Arab-Israeli Conflict

Catalog description

"The Arab-Israeli conflict has been at the center of regional and international attention for some eight decades, defying repeated attempts at resolution, both military and diplomatic. The course provides an in-depth survey of the historical evolution of the conflict and substance of the various peace negotiations to date, including the reasons for their failure, as a basis for understanding the parties' positions and the central issues dividing them today. This survey then serves as the basis for the primary focus of the course, the potential means of resolving the conflict. Most of the course will be devoted to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, part to Israel and Syria and Lebanon. The issues will be presented in the national security and domestic political contexts of each of the different players. As a contemporary policy oriented course, students will assume the role of senior decision makers from the different parties and draft “policy papers” to their heads of state, elucidating the various issues and recommending means of resolving them. In addition to learning the complexities of the issues, students will also deal with the challenging process of drafting real-world policy papers and recommendations. The course is designed for those with a general interest in the Middle East, especially those interested in national security issues, strategy and decision making, students of comparative politics and future practitioners."