Word: emir
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...century an aristocratic Kurdish warrior clan, the Jumblatts (the name means heart of steel), joined the Druze and eventually became one of the group's two dominant families. At about the same time, the Druze formed an alliance with the Maronite Christians under the leadership of a Druze emir. In the 19th century, the aggressively ascendant Maronites sought to consolidate their power over Lebanon. Alarmed, the Druze rose against them. In a still vivid 1860 incident, the Druze set fire to mountain villages and slaughtered thousands of Christians. The present unrest is a reminder of that longstanding and sometimes...
Still, Bahrain remains an oasis of serenity in the turbulent Middle East. Much of the credit belongs to Sheik Isa, 50, the short, slightly pudgy Emir who has ruled the country since 1961. The sheik, whose cherubic face always seems to be breaking into a smile, truly delights in dealing with people. Anyone with a grievance can come to the palace and complain to His Highness in person. If a foreigner has trouble with the royal name, the sheik is likely to joke, "Call me Jake." Although he is wealthy, he and his wife avoid extravagances; the sheik is often...
...tradition of nationalism. After the British wrested Palestine from the Ottoman Empire in World War I, they administered the region as a League of Nations mandate. The British put the territory east of the Jordan River, known as Transjordan, under the local rule of Hussein's grandfather Emir Abdullah. When Abdullah first pitched his tents in Amman in 1921, he took over an impoverished desert area more than four times the size of Massachusetts that was peopled mainly by nomadic Bedouin tribes...
...deal turns out to be as fishy as the dealer. Instead of penciling a manuscript-there is no manuscript-Halliday finds himself enmeshed in devious negotiations initiated by a Persian Gulf emir identified only as the Ruler. The potentate is eager to lease territory he controls to NATO as a major allied military base. Zander-Luccio, the Pike, serves as middleman in the deal, hoping that a grateful U.S. Government will thereafter provide him with political asylum and a new identity. After a long career of nastiness in the Middle East, he has learned that he is the target...
Among the small gulf states, Dubai appears to be genuinely neutral, evidently because of its large Persian minority. The other United Arab Emirates, as well as Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, all root under their breath for Iraq. Despite apprehensions about Saddam Hussein's long-term military and political ambitions, they sense a more imminent threat from Iran. Bahrain in particular is nervous about Tehran, not only because the mullahs have revived ancient Iranian claims to its territory but because Bahrain's Sunni Emir rules a population over half of whom are Shi'ites...