MIDDLE EAST POLITICS

Political Science 168
Middle East Politics
Fall 2008

Purpose:  Why do politics in the Middle East seem so violent?  Are Muslims inherently revolutionary and anti-American?  Can Islam and democracy co-exist?  Can oil wealth and democracy co-exist?  Can Middle Eastern countries deal with economic changes without political upheaval?  These questions, in the newspapers almost every day (OK, maybe not in the Free-Press every day), cannot be answered without understanding the history of state formation in the Middle East.  That history will help us to explain the current crisis of authority griping the region, as societies try to work out the relationship between Islam and politics, between the state and the economy, and between their domestic society and the world around them.  This is a first course on the region; it presupposes no previous knowledge.  The first part of the course reviews the modern history of the region, with an emphasis on state formation.  The second part of the course examines the interplay of economic development, Islamist movements and participatory politics in the current politics of a number of major regional countries.  The course concludes with an assessment of two major regional issues:  the prospects for and obstacles to democratization in the Arab world and the future of political Islam.

Organization and Grading:  Participation in class discussions and performance on five quizzes will account for 30% of the final grade for the course.  A mid-term essay, no more than 10 pages in week, will be worth 35% of the final grade.  It will be due on October 16.  A final essay, no more than 10 pages in length, will be worth 35% of the final grade.  The final essay will be due on December 16.  There is no final exam in this course.  The essay questions are found at the end of the syllabus.

Books:  The following books are available from the University bookstore:

--William L. Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East (2nd edition)
--Alan Richards and John Waterbury, A Political Economy of the Middle East (3^rd edition)
--Gilles Kepel, Jihad:  The Trail of Political Islam

Other readings will be posted on the class website (see URL on first page), available on the Bailey-Howe Library reserve reading website (http://voyager.uvm.edu) or available at the URL listed on the reading list.  Direct links to all posted readings can be found on the class website.

Classroom Protocol -- The Department of Political Science requires that this classroom protocol, defining minimum standards of conduct, be included in all syllabi of political science classes.

1.  Students are expected to attend and be prepared for ALL regularly scheduled classes.

2.  Students are expected to arrive on time and stay in class until the class period ends.  If a students knows in advance that s/he will need to leave early, s/he should notify the instructor before the class period begins.

3.  Students are expected to treat faculty and fellow students with respect.  For example, students must not disrupt class by leaving and reentering during class, must not distract class by making noise, and must be attentive to comments being made by the instructors and by peers.

SCHEDULE OF CLASSES, READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS

September 2:  Housekeeping and Introduction to the Course

                        -Richard W. Bulliet, The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization, Chapter 2, “What Went On?” (on library reserve website -- voyager.uvm.edu)
                        -link to Power Point of first lecture

September 4-11:  Dime Store Tour of Pre-20th Century Middle Eastern History.  The Legacy of the Ottoman and Safavid Empires for Middle East Politics.

                    -Cleveland, Chapters 1-8
                    -link to Power Point on early Muslim community
                    -link to lecture on the Ottoman and Safavid Empires

September 11:  MAP QUIZ

 

September 16-18:  WWI, the End of Ottoman Empire and Drawing the Map of the Modern Middle East

                   -Cleveland, Chapter 9

September 23-30:  Beginnings of Independent State Formation:  The Inter-War Years.   Zionism and Arab nationalism.  The Mandates.

-Cleveland, Chapters 10-13

 

September 30:  SECOND QUIZ

 

October 2-7:  State-Building and State Challenging in the Arab World:  1950’s-1970’s

October 9-14:  State-Led Economies, Development, the Challenge of Globalization…and the Politics that Goes With Them

October 16:  MID-TERM ESSAY DUE   

October 16-23:  Islamism and the Challenge of Political Opposition

                   -Kepel, Chapters 1-3
                   -Richards and Waterbury, Chapter 14
                   -“Understanding Islamism,” Middle East/North Africa Report #37, International Crisis Group, 2 March 2005,  http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3301&l=1 (make sure you access the full report from this page – this page is only the summary.  You will need to register with ICG to do that; it is free, so don’t worry)

October 23:  THIRD QUIZ

October 28-30:  Egypt:  Economic Problems and Islamist Challenge

                   -Richards and Waterbury, pp. 248-252
                   -Kepel, Chapters 4 (Egypt section), 12
                   -Cleveland, Chapter 18 and pp. 513-517
                   -Anthony Shadid, “Imagining Otherwise in Egypt,” Washington Post, March 18, 2007, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031701482_pf.html
                   -Anthony Shadid, “Egypt Shuts Door on Dissent as US Officials Back Away,” Washington Post, March 19, 2007, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/18/AR2007031801196_pf.html
                   -Issandr El Amrani, “Controlled Reform in Egypt:  Neither Reformist nor Controlled,” Middle East Report On-Line, http://merip.org/mero/mero121505.html
                    -Joel Beinin, “The Underbelly of Egypt’s Neoliberal Agenda,” Middle East Report On-Line, April 5, 2008, http://www.merip.org/mero/mero040508.html
                    -Egyptian elections chart

