Is the realm a dry Arab world? How would you characterize the Realm?
The realm is not only a dry Arab world but also includes dry regions like North Africa and some parts of southwest Asia. A realm can be characterized in a number of perspectives and names. Generally, the realm is characterized by dryness as the core or primary criterion in its definition. Language is also another aspect used to characterize the realm. Languages such as Arabic and Turkish are spoken in different parts of the realism depending on the occupants of the realm.
Within the realm is also an Islamic realm. Since the realm is large and comprises several religious groups, the term Islamic realm has been used to describe the areas with high populations of Muslims like the Middle East where the Arabs are many.
These regions are specifically referred to as the Islamic realm. However, areas like Pakistan and Israel consist of many Jews who are Christians and are not associated with the Islam community though they still belong to the realm. Therefore, a true characterization of the realm is that it is a large region covering northern Africa and southern Asia inclusive of turkey and the Middle East, and consists of varying populations in terms of religion and culture. The areas are generally dry and oil is the major mineral resource (DeBlij, & Muller, 2009).
Cultures and civilizations seem to be characterized by their ebb and flow. Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus cultures gradually subsided. Roman culture rose to control and influence a great area only to gradually decline and be supplanted. Even Islam seems to have passed its zenith as a cultural force. What are your thoughts on the resurgence of earlier cultures and their impact on today’s world?
Earlier cultures were greatly valid in ancient times, especially Egypt, Indus, and the common Mesopotamia cultures. During those days, it was an expectation for each and every member from a given culture to adhere to what his or her culture demands. With time, these cultures began to subside and other cultures such as the roman culture emerged to a great extend but also declined with time and finally supplanted. Emerging of a religious culture like Islam also seemed not to pass its Zenith being a cultural force. In my own opinion, resurgence or simply revival of the ancient cultures has been a great recall of the ancient times and serves as a remembrance of what our ancestors used to practice.
The resurgence of ancient cultures has also led to the devotion of such cultures in a number of countries and regions worldwide. The resurgence of ancient cultures has several impacts on today’s world. It has led or contributed to the emergence of new ideas and also movements that strive to remedy the differences between today’s cultures and ancient cultures by giving out new prescriptions that are comfortably fitted under traditionalism. In other words, the revival or resurgence of ancient cultures has led to the development of traditionalism from traditions since traditionalism changes consistently with time throughout history. Thus traditionalism is a term that is of impact in today’s world (DeBlij, & Muller, 2009).
The concept of cultural diffusion is an important foundation for understanding how the cultural landscape develops. What diffusion of ideas do you see today?
The term diffusion of cultures means the transfer of cultural information, ideas, and practices from one culture to the next and from one region to another. Cultural diffusion enables the copying of ideas between cultures. The great benefit today is that diffusion of cultural ideas has led to one culture borrowing ideas from another culture for continual improvement. Taking an example of women, I think cultural diffusion has served them great respect especially in the present days unlike in ancient times.
Presently women have been empowered and are now being responsible members of the community participating in all development activities and this has been as a result of cultural diffusion from regions that adopted western culture earlier than those that had stuck on traditions. Another diffusion idea that is evident today is the issue of religion. Diffusion of culture has led to many religions and denominations where people have adopted different ways of worship compared to the traditional ways of worship where sacrifices were the main symbols of worship. Lastly is technology.
Technology has been spread from different parts of the world and has contributed to general industrialization and globalization especially from third world countries. Exchange of ideas has also been evident between cultures. With this in place, civilization has been achieved and ignorance has been reduced to a great extend (DeBlij, & Muller, 2009).
Which is the most important or interesting city of this realm? What factors make it so?
I think the most interesting and important city in the realm is Cairo which is in Egypt. Egypt as a country has lots of evolutions from the ancient culture being the country that had the world’s most famous leader known as king pharaoh. Cultures such as agricultural practices originated in Mesopotamia and Egypt before being transferred to other regions of the world. The fact that Egypt is an African country full of Arabs from the Middle East makes it an interesting country in the realm.
Associates of Egypt such as France, Iran, and Iraq have been on the top list in terms of diversification of cultures. The Islamic culture which is still on reception in Africa has been highly surpassed in Egypt unlike other African countries apart from the few North African ones. Cairo as a city among the realm cities hosts several cultural conferences among them being the revival or resurgence of Islam as well as the revival of agriculture among other cultural practices.
Being a country that borders the red sea, Egypt has been so much associated with the history of the Jewish and the non-Jewish. Egypt as a nation has rich reserves of minerals such as oil and this has made its links with other countries in the Middle East and southern Asia strong compared to other African countries (DeBlij, & Muller, 2009).
