@10:47, 08/27/11 3

The mess that is the Levant Needs a better scholar than I am.
Let me start with the Ottomans  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_Republic
The predecessor state was Byzantium.  The Ottomans conquered it. The Greeks are not much of a presence again until 1830.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_War_of_Independence.
Napoleon led a French expedition against Egypt in  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_invasion_of_Egypt_%281798%29 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peninsular_and_Oriental_Steam_Navigation_Company
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Afghan_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Canal#Construction_by_Suez_Canal_Company
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_mutiny 
"External debts forced Said Pasha's successor, Isma'il Pasha, to sell his country's share in the canal for £4,000,000 to the United Kingdom in 1875, but French shareholders still held the majority. Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli was accused by William Ewart Gladstone of undermining Britain's constitutional system, due to his lack of reference or consent from Parliament when purchasing the shares with funding from the Rothschilds.^[50]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Anglo-Afghan_War#Second_Anglo-Afghan_War.2C_1878.E2.80.931880
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Sudanese_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Bell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ataturk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balfour_Declaration_of_1917
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_E_Lawrence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Lausanne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey

^{Skim through that.} 
Remember this is just what went before.
33333333333333

• 
  

  TimesPeople recommended a blog post:

  Aug 26, 2011

  How Parents Can Talk About Their Pasts - Room for Debate

  What parents should reveal about
  The children will know most of it.
  Correct what they have synthesised.
  Assure them that they are loved.
• 
  

  TimesPeople recommended a blog post:

  Aug 26, 2011

  For Parents, a Matter of Timing - Room for Debate

  The real issue is not should we tell, but when.
  By the time it is plain that they need to know, they know.
  Help them deal with the knowledge.
• 
  

  TimesPeople recommended a blog post:

  Aug 26, 2011

  In Denmark, a Model for Muslim Immigration and Integration - Room for Debate

  Denmark's open and free debate on the cultural changes being brought about by immigration by Islamic people should be a model for the rest of Europe.
  Assimilation is what happens.  The question is by whom.
  The alternative is emigration.
  Talk helps.
• 
  

  TimesPeople recommended an article:

  Aug 26, 2011

  Does America Need Manufacturing?

  Yes.
  It is an acceptable way to put money into the economy.
  If customers can't buy, you can't sell.
• 
  

  TimesPeople recommended an article:

  Aug 26, 2011

  Black South African Goes From Never a Sip to Vineyard Fame

  It appears that wine making can be learned in a relatively short time. 
  A lot of science and a bit of art.  A developed palate is much of it.