Modern Middle East Roots: 1492 to the Present

A robust introduction to Middle East history from early-modern to contemporary times. We begin in Reconquista Spain with the expulsion of Iberia’s longstanding Muslim and Jewish populations, before journeying to the eastern Mediterranean at the Ottoman Empire’s zenith. In the “long” 19th-20th centuries, we explore modern tensions shaping this amorphous but pivotal region, including: colonialism, nationalism, and Islamism; water, fossil fuels, and information infrastructures; constitutionalism, authoritarianism, and “street” politics; and interventions by the US, USSR/Russia, and local powers. Emphasizing socioeconomic, legal, and environmental history perspectives, our goal is to unearth the roots of conflict and other conditions shaping today’s “Mideast.”