Contenu du sommaire : Le Moyen-Orient dans les relations internationales – I

What Makes a Middle Eastern Crisis?
Over more than two centuries, the relationship between foreign powers and Near Eastern societies can only be understood by referring to the twin concepts of intervention (foreign powers meddling to pursue their own interests) and engagement (stemming from a call to interfere in regional affairs). Time and time again, regional actors sought to woo foreign powers as they vied for influence, brandishing humanitarian causes as a means of swaying public opinion. Explaining the advent of authoritarianism as a bulwark against foreign interference as well as the opening up of the political sphere following the Arab Spring, these notions help understand both the events of the 19th century and those following decolonisation. Today, deprived of ­foreign – and notably Western – intervention, the regional system is in disarray.

The American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief and the Instrumentalization of the Testimony of Aurora Mardiganian (1918-1919)
This paper deals with the instrumentalization of the testimony of Archalouys Mardigian (Aurora Mardiganian) – a young Armenian ­survivor of the genocide – by the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief. Established in New York in November 1917, A. Mardigian became not only a protégée of the organization, but also an icon and an instrument of its ideological discourse. In 1918, the ACASR gathered her testimony and massively spread it, by way of cinema and printed material. The analysis of the written narrative highlights the paternalism of this humanitarian organization, which thought it had a civilizing mission towards the populations of the Middle and Near East. Focusing on the post-war period context and on the American intervention among the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire and Caucasus allows a better understanding of the political stakes linked to this media coverage.

The Pictures of the Armenian Genocide and the Limitations to their Circulation during the First World War
During the time of the Armenian genocide, some ­foreign diplomats and military officials in the Ottoman Empire took pictures of the victims and the deportees. Photographing had been prohibited from the ­government nonetheless, several diplomatic, military and civil representatives from Germany and the United States took underground pictures to show and condemn violence against the Ottoman Armenians. As I will try to show in this article, the photographic material was present and abundant but it did not circulate in the Western media. This is in contrast with the great number of publications about the destiny of the Ottoman Armenians in the United States and Europe.

‘A Difficult Post-War Path': from the Ottoman Empire to the Emergence of the New Republic of Turkey (1918-1924)
The present paper examines Turkey's complex post-war path after ten years of an unchallenged Unionist leadership. It sets those five years of struggle for independence in the wider context of ­international relations in the Middle East. It will examine how the Entente powers assessed the occupied Ottoman Empire and the humiliation of the latter by the Treaty of Sèvres (1920). It will also retrace the emergence of a Turkish national movement facing several challenges, amongst which the occupation by foreign powers as well as civil war. Thanks to military victories it was able to impose itself and to renegotiate treaties, and eventually allowed the emergence of a new internationally recognised Nation-State (1923).

Various Colonial Perspectives: France and the Independence Struggle of Egypt (1919-1922)
After the end of the First World War, Egypt claimed its independence. But the British opposed it, so the population of Egypt as a whole mobilized to achieve its independence. The international resonance of this struggle received little attention beyond its impact on the Anglo-Egyptian relations. This study examines the French perception of the independence struggle of Egypt. French diplomats and militaries were impressed by the pressures exerted by the nationalists on the different segments of the population to obtain full mobilization. They also made an assessment of the British political choices. To them, the British could largely take the blame for the worsening of the Egyptian situation.

Adopting the Cold War in the Middle East (1945-1961). External dynamics, along with Iraqi and Syrian Destinies
This article aims to show how the slogans and protocols of the Cold War, strategic alliances, and alignment in the bipolar world which resulted from the interplay between local and foreign policies. By focusing on events and the specific reaction of populations and local authorities, it is ­possible to underline how the Cold War was “adopted”, in other words how it provided a cognitive system and a general framework through which actors ­analysed international tensions. Comparisons drawn between Iraq and Egypt have altered the historiography, which overlapped events by referring to Egyptian history. Changes in both countries shed light on how and why the defense of neutrality and the Eastern Bloc became dominant at the beginning of the 1960s.

The Compagnie française des Pétroles in the Middle East: A Corporate Diplomacy at the Forefront of French Presence in the 1950s
From the aftermath of the Second World War in the early 1960s, the Compagnie Française des Pétroles developed a global oil ­strategy to strengthen the French presence in the Middle East in a sector traditionally dominated by the Anglo-Saxons. In this perspective, the company was at the forefront of the French presence thanks to its economic, political, cultural and social influence, creating the foundations of an authentic corporate diplomacy. Initiated in the early 1950s, this private diplomacy, which was ­originally restricted by material limitations, became increasingly significant during this decade – to the extent that it was institutionalized and recognized by French authorities and the Middle East and Anglo-Saxon governments.

From the Rapid Deployment Force to the Goldwater-Nichols Act: Iran in the American Grand Strategy, 1977-1986
American perceptions of the Islamic revolution of 1979, which led to the creation of the RDF and to the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, contributed to the reorganization of the American military tool. This had a determining impact on post-Cold War American global posture. This turn marked the elevation of the Middle East to the rank of strategic priority, and the transition from a mainly indirect approach of military and economic aid to an approach of direct military presence, characterized by the creation of a military institution in charge of the region. This turn also led to a profound reorganization of the American ­military apparatus under the guidance of legislators led by Senator Barry Goldwater.

Russia and the Middle-East: Old and New Trends in a Multilateral Diplomacy
More than twenty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's military intervention in the Syrian Civil War in September 2015 was perceived by many Western observers as the comeback of the “Russian bear” on the Middle-Eastern battleground. In spite of a long term diplomatic alliance with Russia, the Syrian republic is not a part of the Russian Post-Soviet's “near abroad”. Therefore, the deployment of Russian airstrikes on the Syrian territory are a strong evidence of the resurgence of Russia as a great power. It also demonstrates the Kremlin's will to include the Middle East into its sphere of influence again. This paper is a general overview of Russian, Soviet and Post-soviet implication into the Old and New “Eastern Question”, as well as it indicates, in a broader historical perspective, the major shifts of Russian ­multilateral diplomacy and long-term underground strategy of the instrume­ntalization of minorities in the region from the mid-nineteenth century up until 2017.