Course Outline | Spring Semester 2016

AIMS Historically, competition among the great global powers over the Arab world, and the Middle East region more generally, has been a major characteristic of international relations. This competition is affected by the transformations within these great powers and their neighboring countries, as well as the Arab countries themselves. The course analyzes the strategies and goals of Arab states vis-à-vis one another and vis-à-vis their non-Arab neighbors and the rest of the world; it also analyzes the great powers’ strategies toward the Arab countries, in particular those of the United States, Israel, the European Union, Russia, China and Turkey. One of the aims of the course will be to study the impact and interplay of the exogenous political shocks and indigenous Arab identities, both of which were equally instrumental in shaping the modern-day foreign policies of Arab states. Of special importance will also be the grand ideologies of Nationalism, Zionism, Arabism, Regionalism, pan-Islamism, Secularism, Sectarianism and Cosmopolitanism and the role of the Arab Uprisings in reconfiguring, transcending, or reviving some of these vectors of identity, which also orient policy – both foreign and domestic. Amongst these parameters, this course shall place a special focus on the dialectic of secularism and sectarianism in wake of the 2011 Arab Uprisings. Over the course of the semester, we will attempt to address the following concerns: how and why have sectarian tensions become so prominent in the political discourse of the post-revolutionary Arab states? Are they the result of calculated political instrumentalisation of sectarian discourse by existing regimes to pursue material national interests? If so, why and when is it deemed as strategic to play the sectarian card? Or, alternatively, are we dealing with a function of an inherited, "primordial" Sunni/Shia chasm which can be dealt with but never entirely bridged? Do states see deep-rooted historical and cultural differences as a primary cause or a derivative consequence of tension and conflict in post-revolutionary Arab states? What policies have ‘been conceived to contain the spread of sectarianism and what preemptive strategies are being pursued in the future? Is there a way to disaggregate sectarian grievances and regional tensions from the agenda pursued by the major regional powers such as the United States, Russia, Israel, Iran and Saudi Arabia? The course’s guiding premise is that, by drawing from a range of scholars from the full spectrum of Arab political orientations, and, by embarking upon a frank and comprehensive confrontation with past and present global and local power-dynamics, we may clarify our understanding of the formation of constitutive frameworks of foreign policy.

POL 632 Foreign Policy in the Arab World Compulsory Course for the International Relations Concentration Track Course Teacher: Dr. Mark Farha Credit Value: 3 Pre-requisites: All program courses Co-requisites: POL 631 Course Duration: 14 weeks; Semester 2 Total Student Study Time: 126 hours, including 42 contact hours of lectures and seminars.

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INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME

1) Subject-specific skills:

At the end of this course students should: - Become familiar with the key ideological, political and economic events that have shaped

foreign policy in the Middle East - Understand the historical roots of controversial issues and ongoing debates including

Arab-Israeli relations and Sunni-Shi’a tensions - Conduct original research on themes discussed in this course. - Learn how to fuse a variety of inter-disciplinary methodological approaches to better

understand Foreign Policy dynamics.

2) Core academic skills:

Combining Arabic and Western sources, this course equips students with a comprehensive understanding of key global players, events and ideas that have shaped the foreign policies of Arab states since the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Students will be challenged to:

- Formulate original, critical responses to the framework outlined and theses advanced by the instructor during the lectures, their fellow students’ presentations, and the assigned readings.

- Structure these responses in their own original research paper with proper argumentation

- Evaluate different arguments and independently assess their merits and shortcomings - Synthesize variant methodologies and cross-disciplinary findings - Create original synergies between qualitative and quantitative research - Come up with original research topics in consultation with professor - Enhance both their oral and written skills of argumentation - Conduct autonomous research drawing from a plethora of sources utilizing library and

online facilities.

