ABSTRACT
The colonial period in the Middle East was marked by the intervention of external powers in the political development of the region. The establishment of the modern system of nation-states was the key outcome of this period. This state system remains the organizing political principle of the region, yet the instabilities inherent in these states still linger. The division of the Ottoman lands into Arab states is one aspect of the Middle East’s twentieth-century history. The establishment of the state of Israel is another pivotal moment in the political development of the region. This chapter explores the Zionist movement and the establishment, through a mixture of international politics and conflict, of a Jewish state in the Middle East.
