POLITICS, SOCIETY, AND INTL. RELATIONS OF M.E.

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1 POLITICS, SOCIETY, AND INTL. RELATIONS OF M.E. Professor: HAIZAM AMIRAH FERNANDEZ Master of Arts in Arab Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Bachelor of Arts in Arab Studies, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Senior Analyst, Mediterranean and the Arab World, Real Instituto Elcano Published by IE Publishing Department. Last revised, March

2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES This course offers a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, focusing on its politics and international relations. It is designed to expose students to debates by academics and policy makers on past experiences, current challenges, and future prospects facing Middle Eastern states and societies in light of the 2011 Arab uprisings against authoritarian rule. The course will begin with the clarification of some ill-defined words and concepts commonly used when referring to the Middle East, the Arab world, and Islam and Muslims. This will be followed by a brief introduction to the region s historical and cultural background, which will be useful to explain current social dynamics, as well as the evolving concept of authority and gender relations. The material presented in this course is analytically divided into two sections. The first one introduces students to the sociopolitical realities of the MENA region, paying special attention to state-society relations. The second section examines the roles of Middle Eastern countries in world politics, looking at both regional conflicts and the prospects for political and economic reform. The course will be led as a seminar, with the majority of time devoted to discussion aimed at understanding current pressing issues in the domestic and international relations of the peoples and states of the Middle East. The first few minutes of each session will be devoted to The Middle East in the News, an attempt to contextualize current events in the region and to shine a light on its complex and rich realities. BIBLIOGRAPHY TEXTBOOKS (required purchase) Westview Press, Boulder, Fawcett, Louise (ed), International Relations of the Middle East, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, BIBLIOGRAPHY Angrist, Michele Penner, Politics & Society in the Contemporary Middle East, Lynne Rienner, Boulder, Ayubi, Nazih N., Over-stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East, I.B. Tauris, New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Arab Fractures: Citizens, States, and Social Contracts, Washington DC, Cole, Juan, The New Arabs:How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East, Simon & Schuster, New York, Dhillon, Navtej and Tarik Yousef (eds), Generation in Waiting. The Unfulfilled Promise of Young People in the Middle East, Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC, Gaub, Florence and Alexandra Laban (eds), Arab futures: Three scenarios for 2025, Report no. 22, EU Institute for Security Studies, Paris, Gelvin, James L., The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know, Oxford University Press, Oxford, Halliday, Fred, The Middle East in International Relations: Power Politics and Ideology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004., 100 Myths About the Middle East, Saqi, London, Kinninmont, Jane, Future Trends in the Gulf, Chatham House Report, London, February LSE, The New Politics of Intervention of Gulf Arab States, Collected Papers, vol. 1, April Merlini, Cesare and Olivier Roy (eds), Arab Society in Revolt: The West s Mediterranean Challenge, Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC, Milton-Edwards, Beverley, Contemporary Politics in the Middle East, Polity Press, Cambridge, Owen, Roger, State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, 3rd ed., Routledge, London, Roy, Olivier, Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah, Columbia University Press, New York, Sharabi, Hisham, Neopatriarchy: A Theory of Distorted Change in Arab Society, Oxford University Press, New York,

3 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Arab Human Development Reports , United Nations Publications, New York, [hereafter AHDR 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, and 2016]. Whitaker, Brian, What s Really Wrong with the Middle East, Saqi, London, Zoubir, Yahia and Haizam Amirah-Fernández (eds), North Africa: Politics, Region, and the Limits of Transformation, Routledge, New York, PROGRAM SESSION 1 Introduction: Syllabus, Assignments, Defining the Middle East Davison, Roderic H., Where is the Middle East?, Foreign Affairs, vol. 38, pp , July Angrist, Michele Penner, Politics & Society in the Contemporary Middle East, Lynne Rienner, Boulder, 2010, ch. 1, pp R.A.: Davison B.C.: Angrist SESSION 2 The Contemporary Middle East: Uprisings, Neopatriarchy, and Fractures Gelvin, James L., The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012, ch. 1, pp Sharabi, Hisham, Neopatriarchy: A Theory of Distorted Change in Arab Society, Oxford University Press, New York, 1988, chs. 1-2, pp Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Arab Fractures: Citizens, States, and Social Contracts, Washington DC, 2017, pp B.C.: Gelvin B.C.: Sharabi R.A.: Brubaker. Rogers and Cooper W.P.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace SESSION 3 The Middle Eastern State and Authoritarian Rule Owen, Roger, State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, 3rd ed., Routledge, London, 2004, ch. 4, pp Ayubi, Nazih N., Over-stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East, I.B. Tauris, New York, 1995, chs. 1 & 12, pp and Westview Press, Boulder, 2015, ch. 3, pp R.A.: Roger Owen B.C.: Ayubi intro B.C.: Ayubi conclusion 3