3) Personal and key skills:

This course provides students with the opportunity to enhance their communication and presentation skills through graduate-level presentations and class discussions and to develop their critical thinking abilities by exposing them to important primary sources, a variety of survey data and methodologies, and provocative analyses of Middle Eastern foreign policy from the vantage point of past and present, drawing from the disciplines of history, sociology and political science. In addition to improved writing skills, students also get a chance to improve their IT skills through the use of standard and specialized software in conducting and presenting their research.

4) Contribution to Program objectives:

This is a core IR course, with a focus on applying the key IR theoretical approaches and methodological tools to the Arab region. In this, it accomplishes two core objectives of the Program and the Institute: training students to the highest international standards, and helping students apply their knowledge to the local context. The combination of knowledge and key skills acquired, coupled with the appreciation of the methodological challenges facing IR when applied in the regional context, will contribute to producing academics who are both

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proficient in Political Science theories and methodologies and able advance human knowledge and respond to the needs of the Arab region, resulting in social, cultural and intellectual development. Both are key objectives of the Program and the Institute. LEARNING/TEACHING METHODS One-Hour Lectures The class will convene weekly for one hour lectures. In these, the instructor will introduce the major thematic and theoretical waystations of the course and provide the students with the historical and theoretical framework necessary to understand policy formation in the Arab world. The successive stages of Arab Foreign Policy will be related to globalization and the ostensible erosion of identity, Pax Ottomanica and Pax Americana, the Iranian/Shiite threat, Israel, Zionism and Islamism, the post 9-11 challenges, responses to the rise of neoconservatives, the politics of oil, and the scourge of sectarianism. The instructor will try to utilize a variety of audiovisual methods ranging from power points, analytical charts, to guest lectures of scholars and decision makers as well as live, in-class interviews with topical experts as available. Powerpoint presentations and pre-exam exercises and study aids will be made available to the students online at Blackboard. Two-Hour Seminars In the two-hour seminar sections we will then critically discuss the assigned authors’ argumentations as well as the framework of understanding proposed by the instructor. Select, short audiovisual segments from Aljazeera and other documentaries and talk shows will be introduced. Students are expected to come prepared to actively engage in the debates and to make a 15-20 minute in –class presentation on the assigned dates as specified in the sign-up sheets handed out in class at the begin of the semester. The presentation will be preceded by the prior distribution of a one page handout outlining the abstract and core questions to be discussed in the presentation. The critical feedback received by the student during his or her presentation by the professor and fellow students is designed to enhance the quality of the final paper. ASSIGNMENTS

1- Response paper (30%):

Due dates: March 14 (Paper 1), April 11 (Paper 2) and May 16 (Paper 3)

Students must submit three short response papers of 1000 words each on a pre-approved topic of their choice pertaining to the preceding weeks’ readings on the foreign policy and international relations of Arab States. Each paper will be weighed as 10% of the final grade with a cumulative of 30% of the final grade. While it could take the form of an in-depth book review, the paper will serve as a trial run for the final paper. Students are highly encouraged to incorporate Arabic-language sources – both primary and secondary – into their research, and are tasked to consult with the professor during his office hours. Each paper must refer to at least two of the assigned readings in addition to one additional external source selected by the student. Students will receive extensive comments on their paper and suggestions for possible final paper topics.

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2- Final Exam (3 hours) (40%)

Scheduled during the exam period, this will be a three hour closed book exam consisting of two essays. No external sources or books will be allowed.

3- Final Paper (30%)

Building on responses generated from their previous presentations and response paper, students are required to write an original research paper about a salient topic of contemporary relevance of Arab foreign policy formation. The subject choice should be discussed with and approved by the professor. Paper topics can be thematic or (comparative) case-studies with a word count of no more than 3000 words including citations. Papers must be coherent and must reflect a clear understanding of the main ideas discussed throughout the course. Students must uphold academic integrity and refrain from plagiarism, which will warrant a failing grade in case a student is found guilty. The preferred citation style for papers is the Chicago citation style (in its 16th Notes and Bibliography edition). Students will be asked to give a preliminary presentation on their final research topic, introducing the topic, thesis, methodology and sources. One week prior to the presentation students will determine an additional reading to be handed out to class in coordination with the instructor.

