During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Middle Eastern Empires were faced with several difficulties. European infringement presented several challenges for the Middle East - intellectually, and technologically, economically, politically and socially. In dealing with these issues, the Middle East had to adapt to, or at least become more familiar with the contemporary West.
At the time of the Industrial Revolution, following the Napoleonic War, parts of the Middle East, specifically the Ottoman Empire, began its integration into the modern world economy (Gelvin, 2008). The dominating economic forces were the European countries, and because of this, the Middle East, not being on the same economic level as the West, found it difficult to adapt to this world system.
Read more here...
