Comparative Politics of the Middle East

POLS 3408 Dr. Nadine Sika

Fall 2016

MT 11:30- 12:45 Class venue: C145

Email: [email protected] Office: HUSS 2008, Extension 1953

Office Hours: Monday: 10:00-11:00; Thursday: 1:00– 2:30 p.m or by appointment

Course Description

This course aims to provide students with an understanding of contemporary politics of the Middle East. The course seeks to address and answer major questions concerning state-society relations in the region. What is the historical origin shaping the socio-political and economic structures of the region? What are the major trends that shape politics in the region? What are the origins of the Arab Israeli conflict, and how far does it affect Arab politics today? What is the role of Political Islam in shaping politics of the Arab world? How does the political economy in the region affect the dynamics of authoritarianism and regime change? How do Arab states treat the problem of ethnic and religious minorities? Through addressing these questions, the course seeks to introduce students to the most important issues shaping the politics of the Arab world today.

Grading

Attendance and Participation 15% 2 Midterm Examinations 25% (each)

In Class Presentation 10% Country Report 25%

1 Midterm Dates

Midterm 1: October 20 Midterm 2: November 21

Letter Percentage Letter Percentage Letter Percentage Grade Grade Grade A 93+ B- 80-82 D+ 67-69 A- 90-92 C+ 77-79 D 60-66 B+ 87-89 C 73-76 F Below 60 B 83-86 C- 70-72

Please refer to the University academic integrity policy concerning academic dishonesty, which includes, but is not limited to: Plagiarism; receipt of information during an examination; use of unauthorized material during an examination; transferal of unauthorized information to another student; and submission of the same paper or substantially the same paper for two different courses. http://www.aucegypt.edu/resources/acadintegrity Readings All Readings will be posted on Blackboard

Attendance and Participation 15% Students are expected to actively participate in class through reading the material before class. More than six absences result in an “F”. Midterm Examinations 25% each The exams will be composed of short essays and one large essay question. You are requested to have be very analytical in your essay questions In-Class Presentation 10% Each student is expected to be part of a group of three (or 4 depending on class size), who conduct a joint 30-minute presentation on a Middle Eastern country, covering three of the major themes which we discuss during the first half of the semester. Country Report 25% A 10 page report (12 Times New Roman/double spaced) about the country presented in class should be handed in to the professor on the day of your presentation.

2 Course Outline Week 1 September 1 Introduction to the course

Week 2 September 5 – 8 (September 5 Class cancelled) The Emergence of the Modern Middle East Roger Owen, State Power and Politics (London: Routledge, 1992), chapter 1 “The End of Empires: The emergence of the modern Middle East.” Roger Owen, The Rise and Fall of Arab Dictators (Boston: Harvard University Press, 2013), chapter 1 “the Search for Sovereignty in an insecure World.”

Week 3 September 12 – 15 ( September 15 Eid Adha Vacation) State Building in Arab Republics Owen, State Power and Politics Chapter 2 “The growth of state power in the Arab world: The single party regimes” Owen, Arab Presidents for Life Chapter 4 “Centralized State Systems”

Week 4 September 19-22 State Building in Arab Monarchies Owen, State Power and Politics Chapter 3 “The growth of state power in the Arab world under family rule” Anderson, Lisa. “Absolutism and the Resilience of Monarchy in the Middle East.” Political Science Quarterly. Spring 1991. Lucas, Russel. “Monarchical Authoritarianism.” International Journal of Middle East Studies 36 (2004): 103-119.

Week 5 September 26 – 29

3 State Building in Turkey, Iran and Israel Owen, State Power and Politics chapter 5 “State and politics in Israel, Iran and Turkey” Mehran Kamrava, Political History of the Modern Middle East chapter 5 “The Iranian Revolution”

Week 6 October 3 – 6 (Holiday Islamic New Year and Armed forces day)

Week 7 October 10 - 13 Political Economy Richards et.al. A political Economy of the Middle East 3rd ed. (Westview Press, 2013), pp. 228-263. Springborg “The precarious Economies of the Arab Springs” Survival 53 (December 2011), 85-104.

Week 8 October 17 – 20 Midterm 1 (October 20) Political Islam Quinn Mecham, “Islamist Movements,” in Marc Lynch ed, The Arab Uprisings Explained,” (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014). Assaad Ghanem and Mohanad Mustafa (2014). “Explaining Political Islam,” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 41 (4), pp. 335-354.

Week 9 October 24 - 27 Political Islam and Sectarianism Camille Tawil, “Al-Qaeda in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia: Jihadists and Franchises,” in Khaled Horoub Political Islam (London: Saqi, 2012), pp. 363 – 392. Danial Byman, “Sectarianism Afflicts the New Middle East,” Survivial 56, no. 1 (2014), pp. 79-100 Julie Peteet, “Question: How Useful Has the Concept of Sectarianism been for understanding the Hisotry, Society and Politics in the Middle East?” International Journal of Middle East Studies 40, no. 4 (2008), pp. 550-552

Week 10 October 31 - November 3

4 Civil Society Al-Sayyid, Mustapha. “The Concept of Civil Society in the Arab World.” In Rex Brynen, Bahgat Korany and Paul Noble eds. Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World. Vol. 1. Theoretical Perspectives. Lynne Rienner, 1995: 131-147. Eberhard Kienle, “Civil Society in the Middle East,” in Oxford Handbook of Civil Society Week 11 November 7 – 10 Regional and Civil Wars in the Region Mehran Kamrava, Political History of the Modern Middle East Chapter 7 “The Palestinian Israeli Conflict” POMEPS studies, “The Political Science of Syria’s War,” pp. 8-18; 26-30; 54-65.

Week 12 November 14 – 17 Authoritarianism and the Arab Spring Albrecht and Schlumberger, “Waiting for Godot: Regime Change without Democratization in the Middle East,” International Political Science Review vol. 25, no. 4 (2004), pp. 371-392. Robert Springborg, “Arab Militaries,” in Marc Lynch ed. The Arab Uprisings Explained Joe Stork, “Three Decades of Human Rights Activism in the Middle East and North Africa: An Ambiguous Balance Sheet,” in Joel Beinin and Frederic Vairel, Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East and North Africa (Stanfod: Stanford Univrsity Press, 2013).

Week 13 November 21 – 24 (Thanksgiving holiday November 24) Midterm Examination 2 (November 21)

Week 14 November 28 – December 1 Student Presentations Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya Week 15 December 5 - 8 Student Presentations Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Lebanon

5 Week 16 December 12 – 15 ( El Mawled el Nabawi Holiday) Student Presentations

Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Bahrain and Turkey