ASSESSMENT

- Response paper 30 % (10% each, 1000 words) - Final Exam 40% - Final Paper 30 % (3000 words) MAY 29 DUE DATE

SYLLABUS PLAN The course outline follows a thematic approach with each week being dedicated to an in-depth discussion of the impact on the Arab states of major ideas – including statehood, identity, and nationalism – and foreign relations with key players such as the US, Israel, Russia, Iran, Turkey, the EU and China. The course adopts multidisciplinary angles covering the theological, political, and economic factors that have shaped the modern Arab World as it passed from the collapse of PaxOttomanica during World War I to the age of oil and Pax Americana from WWII to the present day. Students will graduate this course with a clearer understanding of the external and internal influences that have led these states to their modern-day predicament as regards their foreign and domestic policy options and orientations. We first seek to determine the constraints of Arab Foreign Policy making in the first half of the course. In the second half, we shall explore possible solutions to ongoing crises which hamper peace and prosperity in the region.

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Course schedule:

Week 1:

Parameters of Foreign Policy in the Contemporary Middle East:

- Arab Foreign Policy Stances Under the Ottoman Empire

The Historical Background: The Birth of the Watan

FEBRUARY 29

Required readings (Ehteshami should be read:

Bernard Lewis, “Face to Face with Bernard Lewis - The Islamic Monthly” (online) Mahmoud Haddad (1994). The Rise of Arab Nationalism Reconsidered. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 26, pp 201-222.

- - Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Globalization and Geopolitics in the Middle East: New Game,

Old Rules (Routledge, 2008). Introduction,pp.1-20. Chapter 1: Globalization, System or Process? p.20-32.

- - Mark Farha, “From anti-Imperial Dissent to National Consent: The Formation of a Trans-

Sectarian National Consciousness in Lebanon” in The First World War and its Aftermath: The Shaping of the Middle East, ed. T.G. Fraser (Chicago: Gingko/Chicago University Press, 2015), 91-110.

- شفیق الغبرا

مأزق الدولة القطریة وتناقض المشاریع العربیة -

- http://www.alwasatnews.com/news/1078567.html

لعروبة بین الحاضر والخیال السیاسيا --http://www.masarat.ps/ar/content/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B6%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%84

A%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%8 - -

صفیة سعاده ۲۰۱٥نیسان ۲۳صمود سوریا واالحادیة االمریكیة، -

akhbar.com/node/231152-http://www.al

۲۰۱٤اكتوبر ۳، »شرق أوسـط جدید«سوراقیا وإیران... ضرورتان لمواجھة -akhbar.com/node/216899-http://www.al

۲۰۱٤دیسمبر ۱۰، »صراع الحضارات«الفكر التكفیري أداة -

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akhbar.com/node/221573-http://www.al

۲۰۱٤ نوفمبر ٤تقاسیم صھیونیة، -akhbar.com/node/219053-http://www.al

۲۰۱٤بدیالً عن سایكس بیكو، العودة إلى مرتكزات الـدولة القومیة، ا مارس » سوراقیا« -

5ode/20167akhbar.com/n-http://www.al - Week 2: Guest Lecture: Marwan Kabalan and Shahram Akbarzadeh - Relations between Iran, Turkey and the Gulf: Past, Present and Future - MARCH 7

Required readings:

- Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Globalization and Geopolitics in the Middle East: New Game, Old Rules (Routledge, 2008). Ch. 2. “Globalization and Strategic Interdependence”; Ch. 3 “The MENA Regional System in Crisis.” (pp.47-59) ch. 4 “Geopolitical Tectonics” pp. 60-108.

