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