Dept Sem:Israeli ForgnSec Pol

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

What explains Israeli foreign policy? How does Judaism, Zionism, history, geopolitics, war and peace as related to the Arab-Israeli (and Israeli-Palestinian) conflict, and domestic politics have affected the engagement of Israel with the rest of the world? This Department Seminar explores the formation, formulation, evolution, and implementation of Israel’s foreign policy since 1948 to the present, in analytical and historical terms. In the first part of the Seminar, we will examine the roots, history, aims, and domestic sources of Israel’s foreign policy. In the second part, we will assess the foreign relations of Israel with its Middle Eastern neighbors, the United States, Germany, France, the EU, Soviet Union/Russia, China, Japan, the United Nations, the global context, the Global South (including Latin America, Africa, and India), and the Jewish Diaspora. In the third part, we will focus upon the Arab-Israeli conflict, the quest for peace, and the assessment towards the future. In the last two sessions of the course students will present their work in progress (seminar papers’ outlines).