The Neo-Imperial Middle East

Catalog description

This course begins with the withdrawal of the European empires from the Middle East in the wake of World War II and the ascendance of the United States (and to a lesser extent the Soviet Union) in the region. We will follow these superpowers' attempts to build and control spheres of influence in the Middle East throughout the 20th Century and continue on to an examination of the Arab Spring as a response to decades of American-imposed neoliberal policies. The focus will be on two themes: first, what techniques did the US and USSR use to project power in the Middle East, and what (if anything) distinguished them from the practices of European imperialism? Second, how did local actors navigate this environment, either by contesting American/Soviet power or by using it to their advantage?