What links with Europe remain in the Maghreb sub-region?
Maghreb sub-region refers to some North African countries like Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco among others like Mauritania. There are several links that still remain between this country and Europe. The first link that still remains is on religion. Most of the populations in this Maghreb sub-region practice Islam which was introduced to them by these Europeans and other South Asians. It is the religion of Islam that makes the relation between the Maghreb sub region and Europe recognized.
The second link is on trade. Anciently, there was a link between these Maghreb sub-region countries and the Europeans in terms of a free market. The two had set up market policies including free trade policy that allowed the export and import of products across the borders. This link seems to remain as many Arabs still dwell in this Maghreb sub-region countries due to inter-race cross-breeds and the fact that these countries get their earnings from a common product which is oil.
Also, the customs union that was introduced in these countries by Europe still remains incomplete and this is mainly because the barriers that are still in process are mainly of political nature and due to varying political interests, they have not been able to be cleared out (DeBlij, & Muller, 2009).
Do you expect to see the Islamic culture expand south into and through the African Transition Zone? Why or why not?
The Islamic culture will indeed expand to other Southern African regions. I expect this because considering the current trend by which other African countries are adopting the Islamic culture; it is directly opposite compared to ancient times when Islam was almost prohibited in Africa. Many African countries in the past had taken Islamic culture as a culture for the Arabs and those other countries where the culture originated.
In fact, the few North African countries like Tunisia, Morocco, and Egypt were considered enemies of Africa due to the practice of Islamic culture. The Islamic culture has been facing challenges in Africa mainly because many African countries have been associating it with acts of terrorism due to the war-prone Islamic countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine. But with the realization of Islamic culture as just a religion like other religions, many African countries have given freedom to their people who wish to exercise Islamic culture.
Other African countries have incorporated the Islam culture in their constitution and the rights of Muslims are being respected across Africa. Therefore with this trend, I expect the Islamic culture to develop throughout the southern parts of Africa and be respected just like any other culture. This is because the acceptance of Islamic culture has been successful and the previous allegations have been wiped out in many African states (DeBlij, & Muller, 2009).
Review the map in the “Israel and the Palestinian Territories” section. Measure the distances from the Mediterranean Sea to the River of Jordan. Check the distance from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Jericho. Are you surprised?
Considering the territories of Israel being within Palestine and the distances between river Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea as well as the distances from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Jericho; it is actually surprising. Palestine being a large territory where Islamic culture is highly practiced, it is very surprising that the Israelites found their way to shelter themselves in a small territory surrounded by Palestine. It is even more surprising that even though the two territories border one another, there has been minimal diffusion of culture between the two territories if any maybe because of the many wrangles that have ever existed between the two territories.
The distance between the Mediterranean Sea and river Jordan is large and it is a surprise that the river drains in the sea. It moves across the whole Palestine Empire to reach its territories in the Mediterranean Sea. The distance starting from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is almost equal to the distance between Jerusalem and Jericho. It is a surprise that this entire city lies across the Palestine Empire but the cultures and the management of these cities are different from that of other cities in Palestine. Israel seems to have taken ownership of these cities and Christianity is the main religious culture practiced.
In normal situations, I expect free interaction of cultures and that the two territories of Israel and Palestine would have experienced the highest exchange of culture ever in the world but the opposite is true which is very surprising (DeBlij, & Muller, 2009).
This realm is the home of Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. What countries in the realm have an experience of Islamic fundamentalism and a violent reaction to westernization?
Iran is one of the countries in the realm region that has experience of Islamic fundamentalism. Considering the revolution that rose in Iran in the year 1979, the revolutionists were advocating for the recall of the Islamic laws and rules to the modern westernization. These revolutionists were merely conservatives who wanted to see the Islam culture featured in the current westernized world. They were too negative about the issue of westernization.
They feared that with the emergence of westernization, there are a lot of impacts that their Islamic culture or religion is going to face one of them being the abolishment of the Islamic “Sheria” thus they had to be violent to the idea of westernization so as to block this from happening. Another country in the realm region that was faced with Islamic fundamentalism and reacted violently to it is the country that hosts Osama Bin Laden and his famous Al Qaeda group.
Afghanistan as a country has faced so many clashes with the United States and some of its associated countries over the Islamic culture. The US has been pushing for westernization while Afghanistan has been pushing for Islamic fundamentalism and this has led to a lot of clashes including bombings. The same case applies to Iraq (DeBlij, & Muller, 2009).
Reference
DeBlij, H. J., and Muller, P. O. (2009). Geography: Realms, Regions and Concepts. 14th edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.