مروان قبالن المسألة السورية واستقطاباتھا اإلقلیمیة والدولیة: دراسة في معادالت القوة والصراع على سوريةhttp://www.dohainstitute.org/release/fe4367fa-da4f-4817-8f48-c5ad675b3f9c العالقات السعودية - األمیركیة: انفراط عقد التحالف أم إعادة تعريفه؟http://www.dohainstitute.org/release/f927900e-3320-459e-ad00-9738a20ba306 Akbarzadeh, S. (2016), Why does Iran need Hizbullah?. The Muslim World, 106: 127–140. Akbarzadeh, S, “Memo to Middle East: Solve your own problems” - Al Jazeera ... Başkan, B. (2016), Making Sense of Turkey's Foreign Policy: Clashing Identities and Interests. The Muslim World, 106: 141–154

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حوار شامل مع محمد حسنین ھیكل- http://assafir.com/Article/431935/ref=Hyperlink

Week 3: US-Arab Relations: Framing Foreign Policy Ideologies and Interests

Guest Lecturer: Sultan al Qasemi

MARCH 14

RESPONSE PAPER 1 DUE IN CLASS!

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ھل تواجھ المنطقة التقسیم؟ ما ھي الخلفیة التاریخیة لخریطة المنطقة؟

Required readings:

- Sultan Qasemi - Tribalism in the Arabian Peninsula: It Is a Family Affair - http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/07/12/al-jazeeras-awful-week/ - Ussama Makdisi, “’Anti-Americanism’ in the Arab World: An Interpretation of a Brief

History,” The Journal of American History - Michael Oren, Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776-present,

Introduction, Chapters 1-7, Chapters 11-22. pp.432-439. - John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, “The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy,”

Middle East Policy, Volume XIII, Fall 2006, Number 3. - James Petras, The Politics of Empire: The US, Israel and the Middle East“US-Israeli

Bond…Past, Present, Future” (PARTS I-II) - Amaney Jamal, Keohane, Romney, “Anti Americanism or Anti Interventionism?”

Perspectives on Politics, Volume 13, Issue 1, March 2015, pp.55-73 - Mitchell Plitnick, “The Israel Lobby in Perspective”, MERIP, Summer

2007 http://www.merip.org/mer/mer243/israel-lobby-perspective - Philip Weiss, Modoweiss, 2014.NYT Leaves Out Israel

Week 4: Turkey and the Arab States: Neo-Ottomanism and the Arab Reaction.

MARCH 21

Marwan Qabalan

Required readings:

- Birol Baskan, “Ankara Torn Apart: Arab Spring Turns into Turkish Autumn”. The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations, 2011.

- William Armstrong, “Pan-Islamist Thesis Ruffling Feathers in Turkey” Hurriyet. - Behlul Ozkan, “Turkey’s Imperial Fantasy”, New York Times - Behlük özkan, From the Abode of Islam to the Turkish Vatan: The Making of a National

Homeland in Turkey.” (New Haven: Yale University Press); excerpts - Zayn N. Zayn. The Struggle For Arab Independence. New York: Caravan, 1960. Excerpts - Dr. Güneş Murat Tezcür Three Dynamics of Democratization in Turkey:The EU, Elite

Rivalries, and Contentious Mobilization, Orient I (2014): 15-19 - Malik Mufti, „Arab Reactions to Turkey’s Regional Engagement”, Insight

Turkey http://file.insightturkey.com/Files/Pdf/arab-reactions.pdf - Ahmed Kuru: Research note on Secularism - http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~akuru/docs/Kuru_IT_09.pdf - Israel Shamir, “A View Over the Bospherus”

Burak Bekdil, Turkey’s Double Game, Middle East Forum

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Week 5: Oil as a Vector of Arab Foreign Policy

MARCH 28

Ibrahim Freihat

Required readings:

- Andrew Scott Cooper, The Oil Kings: How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012)

- Trita Parsi, Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of the Israel, Iran and the US, (Yale University Press, 2007).