November 4-6:  Turkey:  Islam, Economic Development and Democracy

                   -Richards and Waterbury, pp. 233-239
                   -Cleveland, pp. 269-279, 504-509
                   -Kepel, Chapter 15
                   -Kerem Oktem, “Harbingers of Turkey’s Second Republic,” Middle East Report On-Line, www.merip.org/mero/mero080107.html
                   -Hilal Elvar, “Lawfare and Wearfare in Turkey,” Middle East Report On-Line, April 2008, http://www.merip.org/mero/interventions/elverINT.html
                        -Henri Barkey, “Turkey:  Aftermath of the Political Crisis,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, August 1, 2008, http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=20339&prog=zgp&proj=zme
                    -Turkish elections chart


November 11:  FOURTH QUIZ
 

November 11-13:  Iran:  Islamic Revolution and the Struggle to Build an Islamic Democracy

                   -Richards and Waterbury, pp. 256-260, 320-322
                   -Kepel, Chapter 5
                   -Cleveland, pp. 279-292 and Chapter 20
                   -Kaveh Ehsani, “Iran:  The Populist Threat to Democracy,” Middle East Report, Winter 2006, www.merip.org/mer/mer241/ehsani.html
                   -International Crisis Group, “Iran:  Ahamdi-Nejad’s Tumultuous Presidency,” Middle East Briefing No. 21, February 2007, www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4647&CFID=7641343&CFTOKEN=42985970 (make sure you access the full report from this page – this page is only the summary)
                        -Kelly Campbell, “Analyzing Iran’s Domestic Political Landscape,” U.S. Institute of Peace, May 2008, http://www.usip.org/pubs/usipeace_briefings/2008/0513_iran.html 
                    -Iranian elections chart

November 18-20:  Saudi Arabia:  Oil, Islam and Politics

                   -Cleveland, Chapter 21 and pp. 475-479
                   -F. Gregory Gause, III, Oil Monarchies (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1994), Chp. 3 “Oil and Politics.” Available from McGill University-Universite de Montreal Interuniversity Consortium on Arab Studies:  www.arts.mcgill.ca/programs/icas/gause/chapter3.html
                   -Steffen Hertog, “Challenges to Saudi Stability and Security,” (on library reserve website -- voyager.uvm.edu) 

December 2:  Why are there no Arab Democracies?

                   -Lisa Anderson, “Arab Democracy:  Dismal Prospects,” World Policy Journal, Fall 2001 (on library reserve website – voyager.uvm.edu) 
                   -Eva Bellin, “The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East,” Comparative Politics, Winter 2004 (on library reserve website -- voyager.uvm.edu)
                   -Daniel Brumberg, “Liberalization versus Democracy:  Understanding Arab Political Reform,” Working Paper #37, Democracy and Rule of Law Project, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 2003, www.carnegieendowment.org/files/wp37.pdf
                    -Jordanian, Palestinian and Kuwaiti elections chart

December 4:  FIFTH QUIZ

ESSAYS         

a) Essays must be double-spaced typed, with one-inch margins at the top, bottom and sides of the pages.  Letter size of the font may be no smaller than 12 point.

b) The essays are analytical, not research-based.  You need not read anything but the assigned readings to write them.  You do, however, have to think about the assigned readings and the lectures in order to write good essays.

c) The key to these essays is making an argument and supporting it with references to the readings and lectures.  Make sure that when you do refer directly to a reading that you properly cite the author(s).  A full citation is not necessay.  An abbreviated citation (eg.:   Cleveland, p. 234) is sufficient.  If you do cite a source other than those included in the assigned readings, give the full citation.

First Essay -- No more than 10 pages.  Due October 16.

The creation of new states and new regimes in the wake of the collapse of the Ottoman and Qajar Empires led to serious debates and sometimes violent conflict over the bases of political identity in the Middle East.  Political movements based on liberal constitutional, secular national, Pan-Arab and Islamic identities emerged and competed with one another.  There were disputes over the nature of relations with colonial occupiers and other great powers as well.  Using Turkey or Iran and one Arab state of your choice, discuss the following proposition:  “When identity conflicts are acute, there is a trade-off between stability and democracy.”  Focus on the period from 1920 to 1970.

Second Essay – No more than 10 pages.  Due December 16.

Why have Islamist movements come to dominate the political landscape of almost all of the Middle East countries in the last thirty years, either coming to power or forming the most serious opposition to ruling regimes?  Why have democratic advances been so limited in most Middle Eastern countries?  Why have so few Middle Eastern countries fully adopted “Washington Consensus” economic reform programs?  Is there any relationship among these three trends, or are they independent of each other?  Discuss these questions with detailed reference to two of the countries we have studied this semester.

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