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Organization, Regulations, and Courses 2024-25


GOVT 20.08 America and the Middle East

The United States has played a major role in shaping the political, economic and cultural development of the Middle East. Oil, global security, Israel’s survival, and promotion of democracy, all have drawn the US into the complex politics of the Middle East since the 1920s. This course introduces students to various aspects of this role and the reactions it triggered. It covers the role played by American missionaries and travelers/immigrants around the turn of the 20th century. It analyzes the transformative impact of the discovery of Oil, the establishment of the state of Israel, the Cold War, Turkey’s integration into NATO and the US attempts to establish a security regime for the Middle East. It also examines how Americans viewed the Middle East and their role in its life. In addition, the course then takes the students in a tour d’horizon of US role in Middle East politics: its involvement in the Arab-Israeli Peace Process, its responses to Radical Islamism and 9/11, the invasion of Iraq and its consequences, the uneasy relationship with a changing Turkey, and its policy of “democracy promotion”. It discusses the doctrines defining US role in the region since Truman until Obama’s “disengagement”. Combining academic books with novels and movies, this course should give students a rounded view of the role and lasting impact of the United States in one of the world’s most turbulent regions.

Instructor

Fishere

Cross Listed Courses

MES 12.04

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:INT or SOC; WCult:NW

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.