MES 301L • INTRO M EAST: ADJ/CHG MOD TIME
3:30 PM-5:00 PM
A survey of the ME historical geography; The Ottoman Empire administrative borders; The main ridges, rivers, lakes and historical routes. The ethnic composition and demographic growth since the 19th century; The post World War I borders of the new mandated territories and later states, and the changes of borders since the peace treaty with Turkey. The creation of the modern Middle East: The Ottoman Empire and the Arabs in the 19th century; The beginnings of modernization; The emergence of an Arab nationalism; The First World War in the Middle East; The post-war new order; From mandates to independence. Middle Eastern Politics: Monarchies and republics; One-party and multi-parties states; Pan-Arabism, Arabism and state particularism; unions and separations; Inter-Arab politics. The non-Arab states in the Middle East. The Middle East and the West: Colonial competition and cooperation in the Middle East; The role of oil; The Cold War; The Arab-Jewish conflict; The Gulf wars and the Israeli-Palestinian "peace" process.
Albert Hourani, History of the Arabs; William Cleveland, A History of the Modern Middle East, Westview, Boulder 2004; Bernard Lewis, The Multiple Identities of the Middle East, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1998; Benny Morris, Righteous Victims, Knopf, New York 1998