Blood and Oil: The Middle East in World War I

As the absorbing documentary Blood and Oil makes crystal clear, there's nothing new about Western involvement in Middle Eastern turmoil. Writer-director Marty Callaghan describes in painstaking detail the old Ottoman Empire's participation in World War I and its subsequent dissolution after the conflict ended, as Britain and France used their influence in the region to carve up the Empire into “spheres of influence” exploited by the European countries in pursuit of their own interests—with the exception of the modern state of Turkey, which was formed in 1923 after a struggle against Western domination. Combining scholarly commentary and archival footage, the exhaustively researched and cogently presented Blood and Oil leads to two inescapable conclusions: that the Treaty of Versailles was as damaging for the East as it would prove to be for the West (leading to the rise of Hitler), and that the West's energy needs prevent—or at the very least influence—the possibility of practical solutions to long-term problems faced by the region's indigenous peoples. As current events continue to focus our attention on this troubled part of the globe, Callaghan's film should be seen by both general viewers and students. Definitely recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (E. Hulse)