The Mirage of Empire

Empire of Sand - Walter Reid
The title is a double entendre. Timing is everything and suddenly having added another 25% added to an already vast empire seems like something out of a board game, and that is all it ever was. Without a real plan, Britain acquired something they did not want, could not afford, and could not leave to the tender mercies of their competitors. This is the plot of Reid’s history in a nutshell, but the telling cracks it wide open.
This is by its nature a broad stroke approach to Britain’s foreign policy in the Middle East from the beginning of the 20th century until 1948. The listener is given a comprehensive overview of the main events and players and is well worth it. To cover this period with self-research would take quite a long time and require a good library of reference books.
Therefore, if you have not done any previous reading or research, this book may seem a little overwhelming, but it could give you a good start. If you are sincerely interested in this field of study, the bibliography alone would be useful. Some background material in the history of the region should commence with some serious study of the Bible, as most of the key players today in terms of ethnic groups and national identity are found within its pages. Abraham is believed by all these groups to be the forefather of both the Jews and the Arabs, and by extension the Christians. Failing to grasp the significance of this is extreme folly.
When the Egyptians, Arabs, Persians or Jews refer to current events, it is with a full comprehension of the events that took place centuries and even millennia before. When in the last two centuries, beginning with Napoleon, western empires intruded into this region, they were quickly overwhelmed by the history that has preceded them. Events do not happen in a vacuum, and the ongoing struggle of empires and peoples in this region have been influencing humanity for the past five thousand years.
This complexity should not be ignored, because Western culture is deeply rooted in the soil of the Middle East. Whether it is the domestication of animals and horticulture that enabled cities to be established, or the literature, maths, and sciences with their guiding philosophies that followed these developments, they all originate here. The Greeks per se cannot even separate their philosophies from the near east, because from their earliest beginnings, they too were tutored by these existing civilisations. Besides, the Greeks were settled all across the near east, particularly Asia Minor. They in turn tutored the Romans and so on. However, it is the Book, the Bible, that has the most lasting influence on us all. In a way, it has become the central player in near eastern history and particularly for the people of the book, the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims.
Every author has their own biases, and Walter Reid is no exception. While trying to sound even-handed, his British bias is naturally evident throughout. This should not deter the listener, but rather inform them. The British became involved at a time when they were considering their own exit from empire. The fall of empires was accelerated by the First World War, which culminated in several empires being erased from the map and new nations emerging. By 1918, the Austro-Hungarian, the Ottoman, the Russian, the German and the Chinese Empires had either been broken up or replaced by radically different regimes. By the end of the Second World War, the Japanese, Italian and Nazi Empires would also fall, and within twenty-five years, they would be followed by the painful surrendering of empire by Portugal, Spain, Belgium, France, Holland and Britain.
When the 20th Century began, most of the globe was controlled by various empires, but within seventy years most colonies had left their founding countries to strike out on their own. In 1918, Britain was faced with two questions. What do you do when you no longer want the responsibility and expense of an empire, but it keeps growing? How do you prevent old enemies, like France, Turkey and Russia, stepping into the void you have created by withdrawal?
Nations leaving Britain’s controlling orbit had only happened on twice in the previous century. The first began with the American declaration of independence in 1776, which resulted in a protracted series of wars and skirmishes that did not conclude until February 1815. This was a very scarring experience for Britain, and one she strived not to repeat. The second time was the demand made by the Australian colonies in 1854 for independence. This culminated on the first day of the 20th Century, 1st January 1901, with the formal granting of independence for the nations of Australia and New Zealand. This was a comparatively smooth experience but signalled the beginning of the end for the empire. The pace really picked up after that.
On first reading Tolstoy’s determinism in War and Peace, I thought it too trite to be taken seriously. However, the longer I live, the more I believe that it is an accurate method of understanding the course of human events. While freewill may determine our personal course, it is also claimed by nations as well. However, this does not explain the causal events that lead us to those seemingly freewill decisions. Was it our decision, or did we have no choice? Reid concludes in the Empire of Sand that Britain was driven by world events beyond its control or will to make decisions that have resulted in the current state of the Middle East. In other words, the freewill decisions made by politicians and bureaucrats were the result of causality. Confusingly, he also argues that things could have been better handled. You can not have it both ways. As Tolstoy would argue, the apple had to fall where and when it did, and the causality becomes irrelevant to the result.
Reid presents us with a picture of dedicated and often biased civil servants and politicians drawing lines on maps for a people who do not exist as nations. The most vexing decision for world politics has been the Balfour Declaration, which was made when the entire population of what would be called Palestine was less than a million people and the land was mostly desert. There is a mystery in the Balfour Declaration that is never truly answered. Why was the declaration made at a time when it did not need to be made? After all, the Jews of the region Britain would call Palestine were about 20% of a multi-ethnic region dominated by Arabs. The only city where they dominated was Jerusalem, where they were about 50% of the population. So why? Because it had to happen.
Again, the hidden hand of causality would, as usual, play a totally unexpected role. After 1918, the rise of growing European antisemitic intensified under Bolshevism and Fascism, forcing Jews from these regions to return in increasing numbers to Israel. Despite British attempts to appease the Arabs and restrict immigration, they were defeated by history. As if on cue, in the 1930s, the newly created Muslim states also began conducting pogroms against their sizable Jewish populations. So, it was not just European Jewry that flooded in, but Jews of every description, even from the subcontinent, Africa, Soviet Russia and Central Asia. Many argue that Zionism created Israel, but that would be false. Antisemitism was by far the greatest contributor, and ongoing attempts to destroy Israel have thus far been unsuccessful.
Strange as it may seem, the key ethnic groups of two thousand years ago have ended up roughly the same places they were in during Roman times. The biggest winner would have to be the Arabs, who through Islam had added a huge piece of linguistic and religious geography. However, once the region had been arbitrarily divided into countries, multi-ethnic nations have emerged and taken on individual identities that have so far survived a century of turmoil.
Of course, this seems logical considering the human condition, because each one of those formerly Arab dominated countries has taken possession of the history of their region. Egyptians, though now Arabic speaking, are obsessed with Ancient Egypt, Iraqis with Babylon, Iranians with Persia and so on. When religiously extreme groups like ISIS or Al-Qaeda appear, they are treated as destructive in every sense and stamped out as quickly as possible. At the same time, this does not bode well for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards of Iran who have, up until now, suppressed the Persian identity. This situation could change rapidly considering the level of popular unrest.
Even in this book, we see that the best will of powerful men is quickly overtaken and erased by causal events and that these causal events are far from random. They have a rhythm and timing we need to pay attention to. Once you attune your hearing to music, the volume increases.
If there is one take-away in terms of philosophy, it is that history marches on with a purpose and human agents are deluded to think they can influence it. It is history’s purpose we really need to be attuned to. The causality that shapes and forms history is its true author, and He will prevail. Above all, Israel as a national identity exists, and it will exist as long as it is needed to exist.

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