Arab Civil Military Relations

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This class seeks to provide an overview of Arab civil-military relations (CMR) and their implications in state-building, regional political dynamic, and national identities. It will discuss key CMR scholarship theoretical concepts and applies them to different cases, from the most prominent ones (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Mauritania, Sudan, Yemen) to the less politically influential, though critical to the regime survival (Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, GCC states). Comparative CMR analyses with African, Latin American and Asian countries will be used to enhance our understanding of the specific nature of CMR within the Arab context. The course will highlight the reactions and behavior of Arab militaries to the challenges of 2010-11 mass-popular uprisings. It will investigate their role in the post-authoritarian era. It will discuss whether or not they will be prone to endure reform through democratic security governance, which implies substantial transformation of CMR as well as the security sector (including domestic security apparatuses), mainly through oversight mechanisms and legitimate democratic control, among others.