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Allied Friends or Foes: The First World War in/and the Arab WorldNational Archives of EgyptMay 9-11, 2015BackgroundThe First World War (or the Great War) exerted a great impact on the inhabitants of the  Middle East and North Africa by shaping the region’s political post-1914 densities and its relations with Europe until nowadays. In this period in particular, the notions of Ottomanism and Pan-Islamism provided competitive impetuses to Arab nationalism. All political and social upheavals in the Middle East were also entangled with various Arab national(ist) responses to the military, political, economic and intellectual predicaments evolved during the war and its aftermath. In this sense, although this war was primarily initiated in Europe and by Europeans, the Arab World became a major theater for this war and its politics because of the position of the region in the European completion for regional supremacy. Middle-Eastern combatants fought on both sides, including Arabs, Berbers, Ottoman Turks, Kurds, Turcomans, and Iranians.FocusThe conference will examine the various aspects of the Arab roles in the First World War. The focus will be, however, on the multiple conflicts and battles in the Middle East and North Africa, especially these  that have been buried in national and historical memories. What  was the impact of the First World War on the societies and inhabitants of the Arab World? How did these  military  interventions  influence  the  patterns  of  social,  agricultural  and  economic activities? How did European and non-European politicians and intellectuals perceive the role of the Arabs under their colonial control as part of the War? In what way did European imperial powers make use of local partners in fulfilling their secret agreements for the interests of the war?The conference aims at gathering a group of scholars from different disciplines to investigate these questions and many others, and reflect on the following points in the light of new approaches dealing with the war and its impact on the place of the Arab World in “global” and “transnational” history:1)   Placing the Arab world in the international history of the war by focusing on the intensity of these four years of conflict that marked Western hegemony and military intervention in the region.2)   Social  memories of the war among the inhabitants of  the region and their formal and informal transnational and transcultural networks.3)   The impact of World War I on the economic landscape of the Arab societies, such as the field of agriculture, transport, industry and international trade.4)   The question of social questions related to the changes within ethnicity, gender, and class upheavals.5)   The reshaping of Arab geographical land national borders and political ideologies.6)   The impact of the war on religion, religiosity, religious sectarianism and disputes, war and peace, and social memories.7)   A  special  attention  will  be  given  to  new  archival  resources.  How  and  where  to  locate relevant archival materials in world archives. All participants are therefore recommended in their contributions to highlight and share with us their knowledge about the place of the Arabs in both western and non-western archives.The conference will take place in Cairo If you are willing to participate, please send your abstract (max 300 words) by Feb. 1, 2014 indicating your name, title, current position, three major publications and contact information to Dr. Abd al-Wahed al-Nabawi, Chairman of the National Archive of Egypt. Email: awahed70@yahoo.co.uk and chairman@nationalarchives.gov.eg