Turkey, the Great Powers, and the Bagdad Railway - A Study in Imperialism #223442

The Chester concessions and the anglo-american con troversy regarding the Mesopotamian oilfields are but two conspicuous instances of the rapid development of Amer ican activity in the Near East. Turkey, already an im portant market for American goods, gives promise of becoming a valuable source of raw materials for American factories and a fertile field for the investment of Ameri can capital. Thus American religious interests in the Holy Land, American educational interests in Anatolia and Syria, and American humanitarian interests in Ar menia, are now supplemented by substantial American economic interests in the natural resources of Asia Minor. Political stability and economic progress in Turkey no longer are matters of indifi'erence to business men and politicians in the United States; therefore the Eastern Question — so often a cause of war — assumes a new impor tance to Americans. This book will have served a use ful purpose ii-in discussing the conflicting political, cultural, and economic policies of the Great Powers in the Near East during the past three decades — it con tributes to a sympathetic understanding of a very com plicated problem and suggests to the reader some dangers which American statesmanship would do well to avoid. Students of history and international relations will find in the story of the Bagdad Railway a laboratory full of rich materials for an analysis of modern economic im perialism and its far-reaching consequences.