نشریه مطالعات خاورمیانه
سال هشتم شماره 1 (پیاپی 25، بهار 1380)

Taliban's destruction of the ancient Buddhist statues in Bamyyan region of Afghanistan was viewed with astonishment and Bamian incredulity by the international community. The author argues that this action may have a harmful impact on the Islamic World and Muslims’ credibility because it can provide a justification for the criticism of Islam as a religion opposed to the non-Islamic civilization and intolerant of other religions and thoughts. Furthermore, this conduct could be used as a pretext for denouncing political Islam, particularly in the United States. On the whole, it might be used to portray a negative image of political Islam. Taliban's senseless action could also encourage reciprocal and retaliatory actions of the adherents of other religions, most notably the Hindus and the Buddhist in Asia. Despite many years of Taliban's domination of Afghanistan, the internal conflicts between Afghan's rival factions continue to impede peace and stability in this Islamic state. Taliban has the intention of creating problems for other countries in the region- a point which was brought home to Iran by the incident of Hirmand River. The only effective way of confronting the Taliban problem is regional and international cooperation.

The fall of the USSR led to the creation of Central Asian and Caucasian states which occupy a special position in terms of their political, economic and cultural importance in the region of Eurasia. After the birth of these states, the international community was faced with a new phenomenon within the context of world politics. Naturally, regional states adjacent to Central Asia and Caucasus as well as the great powers were concerned about their foreign policies toward this set of newly established states. Islamic Republic of Iran also had to deal with a subsystem of dissimilar states instead of just one state (i.e., the Soviet Union). This unexpected increase in the number of Iran's northern neighbors has undeniably had an impact on Iran's grand strategy and its regional foreign policy. In view of the geostrategic position of Central Asian and Caucasian states, the region's rich resources, the expansionist policies of the great powers aimed at gaining concessions from these states as well as historical-cultural ties and geographical proximity of Iran to these states, Middle East Quarterly devotes its roundtable in this issue to Iran's foreign policy toward these states in the last decade.

The author begins his discussions with an assessment of the historical evolution of nationalism in the Arab World, and the impact of capitalism on this development. By analyzing the issue of the emergence of nationalism and the phenomena of the nation-state, he examines the difference between the roots of Arab nationalism and European nationalism. Based on this comparison, he argues that contrary to European nationalism, one cannot separate religious identity from Arab nationalism because this identity has been developed in the shadow of Islam in the 20th century. Even Arab secular intellectuals cannot detach Islamic identity from Arab nationalism. It means that Arab nationalism from the outset has had dual characteristics. On the one hand, it is based on a specific set of national cultural and civilizational attributes, and on the other hand, it has been powerless to reduce the effective role of religion.

The main focus of this article is a discussion of the economic importance of metals and mining in the Middle East and parts of North Africa. Recent statistics on the distribution of mineral resources and mines in Egypt, Iran, Maghreb and Saudi Arabia are presented. The author provides an overview of the volume of the production and exports of metal and non-metal resources, and the shares of each country. An emphasis is placed on the significance of the use of advanced technology to increase productivity, and on the policies of the Middle Eastern states to encourage investment in this sector. The volume and the significance of exports of these resources in Iran's First and Second Development Plans are also examined.

The author analyzes the association between economic development and the protection of the environment. He reviews an array of attitudes toward the issue of interdependency of economic activities and the environment, ranging from the more traditional to new ways of thinking. Factors leading to environmental degradation such as rapid population growth are investigated. After presenting a cost-benefit analysis in terms of economic growth, development, welfare and ethics, he discusses the availability of effective means of solving environmental problems.

The main objective of the author is to explore the underlying causes of the chronic problem of water shortages in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He identifies the following determining factors of water crisis: the rapid rates of population growth rates, the reduction in the volume of available per capita water, unbalanced distribution of water resources across the region, draught, over-exploitation of this vital resource by some irresponsible governments, the misuses of water, technical inefficiency of water distribution networks, and the weaknesses inherent in the competency of national water organizations. Having described the most serious causal factors, the author studies national, regional and international efforts aimed at ending this water crisis. Among the major policies recommended, he mentions the issue of encouraging more popularparticipation, increasing investments in this sector, and finally the World Bank strategy of providing financial and technical aid to the regional countries which are implementing development plans with a focus on water resources and health service provisions.

The extent of suffering and hardship of the majority of the Iraqi people caused by the UN sanctions in the last ten years are undeniable. The question raised in this article is who should bear the responsibility for this frustrating situation. To answer this question, two opposing views are presented: a) the UN through the implementation of the enforceable Security Council resolutions has brought about this crisis for the Iraqis’s B) The Iraqi government with its refusal to accept the UN resolutions and its discriminatory food distribution policies within the framework of the oil-for-food programs has exacerbated this problem. The author examines the relative merit of these two views by focusing on an analysis of health-related statistics such as infant mortality rates in Iraq.

The author examines the implications of demographic changes and the new population composition in Palestine-Israel. He argues that we shall witness a gradual increase in the number of Palestinians living in Israel and the occupied territories. By presenting estimates of statistics on population growth rates in selected years (i.e., 2018, 2025, 2040, 2050), he reveals that the Palestinians might become a majority in Israel. The resolution of the perplexing issue of the right of return of Palestinian refugees combined with their rapid population growth rates will have positive impact on the size of Palestinian population. These demographic changes will undeniably have economic and political consequences for the Tel Aviv government. To confront this dilemma, all Israeli governments ranging from Labor to Likud have constantly tried to encourage new Jewish immigrants and force more Palestinians to leave their historical homeland.