Rather than compete with other ways of using the term, and perhaps furthering the confusion surrounding its usage, we use “imperial dynamics” in this chapter. The term “imperialism” can be a “catch-all” to describe the relationship between a powerful country with a less powerful country. This chapter discusses these power relationships and their importance for the Middle East. There are many terms for the uneven power relationships which developed between European states and the area we know as the Middle East today.

Europeans brought their ideas, institutions and technical inventions with them, and many of them became standards for the whole world. Political developments in Europe, such as the Magna Carta, and the Treaty of Westphalia, followed by economic transformation from global trade and industrialization led to a completely different form of imperial power. It’s important to distinguish, however, between imperialism as it was “done” in antiquity and medieval times, and its modern form. As Ferguson said, “everybody did empire” (2011).

Imperialism was nothing new in the world when European expansion began impacting the Middle East. Chapter Three: The Middle East and the Impact of Imperialism

Imperialism 2 ottomans