- The Prize (BBC Documentary based on Daniel Yergin’s book)

التدخل الروسي في سوریا.. ھل یقلق أمیركا؟ -- http://www.aljazeera.net/knowledgegate/opinions/2015/10/6/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A

A%D8%AF%D8%AE%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D9%87%D9%84-%D9%8A%D9%82%D9%84%D9%82-%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A7

Week 6: Arab Cold War: Media as a Battlefield

APRIL 4

Required readings:

- Lin Noueihed and Alex Warren, The Battle for the Arab Spring. Ch.3, “The Media Revolution.”

- Curtis Ryan, “The New Arab Cold War and the Strugge for Syria,” MERIP, v.42, Spring, 2012. Available at http://www.merip.org/mer/mer262/new-arab-cold-war-struggle-syria

- Kraidy, Marwan M. "Alwaleed bin Talal: Media Moguls and Media Capital." In Arab Media Moguls, eds. D. Della Ratta, N. Sakr, and J. Skovgaard-Petersen. London and New York: I.B. Taurus, 2015.

- Glenn Greenwald, The Guardian, Marwan Bishara on Al Jazeera: - Arab Youth Survey, American University of Beirut

Carl Bernstein, CIA and the Media - Asma Abdulla, “An unholy trinity: Leading journalist’s latest novel navigates religion,

media and state security”, Egypt Independent

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Week 7: War of the Others? Lebanon as a Case Study for Proxy Conflict APRIL 11

RESPONSE PAPER 2 DUE IN CLASS (10% of Final Grade)

Required readings:

- David Hirst, Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East, Ch.1-2 - Rabinovitz, Itamar. The War for Lebanon Appendix (Hafiz al-Asad’s historic radio

address of July 20, 1976 explaining why he sent troops to Lebanon), pp. 201-221. - Samir Khalaf, Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon “Lebanon’s Gilded Age”; “From

Shakib Efendi to Ta’if”), pp.151-159, 196-203. (electronic copy) - Imad Salamay, The Government and Politics of Lebanon, ch.6, “Consociationalism

Reformed; The Doha Republic” - The Lebanese Constitution of 1926 [1990] http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/le00t___.html - Basil Salloukh, “Syria and Lebanon: A Brotherhood Transformed”, MERIP, 2005. - Fawwāz Ṭarābulsī, Ṣilāt bi-lā Waṣl: Mīshāl Shīḥā wa al-Idyūlūjīya al-Lubnānīya (Beirut:

Riyād al-Rayyes, 1999) (excerpts on foreign policy).

Recommended readings: Wathā’iq Asāsīya min Tārīkh Lubnān al-hadīth, 1517-1920, ed. ‘Abd al-Azīz Nawwār (Beirut: Arab University Of Beirut, 1974)

Week 8: Israel’s Strategy in Past and Present: BDS, Bait and Bleed

APRIL 18

Required readings:

- “Blackstone Memorial” in Michael Oren, Power, Faith and Fantasy. - Oded Yinon, ”A Strategy for Israel in the 1980’s” - “A Clean Break: A Strategy for Securing the Realm”, Project for a New American Century,

Advanced Strategic and Political Studies’ "Study Group on a New Israeli Strategy Toward 2000."

- Letter to President Clinton - Letter to President Obama by (Neo)Conservatives, Foreign Policy, 2011. - James Petras, The Politics of Empire: The US, Israel and the Middle East “US-Israeli

Bond…Past, Present, Future” (PARTS I-II V, Conclusion) - US Ambassador: Support for Israel Drives all US Mideast policy - Robert Fisk, “So Far, Obama Missed the Point on Gaza” - Naomi Klein, “Enough. It’s Time for a Boycott” - Ali Abunimah, „Finkelstein, BDS, and the Destruction of Israel“, Aljazeera - Walt and Mearsheimer, “A Dwindling Moral Case” in The Israel Lobby.

*APRIL 24-28, READING WEEK

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Week 9: The Post-911, Post 2003Greater New Middle East:

New Constellations on the Regional Chessboard.