4 SESSION 4 Arab Human Development: Deficits and the Way Forward United Nations Development Programme, Arab Human Development Report 2002: Creating Opportunities for Future Generations, United Nations Publications, New York, 2002, executive summary, pp Available at: United Nations Development Programme, Arab Human Development Report 2004: Towards Freedom in the Arab World, United Nations Publications, New York, 2005, executive summary, pp Available at: Bayat, Asef, Transforming the Arab World: The Arab Human Development Report and the Politics of Change, Development and Change, vol. 36, no. 6, 2005, pp T.N.: United Nations Development Programme, Arab Human Development Report 2002: T.N.: United Nations Development Programme, Arab Human Development Report 2004 T.N.: Bayat, Asef, Transforming the Arab World SESSION 5 Women and Development (First short essay due) United Nations Development Programme, Arab Human Development Report 2005: Towards the Rise of Women in the Arab World, United Nations Publications, New York, 2006, executive summary, pp Available at: Adely, Fida J., Educating Women for Development: The Arab Human Development Report 2005 and the Problem with Women s Choices, International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 41, no. 1, 2009, pp Ross, Michael L., Oil, Islam, and Women, The American Political Science Review, vol. 102, no. 1, pp T.N.: United Nations Development Programme, Arab Human Development Report 2005: T.N.: Educating Women for Development - Adely T.N.: Ross, Michael L., Oil, Islam, and Women SESSION 6 Youth, Employment, Expectations Dhillon, Navtej and Tarik Yousef (eds), Generation in Waiting. The Unfulfilled Promise of Young People in the Middle East, Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC, 2009, chs. 1 & 10, pp and Cole, Juan, The New Arabs: How the Millennial Generation is Changing the Middle East, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2014, ch. 1, pp United Nations Development Programme, Arab Human Development Report 2016: Youth and the Prospects for Human Development in a Changing Reality, United Nations Publications, New York, 2016, executive summary, pp Available at: Westview Press, Boulder, 2015, ch. 4, pp B.C.: Dhillon, Navtej and Tarik Yousef (eds), Generation in Waiting T.N.: Dhillon, Navtej and Tarik Yousef (eds), Generation in Waiting II T.N.: Cole, Juan, The New Arabs T.N.: United Nations Development Programme, Arab Human Development Report 2016: 4

5 SESSIONS 7 & 8 Religion and Politics: Islam vs. Democracy? Clash of Civilizations or Clash of Perceptions? Owen, Roger, State, Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East, 3rd ed., Routledge, London, 2004, ch. 9, pp Huntington, Samuel P., The Clash of Civilizations?, Foreign Affairs, vol. 72, no. 3, 1993, pp Wedeen, Lisa, Beyond the Crusade: Why Huntington, and Bin Laden, Are Wrong, Middle East Policy, vol. 10, no. 2, 2003, pp B.C.: Owen R.A.: Huntington R.A.: Weeden SESSION 9 The Middle East in World Politics Fawcett, Louise (ed), International Relations of the Middle East, 4th ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016, intro. and chs. 2 & 4. Hinnebusch, Raymond, The International Politics of the Middle East, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2003, chs. 1-2, pp Gause, F. Gregory, Systemic Approaches to Middle East International Relations, International Studies Review, vol. 1, no. 1, 1999, pp , B.C.: Hinnebusch T.N.: Gause SESSION 10 The Arab-Israeli Conflict Fawcett, Louise (ed), op. cit., chs SESSIONS 11 & 12 The International Relations of the Gulf (Second short essay due) Fawcett, Louise (ed), op. cit., chs. 14 & 16 Gause, F. Gregory, Beyond Sectarianism: The New Middle East Cold War, The Brookings Institution, Doha, 2014, pp LSE, The New Politics of Intervention of Gulf Arab States, Collected Papers, vol. 1, April Available at: W.P.: Gause, F. Gregory T.N.: The New Politics of Intervention of Gulf Arab States 5

6 SESSION 13 Arab Transitions and Political Islam Roy, Olivier, Islamic Revival and Democracy: The Case in Tunisia and Egypt, in Merlini, Cesare and Olivier Roy (eds), Arab Society in Revolt: The West s Mediterranean Challenge, Brookings Institution Press, Washington DC, 2012, ch. 2, pp Bunt, Gary R., Mediterranean Islamic Expression and Web 2.0, in Merlini, Cesare and Olivier Roy (eds), ch. 4, pp Westview Press, Boulder, 2015, ch. 12, pp T.N.: Roy T.N.: Bunt SESSION 14 Rethinking the Arab Awakening: Drivers of Change and Future Scenarios (Research design due) Gaub, Florence and Alexandra Laban (eds),arab futures: Three scenarios for 2025, Report no. 22, EU Institute for Security Studies, Paris, Available at: Kinninmont, Jane, Future Trends in the Gulf, Chatham House Report, London, February Available at: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Arab Fractures: Citizens, States, and Social Contracts, Washington DC, 2017, pp R.A.: Gaub, Florence and Alexandra Laban T.N.: Kinninmont, Jane T.N.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Arab Fractures: Citizens, States, and Social Contracts SESSION 15 Final exam EVALUATION METHOD Class attendance is required. Students are expected to thoroughly complete the readings before class and to actively participate in discussions. They are asked to submit two short essays or commentaries (500 to 700 words each one, due on April 20 and May 16, respectively). A list of topics will be provided two weeks before each short essay is due. A 5-page research design is due on May 30. Be aware that constructing a research design is a multi-step process that requires rethinking and revision and it takes time. Students should submit their work electronically using the Turnitin Assignment function on IE Campus Online. The final grade is to be determined on the basis of the following criteria: Class participation 20% Short essays 20% Research design 30% Final exam 30% 6