The birth & growth of anti-westernism sentiments in the Middle East - Essay Example

In terms of personal interaction at the university, both my supervisors have been outstanding in that they have reached out to help me in regards; by providing me bibliographical support as also their advice on the topic that I should take up as part of my research. I am indeed grateful to them for having stood by me after having understood the unexpected personal circumstances that I have had to go through. But as is well known; one needs to do a lot of groundwork in order to produce a clear road plan for taking up research activity, by attending seminars and conferences, and this is where I have been outraced.

Due to my personal problems, I was unable to attend any of these that were held at the university, even though I very much wanted to go. Another major obstacle has been that I have not been able to move to Paris either, which was the prime reason to shift to a part-time status after having discussed the issue with my supervisors. This report aims to describe what I have been doing ever since then and also aims to outline my proposed plan for doing research. Due to the above-mentioned problems, I subsequently started to attend many seminars at the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS).

The following list describes the various seminars that I have attended so far at SOAS: During this period, I did not attend any research training courses as I had prior experience of having attended them during my MA studies. However, I am planning to attend some after March. As the above-mentioned list suggests, all the seminars primarily focus on the growing anti-western sentiments in the middle-eastern region. These seminars along with the recent incidents revolving around the middle -east (the 9/11 terror attacks-Osama Bin Laden along with America's intervention in Iraq & Afghanistan to be specific), have driven me to think that i must indeed search for the consequences as also the reasons for the occurrence of these events.

I am now more than ever interested in finding the reason for the anti-western sentiments that have been the root cause of all terror attacks in the western hemisphere. I therefore, decided that I would conduct a study on the birth & growth of anti-westernism sentiments in the Middle East. According to Shireen T. Hunter (1998), the anti-western feeling was born from the Zionist wars between Israel & Egypt and the subsequent overthrow of the shah of Iran, which led to the birth of bitter relations between Ayatollah Khomenei's Iran & America in particular.

Clashes between the west and the lesser prominent countries Islamic countries of the west like Syria & Lebanon have just added more fuel to the already raging fire of anti-western feelings. More recently, I feel that the interference of the west (The