Introduction : How to read a primary source -- pt. 1 : The Middle East in the nineteenth century. 1. Central political reforms and local responses. The Hatt-I-Serif decree initiates the tanzimat, or reform, period in the Ottoman Empire, November 3, 1839 -- An Ottoman government decree defines the official notion of the "modern" citizen, June 19, 1870 -- Mirza Malkum Khan satirizes Iran's central government and religious elites, 1880s -- Jamal aI-Din AI-Afghani answers Ernest Renan's criticism of Islam, May 18, 1883 -- Baghdadi Jews react to the modernization of the Ottoman Empire, May 28, 1908 -- 2. Economic changes. The Treaty of Peace and Commerce (Treaty of Turkmanchai) between Iran and Russia, February 10-22, 1828 -- An Egyptian Khedival decree establishes a European-controlled public debt administration, May 2, 1876 -- The concession for the tobacco monopoly in Iran, March 8, 1890 -- Tobacco smuggling and the French Regie monopoly in the Ottoman Empire, 1895 -- A coal miner's life during the late Ottoman Empire -- 3. Social and cultural reformulations. Rifa'a Tahtawi reflects on Paris, its people, their ideas, and lives in the 1820s -- Qasim Amin argues for the emancipation of women in Egypt, 1900 -- Teachers of the Alliance Israelite Universelle write about child marriages, domestic violence, and the treatment of children among Jews in North Africa, 1902-1915 -- Articles in Iranian magazines emphasize the link between the education of girls and the advancement of Iranian society, 1907, 1909 -- Bahithat al-Badiya advocates greater educational and economic rights for Egyptian women, 1909 -- pt. 2 : Making nations in the Middle East, 1900-1949. 4. Ideas of nationalism. Leo Pinsker, a Jewish intellectual, proposes a "Jewish homeland," 1882 -- Ahad Ha-Am's "The Jewish state and the Jewish problem," a counterargument to the idea of a Jewish state, 1897 -- The Husayn-McMahon correspondence, negotiating the establishment of an "Arab kingdom" in the Middle East, 1915-1916 -- The Balfour declaration, stating the British government's support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and discussions leading to issuing it in 1917 -- Division of the Ottoman Empire : The Treaty of Sevres, August 10, 1920 -- 'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq, an Egyptian religious scholar, argues for the separation of state and religion, 1928 -- Antun Sa'adeh declares his vision of "greater Syria" or regional nationalism, June 1, 1935 -- Syrian Michel 'Aflaq addresses the relationship between Arabism and Islam, 1943 -- Hasan al-Banna proclaims Egyptian nationalism and the religious basis for an Islamic state, 1949 -- 5. Contested nationalisms. Henry Morgenthau recounts aspects of nationalist-driven ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Turkey, 1915 -- The Zionist organization's memorandum to the peace conference in Versailles asks for support for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, February 3, 1919 -- The resolution of the General Syrian Congress at Damascus proclaims Arab sovereignty over greater Syria, July 2, 1919 -- The American King-Crane Commission report summarizes the popular ideas of nationalism in the Middle East, 1919 -- A writer for al-Asima, the Syrian government newspaper, seeks to establish the popular idea of the "nation," October 23, 1919 -- Women and the vote in Syria : a parliamentary debate about the relationship between gender and citizenship in the proposed state, April 25, 1920 -- The contest for Alexandretta between Syria and Turkey, May 1938 -- The Arab case for Palestine and the case/or a binational state, March 1946 -- President Harry Truman's statement supporting Jewish immigration into Palestine, October 4, 1946 -- pt. 3 : The rise of postindependence states, 1950-2000. 6. Restricting authority. Asadollah Alam's diary details some elements of the Shah of Iran's rule in 1976 and 1977 -- Iraq's Saddam Hussein proclaims history as a tool for educating the masses about the revolution and comments on the role of women in the revolution, 1975, 1978 -- The constitution of Saudi Arabia bases the legitimacy of the ruling house of Saud on religion, 1992 -- 7. Crisis of the state. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser resigns from office following the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, June 9, 1967 -- Sadiq al-'Azm, an Arab intellectual, critiques the Arab state and clergy for their use of religion, 1968 -- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini denounces the rule of the Shah of Iran, 1971 -- Documents about one of the major political arguments underlying the Lebanese Civil War, 1975 -- American consular documents reveal U.S. diplomats' assessment of the revolution in Iran, 1978 -- The massacre of the Muslim brothers of Syria in Hama, 1982 -- Prime Minister Rabin's speech to Knesset on Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, April 18, 1994 -- Hanan Mikhail-Ashrawi, the meaning of the intifada (1989) -- Report on Arab Israelis : breaking the stranglehold of alienation, October 27, 2000 -- pt. 4 : The contemporary Middle East. 8. Islamic political movements since 1964. Egyptian writer Sayyid Qutb articulates a new, influential vision of jihad, 1964 -- Iranian intellectual Ali Shari'ati examines man from the viewpoint of Islam, 1968 -- Egyptian editorialist Farag Foda critiques Islamic movements in Egypt, 1989 and 1992 -- lslamist Usama Bin Laden calls on Muslims to take up arms against America, 1998 -- Reflections on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 -- 9. Subaltern groups. The Arab women's court vows to resist violence against women, 1995 and 1998 -- Internet discussion of marriage and education for Saudi women, 1996 -- A Kurdish activist's letter appealing to Berna Yilmaz, the spouse of the Turkish prime minister, September 27, 1998 -- Journalist Lilian Liang discusses homosexuality in Egypt, 1999 -- Arab and Israeli soccer players discuss ethnic relations in Israel, 2000 -- Self-reflection by the Communist Party of Iran, 2001 -- Young veiled women embracing their lovers and creating for themselves boundaries of freedom, 2008 -- A Saudi rap band seeks to spread the culture of hip hop in Arab societies, 2008 -- 10. The Middle East in the twenty first century. Freedom and the future, February 27, 2003 -- Don't attack Saddam, by former U.S. National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, August 15, 2002 -- Bush recasts rationale for war after report, October 10, 2004 -- Christina Asquith discusses globalization and education in the Middle East, June 1, 2006 -- Dishing democracy : satellite television in the Arab world, July 31, 2007 -- Al-Jazeera : the world through Arab eyes, June 16, 2004 -- Saad Eddin believes Islam can vote, if we let it, May 21, 2005 -- Sectarian conflict : who's to blame? April 2008 -- Bin Laden and Obama's invasion, November 2008 -- Victims of "American bombs" in south Lebanon vote for Barack Obama, November 2008.

Includes bibliographical references.