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“Certainly, blame for all this [turmoil in the Middle East] doesn't rest solely with the terrible decisions that were made at the end of World War I, but it was then that one particularly toxic seed was planted. Ever since, Arab society has tended to define itself less by what it aspires to become than by what it is opposed to: colonialism, Zionism, Western imperialism in its many forms. This culture of opposition has been manipulated—indeed, feverishly nurtured—by generations of Arab dictators intent on channeling their people's anger away from their own misrule in favor of the external threat, whether it is "the great Satan" or the "illegitimate Zionist entity" or Western music playing on the streets of Cairo.”

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Book:Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East
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“From what the Oxford scholar [TE Lawrence] had seen, military culture was a world of hidebound careerists looking for a knighthood or their next medal, and of underlings loath to question the powerful, with countless thousands dying as a result.”

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Book:Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East
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“It was, of course, precisely this flippant attitude, one Lawrence seemed determined to flaunt both in his correspondence and in person, that so incensed his military superiors. But his defiance of soldierly protocol also underscored a deeper truth: Lawrence was fundamentally not of them, and was becoming less so all the time.”

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Book:Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East
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“History is often the tale of small moments—chance encounters or casual decisions or sheer coincidence—that seem of little consequence at the time, but somehow fuse with other small moments to produce something momentous, the proverbial flapping of a butterfly’s wings that triggers a hurricane.”

LittlesMomentsSeemsChanceDecisionProduceConsequenceWingsTalesEncountersButterflySheerCoincidenceTriggersCasualHurricanesFuseProverbialFlappingSmall MomentsChance Encounters
Book:Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East
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“In keeping with original Mormon teachings, much of the property in Hildale and Colorado City is held in trust for the church. Striving to be as self-sufficient as possible, the community grows a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and everyone, including children, is expected to help bring in the yield.”

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Author:Scott Anderson
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“Waitresses, soldiers, rickshaw drivers, old ladies selling vegetables - my father would schmooze anybody. He was Clintonesque before the word existed. And, of course, it paid dividends. Ill-tempered guards at the most notorious border crossings waved him through with cheery smiles. Haughty maitre d's fawned over him.”

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Author:Scott Anderson
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“Among the handful of British diplomats and military men aware of their government's secret policy in the Middle East-that the Arabs were being encouraged to fight and die on the strength of promises that had already been traded away-were many who regarded that policy as utterly shameful, an affront to British dignity.”

MenGovernmentDiesFightingSecretMiddleMilitaryPolicyPromiseDignityBritishEastMiddle EastHandfulShamefulDiplomatsAffrontMilitary Man
Book:Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East
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“Part of Sykes's motive was rooted in religiosity. A devout Catholic, he regarded a return of the ancient tribe of Israel to the Holy Land as a way to correcta nearly two-thousand-year-old wrong. That view had taken on new passion andurgency with the massacres of the Armenians. To Sykes, in that ongoing atrocity, the Ottoman Empire had proven it could never again be trusted to protectits religious minority populations. At war's end, the Christian and Jewish HolyLand of Palestine would be taken from it, and the failure of the Crusades maderight.”

WayYearsTwoWarEndsWould BeChristianPassionReligiousViewsTakenLandReturnHolyThousandCatholicAncientPopulationIsraelMotiveMinoritiesEmpiresRootedTrustedThousand YearsProvenTribesPalestineOngoingAtrocitiesCrusadesMassacresArmeniansHoly LandOttomansOttoman Empire
Book:Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East
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