POLITICS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Political Science 272
Prof. Vickie Langohr

Spring 2005
M/T/Th 1-1:50 793-2763  

The eruption of the second intifada in the West Bank and Gaza in 2000, the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in September, 2001, and the war in Iraq in 2003 have made Middle East politics one of the most regularly covered - and hotly debated - issues of the last several years. The U.S. plays such a central role in Middle Eastern politics - from its strong support of Israel and of Arab regimes such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia to its current role as nation-builder in Iraq - that informed citizenship requires some level of understanding of the region. In the first section of the class we will study the historical roots of Middle Eastern politics in the Islamic empires and British and French colonial rule. Our focus will then be on the contemporary politics of Iraq , Iran , Israel , the Palestinian territories, and Jordan . While we will primarily study the domestic policies of these countries, not American policy towards them, we will address questions whose answers will dictate the success or failure of American policies, including: what are the roots of the Arab-Israeli conflict? Why did the Oslo Accords, which promised a final resolution to the conflict, deteriorate into unprecedented levels of violence? How have various governments in Iraq , from the British in the 1920s to Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and 1990s, increased the depth of religious and ethnic divides among Iraqis, and how might these divides be overcome to build a stable democracy today? And how is it that Jordan - a monarchy in which the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest and best-organized opposition in parliament - has become one of the most democratic countries in the Arab world?

Course Requirements

The requirements for this course, in addition to regular attendance and participation in discussions (10% of your grade), are a 5-7 page paper on Middle Eastern newspaper coverage (15%), a midterm (25%), a final 12-16 page paper (25%), and a final (25%).  

Two new films on Iraq will also be screened for the Holy Cross community in the Rehm Library during the semester. Attendance at these films is required.

Readings

The following books can be purchased in the Holy Cross Bookstore:

• Nikki Keddie, Modern Iran : Roots and Results of Revolution , Yale University Press, 2003

• Baruch Kimmerling and Joel Migdal, The Palestinian People: A History, Harvard University Press, 2003

• Anton LaGuardia, War Without End: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Struggle for A Promised Land, Thomas Dunne Books (an imprint of St. Martin's Press), 2003 edition

• Charles Tripp, A History of Iraq, Cambridge University Press, 2002

In addition to these books there are also many reserve readings. All of these readings are available on electronic reserves (noted ER in the syllabus.) They can be accessed by going to the Holy Cross web page, clicking on library, and then clicking on electronic reserves. Choose either my name from the professor list or the course name from the course list, click on it, and then enter the password. Click on the title of the relevant article to read it.

I EXPECT YOU TO HAVE DONE THE READING LISTED FOR EACH DATE ON THE SYLLABUS BEFORE CLASS MEETS ON THAT DATE.

How To Reach Me

My office hours will be Mondays 2-2:50 p.m. and Tuesdays 9-10 a.m. and 2-3:30 p.m. If you cannot make these hours let me know and we can set up other appointment times. The best way to reach me between classes is to e-mail me.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Th Jan 20: Introduction  

M Jan 24 : (How) Is It Possible To Understand Other Cultures?

• "Framing Nawal el Saadawi: Arab Feminism in A Transnational World," Amal Amireh, Signs , Autumn 2000 (ER) 

• "'Anti-Americanism' in the Arab World: An Interpretation of A Brief History," Ussama Makdisi, Journal of American History, September 2002 (ER)  

T Jan 25: Islam & The Islamic Empires  

• The No-Nonsense Guide to Islam , Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies, (London : Verso 2004), 13-51 (hard-copy reserves)  

Th Jan 27: The Ottoman Empire To European Colonialism

• A History of the Modern Middle East , Cleveland, 40-58, 81-92, 146-166 (ER)  

Iran

M Jan 31: The Constitutional Revolution and The Shahs Through World War II

• Modern Iran : Roots and Results of Revolution, Nikki Keddie, Yale University Press, 2003, 58- 104

T Feb 1: The Overthrow of Mossadegh

• Modern Iran : Roots and Results of Revolution ,105-131

• " Secrets of History: The C.I.A. in Iran - How A Plot Convulsed Iran in ';53 (and in '79), James Risen, New York Times, April 16, 2000 (ER)

Th Feb 3: The Shah From Coup to Overthrow, 1953-1979

Modern Iran : Roots and Results of Revolution, 132-169

• Amnesty International Report , 1976, section on Iran (ER)