MAY 2

Required readings:

- James Petras, The Politics of Empire: The US, Israel and the Middle East, Part V - Bassel Salloukh, “The Arab Uprisings and The Geopolitics of the Middle East,” The

International Spectator, 32-46. - Philip Zelikov, “Iraq War Launched to Protect

Israel” http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0329-11.htm - Christopher Pernin et. al, Rand Cooperation, “Unfolding the Future of the Long War.”,

(Aroyo: Washington DC, 2008), chapters 4 & 5. http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG738.pdf

- Lin Noueihed and Alex Warren, The Battle for the Arab Spring. Chapter 9 “The Struggle for Syria”. Ch. 11. “The Islamist Resurgence.”

- Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Globalization and Geopolitics in the Middle East: New Game, Old Rules (Routledge, 2009). Ch. 8-9.

Week 10: Arab Foreign Policies Before and During the Arab Uprisings

MAY 9

Required readings:

- Lin Nouheihed and Alex Warren, The Battle for the Arab Spring(chapters 1-3) - Fanar Haddad, http://www.mei.edu/content/map/marked-exclusion-problem-pluralism-

state-building-and-communal-identities-iraq-and-arab-world - Toby Matthiessen, Sectarian Gulf: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the Arab Spring That

Wasn't, Stanford University Press, 2013. - Justin Raimundo, Iraq War 3: Obama’s Operation Double Talk. - “The Myth of Assad, ISIL and Extremism” - Nafeez Ahmed, “Pentagon Report Proves US Complicity Insurge Intelligence - Sami Zubaia, “Sectarian Violence as Jihad”, in Twenty First Century Jihad - Lin Nouheihed and Alex Warren, The Battle for the Arab Spring. Part I “Roots of Rage” - Fawzi Najjar, “The Arabs, Islam and Globalization,”Middle East Policy, Fall 2005. - Pew Survey on Arab Attitudes - Fouad Ajami, Dream Palace of the Arabs. Ch.1-3.

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Week 11: Gulf (Geo) Politics

MAY 16

RESPONSE PAPER 3 DUE IN CLASS (10% of Final Grade)

Required readings:

- Madawi al Rasheed, “Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Policy: Loss without Gain?” in The New Politics of Interventionism of Arab Gulf States, London School of Economics, Collected Papers, Volume 1. April 2015. Toby Matthiesen, 'The Local and the Transnational in the Arab Uprisings: TheProtests inSaudi Arabia's Eastern Province' in: May Seikaly and Khawla Matar (eds.), The SilentRevolution: The Arab Spring and the Gulf States

- Lin Nouheihed and Alex Warren, The Battle for the Arab Spring, “The Kings’ Dilemma.” - Sean Yom, “The Survival of the Arab Monarchies” Foreign Policy - Which Path to Persia? Options for a New American Strategy Towards Iran, Pollack,

Byman, Indyk, Maloney, O’Hanlon, Riedel, Brookings Institution, Analysis Paper, Number 20, June 2009.

- Glenn Greenwald, “Wesley Clark and the Neocon Dream”, Salon - Parag Khanna, The Second World, “Gulf Streams”, pp. 234-253.

- Sami Moubayad, “Old Battles, New Contenders in the Gulf”

- Muslim Societies in the Age of Mass Consumption, Joanna Pink (ed.) Introduction, pp.ix-xiv. and Relli Schechter, “Consumer’s Monarchy: Citizenship. Consumption, and Material Politics in Saudi Arabia Since the 1970’s” in Muslim Societies in the Age of Mass Consumption, Joanna Pink (ed.), Chapter Five, pp. 89-107

Week 12: Dual Containment, Divide and Rule?

Sunni versus Shia as the new Dominant Determinant of Arab Foreign Policy?

Strategies to Overcome The Sectarian Scourge After Iraq 2003

MAY 23

Required readings:

“The Geopolitics of the Sunni-Shi'i Rift”; Augustus Richard Norton in Monier, Elizabeth (ed.) Regional Insecurity After the Arab Uprisings (Routledge, 2015) Gerges, Fawaz A. ISIS: a short history. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015.

