INTS 243-01, Government and Politics of the Middle East, Fall 2011

Abstract

Commonly, the Middle East is represented as a homogenous bloc of authoritarian, Arab, Muslim, fundamentalist, anti-­‐modern, patriarchal states and societies unable to change. Hence, when the Egyptian people forced a 30-­‐year dictatorship down within 18 days, it came as a surprise to many. What was even more puzzling was the fact that the Egyptian “people” were composed of groups as diverse as leftists, Islamists, Christians, soldiers and liberals. Therefore, the objective of this class is to understand this heterogeneity of the Middle East. To do so, we will first cover the history of the Middle East as well as the international and domestic developments that define Middle East politics today. Starting with the second section, we will look at major actors and themes that influence Middle East politics, such as Iran, Turkey, Arab-­‐Israeli conflict, political Islam, democratization, gender, economy, and minorities. Lastly, we will look at different components of US foreign policy towards the Middle East and the effects of these policies.