Brief learning objectives have been made available by the author, to assist you with your studies. 

This chapter will enable a greater understanding of:

• The importance of religion and empire in the pre-Ottoman Middle East.

• The diversity of ethnic and religious communities in the Middle East.

• The ruling structures of the Ottoman Empire and their legacies for politics in the modern Middle East.

• The impacts of political and economic reforms during the late Ottoman period for states in the Middle East.

• The role of the military in politics in the Ottoman Empire and the influence of this today.

• The development of colonialism and economic dependency during the late Ottoman period and how this shaped Middle Eastern interactions with the outside world.