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Building War Through Militarization, Memorialization, and Recreationalization of the Urban Middle East

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Building War Through Militarization, Memorialization, and Recreationalization of the Urban Middle East All That Is Holy Is Profaned: Building War through Militarization, Memorialization, and Recreationalization of the Urban Middle East By Ayda Taghikhani Melika A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Nezar AlSayyad, Co-chair Professor Andy Shanken, Co-chair Professor Galen Cranz Professor Cihan Tugal Fall 2018 Copyright © 2018 Ayda Taghikhani Melika Abstract All That Is Holy Is Profaned: Building War Through Militarization, Memorialization, and Recreationalization of the Urban Middle East by Ayda Taghikhani Melika Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture University of California, Berkeley Professors Nezar AlSayyad and Andy Shanken, Co-chairs The greatest enemy of humanity is not war; it is the illusion of humanism and peacemaking. The convergence of militarization, memorialization, and recreationalization is a widespread modern phenomenon observed in spatial and architectural manifestations worldwide. For example, memorial parks have often been dedicated to the memory of wars while simultaneously designed for recreational activities. In this dissertation, I examine how these sites, which are often erected under the legitimizing banner of humanitarian or sacred values, are designed to have political socialization and militarization effects on the users. The neoliberal militarization of spaces of daily life, collective memory and recreations shape the political landscape of our world threatening societies with a slow but steady normalization of war and the spread of a deadly culture of global violence. Implementation of extensive spatial militarization, memorialization, and recreationalization is aiding the spread of neoliberalism in the formation of new Middle Eastern cities. Decades of US interventions under peace keeping and humanitarian banners have fueled Islamic fundamentalism and sectarianism, which preserves instability and animosity among the large oil-producing nations of the Middle East. In this dissertation, I examine the war-ridden landscapes of the Middle East as the most militarized spatial manifestation of a globally spreading neoliberal militant governmentality that I call militantality1. Methods used in my research include literature review, archival research, newspaper and released top-secret CIA document analysis, as well as ethnographical methods, such as observation, participatory observation and interviews. Moreover, for my field research I traveled to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Turkey, and the Lebanese Republic where I focused on several main case study sites such as Iran’s Museum of Holy Defense, Turkey’s Panorama 1453 History Museum, and Mleeta, Lebanon’s multimillion-dollar theme park of martyrdom. 1 Inspired by Foucault’s theory, militantality is a term I will use to refer to a Governmentality that has apparatuses of military as its essential technical means. A full description can be found in chapter nine of this dissertation. 1 The explorations and arguments in my dissertation are organized in three parts: militarization, memorialization, and recreationalization. Part one starts with a broad review of cultures of violence in developing countries in relation to the spread of colonialism, nationalism, advancement of warfare, and neoliberal imperialism. This is followed by chapter three, which is an in-depth investigation of the militarization of the Middle East, the world’s most extensively militarized and conflict-ridden region. Focusing on the United States imperialistic militarization of the Middle East, and Iran as my main case study, I argue that a lucrative economy of enmity fuels the regional wars, making military institutions ever stronger, while preventing any fundamental change to structures of power. Using Iraq as the main case study, the following three chapters in part two, explore the relationship between memory and violence in the Middle East in the twenty-first century. First, I offer an interdisciplinary approach for the study of memorials as media, followed by chapter five where I argue there has been what I call a memory-centric warfare waged against the region by the United States’ neoliberal military complex, producing, preserving and perpetuating sectarianism. Highlighting the role of scholar’s in militarizing cultural knowledge, I dedicate the next chapter to arguing that memory has been utilized as weapons of mass disorientation2. In part three, I argue that new forms of Islamized spaces of recreation and leisure have emerged out of the interplay between terrorism and tourism through which local leaders militarize fate, history, and culture in order to expand