M Feb 7: The Revolution and Politics And Economics Under Khomeini

• Modern Iran : Roots and Results of Revolution, 214-262
  

T Feb 8: The Revolution As Experienced By One Family

• Reconstructed Lives: Women & Iran's Islamic Revolution , Haleh Esfandiari (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), pgs TBA, (ER)

Th Feb 10 & M Feb 14: Post-Khomeini Developments

• Modern Iran : Roots and Results of Revolution , 263-316 (Th Feb 10)

• U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003 , section on Iran (M Feb 14) (ER)

• " Fatemeh Haqiqatjoo and the Sixth Majles: A Woman In Her Own Right," Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Middle East Report, Vol. 233, Winter 2004 (ER) (M Feb 14)

T Feb 15: The Future of U.S.- Iran Relations  

• Iran : Time For A New Approach , Council on Foreign Relations, 2004 (ER)  

Iraq  

Th Feb 17 : The Ottoman Provinces of Baghdad , Basra , and Mosul

• A History of Iraq, Charles Tripp, 8-58

M Feb 21: Putting Humpty-Dumpty Together: The British Creation of Iraq 

• A History of Iraq, 58-76

T Feb 22:The Baath Party and the Rise of Saddam Hussein 

• A History of Iraq, 193-235

Th Feb 24 & M Feb 28: Saddam Hussein's Rule

• A History of Iraq, 235-259 (Th Feb 24)

• A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan , Christiane Bird ( New York : Ballantine Books, 2004), 55-68 & 219-227 (ER) (Th Feb 24)

• A History of Iraq, 259-292 (M Feb 28)

T Mar 1: Debates on Sanctions 

• " Getting It Backward on Iraq," F. Gregory Gause III, Foreign Affairs, May/June 1999 (ER)

• " Sanctions of Mass Destruction," John Mueller and Karl Mueller, Foreign Affairs, May/June 1999 (ER)

• James Rubin, Excerpts From the Daily Press Briefing, Washington , DC , February 29, 2000 (ER)

---------------------------MIDTERM: THURSDAY MARCH 3-------------------------------------

-----------------FRIDAY MAR 4 - SUNDAY MAR 13: SPRING BREAK-------------------------  

M Mar 14: How Is Life Post-Invasion For The Average Iraqi? 

• "Progress or Peril: Measuring Iraq’s Reconstruction," September 8, 2004 , Center for Strategic and International Studies, (ER)

• "Progress or Peril: Measuring Iraq's Reconstruction: UPDATE," August-October 2004, Center for Strategic and International Studies (ER)

T Mar 15: Preparations for The Iraq War

• " Blind Into Baghdad ," James Fallows, Atlantic Monthly, January/February 2004 (ER)

Jordan

Th Mar 17:The Creation of Jordan & The Basics of Jordanian Politics 

• " Jordan ," in The Middle East , Ninth Edition, ( Washington : Congressional Quarterly, 2000) (ER)

M Mar 21: Jordanian Political Liberalization, & Its Limits 

• Jordan In Transition: From Hussein to Abdullah, Curtis Ryan, ( Boulder : Lynne Rienner Press, 2002), 15-42 (ER)

• " Don't Blink: Jordan's Democratic Opening and Closing," Jillian Schwedler, Middle East Report Online, July 3, 2002 (ER)

T Mar 22: The Muslim Brotherhood in Politics I 

• The Management of Islamic Activism: Salafis, the Muslim Brotherhood, and State Power in Jordan , Quintan Wiktorowicz, ( Albany : SUNY Press, 2001), 83-110 (ER) (T Mar 22)

• " Is Moderation A Myth? Islamist Parties in Comparative Perspective," Jillian Schwedler, Paper prepared for the " Roots of Radicalism" conference at Yale University, May 2004, pp. 27-50 (ER) (T Mar 22)

------------THURSDAY MARCH 24 - MONDAY MARCH 28: EASTER BREAK------------- 

T Mar 29: The Muslim Brotherhood in Politics II 

• "Can Islamists Be Democrats? The Case of Jordan," Glenn Robinson, Middle East Journal , Vol. 51, Summer 1997 (T Mar 29) (ER)

Th Mar 31, M Apr 4: Why Might Monarchies Be More Likely To Transition To Democracy Than "Electoral" Dictatorships? Under What Conditions? 

