Changing ways of life

For more details on changing ways of life in the Negev Desert, see Unrecognized villages.
Starting in the late 19th century, many Bedouins under British rule began to transition to semi-nomadism. In the 1950s as well as the 1960s, large numbers of Bedouin throughout the Middle East started to leave the traditional, nomadic life to settle in the cities of the Middle East, especially as hot ranges have shrunk and population levels have grown. In Syria, for example, the Bedouin way of life effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961, which forced many Bedouin to give up herding for standard jobs. Similarly, government policies in Egypt and Israel, oil production in Libya and the Persian Gulf, as well as a desire for improved standards of living, effectively led most Bedouin to become settled citizens of various nations, rather than stateless nomadic herders.
Government policies pressuring the Bedouin into in some cases have been executed out of a desire to provide services (schools, health care, law enforcement and so on - see Chatty (1986) for examples), but in others have been based on the desire to seize land traditionally roved and controlled by the Bedouin.