neo-liberal urbanism. Using the Panorama 1453 Historical Museum in Istanbul, Turkey as my main case study, I argue that the converged militarized recreational landscapes of memory are both triumphs of neoliberal hegemony and symbolic edifices intended to generate fear in external enemies while simultaneously aiming to maintain order at home. I further demonstrate how these sites are designed to achieve the consent of the masses to further expand militarized urbanism by indoctrinating, legitimizing, and disseminating the ideas and values of dominant ideological, economic, and military leaders. Finally, in the epilog, I conclude that the spatial and architectural manifestations of the global militarized neoliberal imperialism can, by design, only perpetuate violence. Further I argue that we have entered a time of militantality3 where the overwhelmingly militant structure of our governments has encroached on the spaces of everyday life, leading to a highly militarized world where people are socialized into a culture of violence. 2 This is a term I will use to refer to memory-centric weapons that produce large scale historic amnesia, cultural damage, and collective disorientation. A full description can be found in chapter six of this dissertation. 3 Inspired by Foucault’s Governmentality, this is a term I will use to refer to a militant mentality that governs our era. A full description can be found in section concluding chapter of this dissertation. 2 I dedicate this thesis to my peace-loving family: Mahshid, Mona and Vahid. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT …………………....…………………………………….……………..….…….……..…………. 1 DEDICATION …………….……..………………....………………………………..…...…..…...…......…… i TABLE OF CONTENTS ……………….………………..……………….………..……..…..…..……..… ii LIST OF FIGURES …………...……………………….………………...………………………...…......… v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ………………………………..……………….………..……..…..…..……..… xi NOTE ON TRANSLATION AND DATES …….………………………………….…..………..……. xii CHAPTER 1. Prologue 1 1.1 A Brief Introduction ………...…………………………….…………………………….…..…… 1 1.2 Hypothesis and Research Questions …………………………...…….......…….…….… 6 1.3 Methods and Theoretical Framework ……………..…………..………………….……… 8 1.4 Structure ……………………………………………………..…………..………………….……… 10 PART ONE: MILITARIZATION 12 CHAPTER 2. Cultures of Violence in Developing Countries 13 2.1 Introduction ……………………….……………………….……..………………….…..………… 14 2.2 Colonialism …………………….………………………...……………………..………..…...…… 15 2.3 Nationalism …………………...……………………………….............................………...….… 21 2.4 Warfare ………………………………….………………………..……….……...………….…..… 24 2.5 Imperialism ………..……………………………..…………………..………...……...….…....…. 26 2.6 Neoliberalism …….…………………………………..………………...……...……....…………. 29 2.7 Conclusion …….…………………………………..………………...……...……......…….…..…. 31 CHAPTER 3. Imperialistic Militarization of the Middle East 32 3.1 Geopolitical Significance of the Middle East for the US ……………………........... 33 3.2 US Military Presence and Socialization in the Middle East ………………............ 35 3.3 Equipping and Training the Middle East to fight for the US .………………..…..... 37 ii 3.4 The USA’ Green Belt Doctrine and the Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism ….... 40 3.5 Revillusion: Pseudo-Revolts Preserving Military Institutions ………….….…….... 49 3.6 Economy of Enmity: Why Wars Don’t End ………………………..….…..…..…..…..... 58 PART TWO: MEMORIALIZARION 65 CHAPTER 4. Memory and Violence in the 21st Century Middle East: 66 Examining Memorials as Media in Contemporary Iraq 4.1 Theoretical and Methodological Introduction ………………………………..………… 67 4.2 The Context ……………………………………….……………………………………..…..…… 68 4.3 The Sender …………………………..……………..……………………………...………..….… 71 4.4 The Medium ………………………………………………...…..……….….....………..……..… 76 4.5 The Receiver ……………………..…………….…………………..………...……...………..…. 81 4.6 The Scholar …….………………………………………..…...………….…...……...………..…. 91 CHAPTER 5. Memory-centric Warfare: Militarized Memory in the “Cultural- 95 centric” War against Iraq 5.1 Just US and Unjust Them ………………………………………………………………......... 96 5.2 “Cultural-centric” Warfare ……………………………………………………………….......... 97 5.3 Toppled or Multiplied: 1000s of Medals, “1000 Saddams” .………………....….... 101 5.4 Iraq Memory Foundation …………………………...………………….……………………… 109 5.5 Sectarianism: Produced, Preserved, Perpetuated ….............................................. 113 5.6 The Scholar’s Responsibility: Demilitarizing Cultural Knowledge ...................... 117 CHAPTER 6. Memorials as Weapons of Mass Disorientation 120 6.1 Victory Arch Reconsidered …………………………….………………………………......... 121 6.2 “War of the Cities” …….………………………….…………………………………………....... 123 6.3 Corporates and States Dissolve, Neoliberal Militarization Perpetuates ……… 127 6.4 Weapons of Mass Disorientation …………………………..………………………….…… 132 PART THREE: RECREATIONALIZATION 134 CHAPTER 7. “Terrorism”
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