Over the years, countless books and documentaries have been made about the First World War, with anything of substance presumably already covered on the topic.
But historian and economist Ian Rutledge’s new book, Sea of Troubles, manages to take a fresh approach by focusing on the war’s little-known origins in European Imperialism.
“The subject of the book is very original, it hasn’t really been explored satisfactorily before,” he tells The National.
One notable book that previously did argue the connection between imperialism and the great war was Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin. Rutledge says Lenin “wrote Imperialism while the First World War was actually happening. Although he talks in his pamphlet about this relationship, he never really explains it properly.”
Rutledge, an Arabist who lives in Chesterfield, England, has previously written two books on Iraq – the last one being about an armed uprising against British colonial rule in the country in the early 20th century. Despite being “very happy” with the book and its positive reviews, Rutledge says he felt he had written a book on a fairly narrow area of British imperialism, both in space and in time.
“I wasn’t satisfied with that in two ways,” he says. “First of all the book in a way perpetuated a tendency in the published work on imperialism, which concentrated almost entirely on the British empire. It is difficult to find anything really substantial outside that sort of genre of literature that dealt with imperialism in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and so on. I wanted to write a book that covered European imperialism.”
Rutledge certainly casts a wide net in Sea of Troubles, its 30 chapters exploring diverse themes and developments such as a comparative study between living standards in 18th century Ottoman empire and Europe, the lag in industrialisation within 19th century Ottoman territories, Russian military designs in the Mediterranean, Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, the occupations of Algeria, Morocco and Libya, and the imperial power play between major European powers in the Mediterranean region leading up to the great war.
“There is a path of violence which runs through, starting with the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, then the Italian invasion of Libya – the Balkan wars which were connected with that – and then from that to the actual First World War,” he says.
For Rutledge, researching such a vast history wasn’t easy: “One of my reviews for my last book said it read like a novel, which is what I wanted to do with Sea of Troubles, but it is much more difficult. First of all, because it is a much longer period of time, and secondly, some of the major actors didn’t write their memoirs, or didn’t recall them.”
Often the voices of colonised subjects are not given enough weight in narratives on British imperialism. Rutledge says earlier accounts of British people “just were not interested” in what the colonised people thought.
Another reason was that “European colonialism has access to all the diaries, all the reports, whereas on the other side a large part of the area was illiterate, so there were not many reports that you can get hold of.
"I have had to deal with that by looking at the reports and the attitudes of some of the leading personalities who were wanting to make an argument against what was happening to their countries,” he says.
One such under-appreciated figure mentioned in Rutledge’s book is Abd al-Rahman Al-Jabarti, an Egyptian historian who witnessed and wrote three separate accounts of Napoleon's invasion of Egypt. Al-Jabarti detailed everything from the personal habits of the French invaders to their military prowess, and seemed to have an understanding of the rivalry between France and Britain.
Another character who drew Rutledge’s attention was Hamdan ben Othman Khoja, a Kulogglu scholar, who wrote in defence of the Arabic people of Algeria when the French invaded. “He went to France to try to get the French people to listen to him in parliament. He is a character. The only way I discovered about Hamadan Khoja is from a book written by a Tunisian. But he wrote in French, so that was quite easy,” he says.
Rutledge is an Arabic speaker, learning the language over the past 25 years. “It is a very difficult language for a European to learn, I think,” he says.
With a PhD in Economic History from the University of Cambridge, Rutledge has a colourful resume. In the 1970s, he worked for three years in the coal mining industry after having a “big argument” at a university in London where he was employed.
“When you are young you do anything without thinking about it. I resigned, and then I found myself unemployed, and I had three children.”
He found work with a NGO, the Workers’ Educational Association, later also working at The University of Sheffield (who had a financial arrangement with the NGO) on educational programmes for coal miners.
“This course was quite successful, but as the coal mines began to close down, there were fewer students. We started a master's degree in energy studies at the University of Sheffield, and I was given the honorary appointment of senior researcher. That lasted until I retired from teaching,” he says.
His work into the energy sector was also a gateway into the Middle East. Rutledge says it's not possible to explain how the world energy system works, without looking at the Middle East.
“I started reading a lot about the history of the Middle East and the oil industry. Actually my previous book, Enemy on the Euphrates, a lot of that is about the oil industry in Persia and Iraq. That is one of the main motives for the invasion and occupation. So I felt like I ought to start learning Arabic.”
Rutledge, who is a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Medical Aid for Palestinians, says it’s more than ever important to know about European imperialism’s role in igniting the great war because of "the lack of understanding in the West about the history of the Palestinians".
While Sea of Troubles does not delve deep into the Palestinian question, it points to what Britain did there that contributed to what has happened since.
"There is so little understanding in the West among young people about why all this bloodshed is happening in the Middle East,” he says.
“We are in the middle of a terrible tragic situation."
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Kat Wightman's tips on how to create zones in large spaces
- Area carpets or rugs are the easiest way to segregate spaces while also unifying them.
- Lighting can help define areas. Try pendant lighting over dining tables, and side and floor lamps in living areas.
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Roll of honour 2019-2020
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II
UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
RESULTS
Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) beat Hamza Bougamza (MAR)
Catchweight 67kg: Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) beat Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) beat Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg: Mosatafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) beat Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78KG: Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight: Sallah-Eddine Dekhissi (MAR) beat Abdel Enam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg: Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG) beat Rachid Hazoume (MAR)
Lightweight: Mohammed Yahya (UAE) beat Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg: Souhil Tahiri (ALG) beat Omar Hussein (PAL)
Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
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Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.