Revolutions in the Middle East

Catalog description

The "Arab Spring" of 2011 that spread rapidly across the region and featured movements for democratization, social justice, and minority rights collapsed into authoritarian military rule, struggles over the role of political Islam, sectarian and civil violence, massive refugee flight and urban destruction, and outside intervention. This course places the 21st century Middle Eastern revolutions and their aftermath in a broader historical perspective. What were the political, economic, religious, social, and geopolitical factors that contributed to the outbreak of revolution throughout the region? In which ways were these revolutions new, and in which ways were they extensions of earlier, unresolved struggles? How can we understand the distinct trajectories of revolution and counter-revolution across the region? We will focus on several country case studies framed against their late 19th and 20th century histories. The class integrates extensive interdisciplinary and multi-media sources, including novels and memoirs, movies and songs, websites and twitter feeds.