious/cultural identities are similar. Otherwise, wars are likely to arise when religious and/or cultural ideas clash. (IE: Arabs vs Israelis).
    4 How are Iran and the Arab countries different?
    Although the Arabs and Iranians are both Muslims, Iran's "version" or interpretation of Islam is Shia Islam, whereas the rest of Arab countries have adopted Sunni Islam. Moreover, Iran was not originally Muslim, the religion they originally had was Zoroastrianism, which may have contributed to their choice when interpreting Islamic teachings. NOTE: Sunni Islam is a more conservative and "tight" version of Islam, whereas Shia Islam is a more "relaxed" version.
    5 Why did Iran erupt in Islamic revolution?
    The Islamic revolution came when the Pahlavi Dynasty of rulers was overthrown in favor of an Islamic Republic. The main reason the revolution occurred was the westernization of Iran (and sense of being ruled by Western powers), brought by the Pahlavi Dynasty, which was backed by the United States, and the desire to reassure the Muslim identity of Iran. Moreover, the Pahlavi rulers became abusive and oppressive with the population, which further fueled the Iranian people’s desire to overthrow them.
    6 What were the first, second, and third Gulf Wars about?
    The First Gulf War was between Iran and Iraq; they fought over control of the Shatt Al Arab River, as previously stated, this is a very valuable strategic waterway in the area.
    The Second war was when Saddam became the enemy of the USA; it was fought between the Americans and Iraq. The USA used the pretext of “spreading democracy” in order to get oil from Iraq.
    The Third war was the most recent one, when U.S. forces went back into Iraq after the 9/11 attacks to fight the Al-Qaeda terrorists and capture/kill Osama Bin Laden.
    7 Why did Saddam use chemical weapons in the first but not the second or third Gulf War?
    The main reason was, it was only really part of his quick-victory strategy against Iran (chemical weapons whoop everyone’s @$$ quickly and effectively). Also, due to the United States’ dismay at chemical weapon use, using it in the second war would force the U.S. to retaliate with massive force accordingly, and this is not so good when you’re not a superpower. (Germany supplied most toxic gases for Saddam, I wonder why.)
    8 How did U.S. diplomacy blunder in Iran and Iraq?
    U.S. diplomacy blundered for one main reason: It was based on material interests and was pretty blunt about it. They just tried to become BFFs with Iraq and Iran so they would get a share of oil (about 105%). In the end, they just got involved in conflicts with these countries.
    9 Would you be willing to fight to keep Gulf oil flowing?
    The world runs on oil, so someone has to get it. I personally wouldn’t go fight to get oil for greedy corporations and rich congressmen. I would just let the Arabs SCUD each other out and let the problem solve itself.

    SOURCES:
    "Oil and Turmoil" packet
    Prior knowledge

    ReplyDelete