POLS 312

Politics of the Middle East

This course covers the government and politics of selected nations within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in order to provide an understanding of the institutions and dynamics of the area as a whole. It covers the region’s political history through the Ottoman Empire, colonialism, independence, and the modern-day challenges of economic globalization and foreign intervention. The impact of economics, colonialism, struggles over natural resources, religious movements, social and cultural struggles, and ideology will be examined in the region on a country-by-country and regional basis. The course will also analyze ethnicity, ethnocentrism, and/or racism and how they shape and explain ethnic experiences. The question of Palestine and the Palestine-Israel conflict will be closely examined as a core issue in the politics of the region. The course includes an examination of dominant political institutions, actors, processes, and grassroots movements within the context of political culture and history and an analysis of area political economy and foreign policy in an environment of global interdependence. Countries to be covered include, but are not limited to, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. In this course, students will be introduced to the comparative politics of the Middle East and North Africa with a heavy emphasis on the political and economic roots of contemporary events.

Units: 3.0

Hours: 54 hours LEC