• "Rulers and Rules: The Influence of Regime Type on Electoral Law Formation," Ellen Lust-Okar and Amaney Jamal, Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 35, April 2002 (Th Mar 31) (ER)

• "Princes and Parliaments in the Arab World," Michael Herb, Middle East Journal , Vol. 58, Summer 2004 (M Apr 4) (ER)

Israel & Palestine

T Apr 5: A Founding Document of Zionism

• " The Jewish State," Theodor Herzl, in The Zionist Idea, 204-225 (ER)

Th Apr 7: The Emigration of European & Russian Jews to Palestine , The Creation of A Jewish State, and Palestinian Responses 

• War Without End: Israelis, Palestinians, and the Struggle for A Promised Land , Anton LaGuardia, Thomas Dunne Books (an imprint of St. Martin's Press), 2003, 62-91

• "A Riddle: What Is Catholic, Jewish, and Stateless?" Serge Schmemann , New York Times, November 25, 1996 (ER)
  
  
• "Evidence Submitted to the Palestine Royal Commission (1937), Vladimir Jabotinsky, in The Zionist Idea (ER)
  
  
• " Some Causes for the Rejection of the Partition Plan by the Palestinian Arabs," Fawzi Asadi, in Triumph and Catastrophe (ER)

M Apr 11: The 1948 War, and Palestinians In Israel

• The Palestinian People: A History , Baruch Kimmerling and Joel Migdal, ( Harvard University Press, 2003), 146-166, 169-182

• " In the Islamic Mideast , Scant Place for Jews," John Burns, New York Times, July 25, 1999 (ER)

T Apr 12: The Rise of Palestinian National Organization, and The 1967 & 1973 Wars 

• The Palestinian People, 214-239, 240-252

• War Without End , 131-144

Th Apr 14 & M Apr 18: Palestinian Life After 1967 & Non-Violent Resistance 

• The Palestinian People, 182-213 (Th Apr 14) 

• War Without End, 279-295 (M Apr 18)  

• Building A Palestinian State: The Incomplete Revolution , Glenn E. Robinson, ( Bloomington : Indiana University Press) 66-69, 75-93 (M Apr 18) (ER)  

T Apr 19: Hamas 

• Hamas, Political Thought and Practice, Khaled Hroub, (Washington , D.C. : Institute for Palestine Studies, 2000), 69-86 (ER)

• The Palestinian Hamas: Vision, Violence, and Coexistence , Shaul Mishal and Avraham Sela, ( New York : Columbia University Press, 2000) 119-146 (ER)  

• " The Transformation of Islamic NGOs in Palestine,"Sara Roy, Middle East Report, 214, Spring 2000 (ER)  

Th Apr 21 & M Apr 25: Attempts at Peace 

• The Palestinian People, Chapter Ten (" The Oslo Process: What Went Right?"), (Th Apr 21)  

• The Palestinian People, Chapter Eleven (" The Oslo Process: What Went Wrong?) (M Apr 25)  

• Drinking The Sea At Gaza, Amira Hass, (New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1999), 233- 263 (ER) (M Apr 25) 

------------------------FINAL PAPER DUE: TUESDAY APRIL 26----------------------------------- 

T Apr 26 & Th Apr 28: U.S. Relations With Israelis and Palestinians 

• " Israeli - United States Relations," updated November 9, 2004 , Congressional Research Service, pgs. CRS 1- CRS 8 (8 pages) (T Apr 26) (ER)

• " Israel : U.S. Foreign Assistance," updated October 3, 2003 , Congressional Research Service, pgs. CRS 1 - CRS 9 & CRS 12 - 14 (T Apr 26) (ER)

• " Palestinians and Middle East Peace: Issues for the United States ," updated October 10, 2003 , Congressional Research Service, pgs. CRS 2 - CRS 11 (T Apr 26) (ER)  

• Epic Encounters: Culture, Media, and U.S. Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000 , Melani McAlister, (Berkeley : University of California Press, 2001), 165-178, 192-195 (Th Apr 28) (ER)

• " An Empire of Their Own," Melani McAlister, The Nation, September 4, 2004 (Th Apr 28)

M May 2: What Should U.S. Policy Be? 

• " How To Win World War IV," Norman Podhoretz, Commentary, February 2002 (ER)

• "An Exit from Arab Autocracy," Vickie Langohr, Journal of Democracy, July 2002 (ER - accessible only on campus)

T May 3: Wrap-Up 

--------------------------------FINAL: SATURDAY MAY 14 8:30 A.M.-------------------------------