Topic: The Arab Spring

Catalog description

In the Spring of 2011, a chain-reaction of popular upheavals shook the countries of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, causing authoritarian leaders in Tunisia and Egypt to step down. Other countries throughout the region experienced massive protests as well, producing diverse outcomes, ranging from the NATO intervention in Libya, to timid reforms in Morocco and Saudi Arabia. This course will explore the cultural, geopolitical, and socioeconomic forces that set the stage for the so-called Arab Spring, in the light of both recent history as well as ongoing events in this world-changing regional drama.