Middle Eastern Politics

Catalog description

The Middle East and North African (MENA) region has experienced decades of dictatorships, civil war, and underdevelopment; yet at the same time, this region has seen some of the world’s largest wealth and prosperity. This course will examine the potential explanations of these themes and of various factors that help students better understand and critically analyze the MENA region. These themes include the development of the state and stability of authoritarian regimes, the role of religion and secularism in politics, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, terrorism and war, oil, and popular movements to challenge the state of affairs.