Arab Politics in Transition

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course introduces students to politics in the Arab world. It also examines authoritarian persistence in the region, authoritarian breakdown, and prospects for democratization, including the role of Islam in politics. Students will leave the course with a basic understanding of Arab politics and analytical tools to examine contemporary Arab politics. We survey Arab states from various analytical perspectives. The empirical reach will be region-wide, though there is a particular focus on the authoritarian regimes, which have broken down during the Arab Spring and their prospects for democratic transition and consolidation.