- Shibley Telhami, The World Through Arab Eyes: Arab Public Opinion and the Resha99ping of the Middle East, Basic Books, 2011.

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- A. Hanna and George H. Gardner, “Al-Shu’ubiyyah up-dated: A study of the twentieth century revival of an 8th century concept,” The Middle East Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3, Summer 1966, 335–351.

- Fanar Hadad, Sectarianism in Iraq: Antagonistic Visions of Unity(Oxford 2010) select chapter excerpts.

- Tobias Mathiessen, “Sectarianianism after the Saudi Mosque Bombings”, Washington Post

Week 13: Conclusion: Assisted Suicide of the Middle East? Possible Solutions

MAY 30

Required readings:

- Bassam Tibi, “Islamism, International Security and Democratic Peace”, in Monier, Elizabeth (ed.) Regional Insecurity After the Arab Uprisings (Routledge, 2015)

- Mansoor al-Jamri (2008). [Interventions on Thought and Politics] (in Arabic). Al Wasat. - “A Resurgence in Arab Regional Institutions? The Cases of the Arab League and the Gulf

Cooperation Council Post-2011”; Sally Khalifa Isaac, in Monier, Elizabeth (ed.) Regional Insecurity After the Arab Uprisings (Routledge, 2015) Al-Qassemi, S. (2012). The rise of Arab republics? Al Jazeera [online], 26 April 2012. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/04/201242284940696942.html Lin Noueihed and Alex Warren, The Battle for the Arab Spring, Chapter 12, Afterword

- Adunis, “Masrah al-Qatl”, al-Hayat(Arabic handout) - Tadros, M. (2011) A State of Sectarian denial, Middle East Research and Information

Project (MERIP), Available at http://www.merip.org/mero/mero011111 - “Concerns about Islamic Extermism on the Rise in the Middle East: Negative Opinions of

Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hizbollah Widespread”, Pew Attitudes 2014 -

Week 14:Student presentations of Final Paper Topics and Readings

JUNE 6

The final research project should be based on the 15minute power-point presentation by each student upon determining an apt final paper topic with the instructor. The presentation will be followed by a class discussion moderated by the instructor in which students are encouraged to tie the presentation to the assigned readings. Ideally, the material covered in course will serve as a foundation to which Arabic primary and secondary sources are added.

These additional materials will be determined by the instructor and student and assigned to the rest of the class one week prior to the presentation. The presenter is also responsible for

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drafting a one-page abstract of his or her topic along with a list of at least NINE individual scholarly articles or books, of which no less than THREE should be in Arabic. Select magazine and newspaper articles may also be considered in consultation with the instructor. This abstract will be reviewed and returned by the instructor.

Final paper subjects may focus on the foreign policy of an individual Arab state, statesman or political party, or examine bilateral relations between Arab states or political bodies such as the Arab League and a major foreign power (US, Israel, Russia, Iran, EU etc.). They will be graded according to cogency of argument, lucidity, originality of methodological or theoretical approach, level of engagement with the existing literature and depth, breadth and variety of sources.

Final papers due on __May 29, 2016__________

INDICATIVE READING LIST

1. Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Globalization and Geopolitics in the Middle East: New Game, Old Rules (Routledge, 2008)

2. James Petras, The Politics of Empire: The US, Israel and the Middle East 3. Lin Nouheihed and Alex Warren, The Battle for the Arab Spring 4. Trita Parsi, Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of the Israel, Iran and the US,

(Yale University Press, 2007). 5. Gerges, Fawaz A. ISIS: a short history. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015. 6. Monier, Elizabeth (ed.) Regional Insecurity After the Arab Uprisings (Routledge, 2015) 7. Andrew Scott Cooper, The Oil Kings: How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the

Balance of Power in the Middle East(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012)