Comparative Politics and International Relations of the Middle East
Surveys both classic and cutting-edge work on the politics of the Middle East, broadly defined. Topics include the causes and consequences of political and economic development, authoritarianism and democratization, the influence of social movements, the role of women in Middle Eastern polities, regional inter-state relations, Islamism, terrorism, colonialism and foreign occupation, state-building, resistance and rebellion, and the Arab uprisings.
Spring 2017
This course surveys both classic and cutting-edge work on the politics of the Middle East, broadly defined. Topics include the causes and consequences of political and economic development, authoritarianism and democratization, the influence of social movements, the role of women in Middle Eastern politics, regional inter-state relations, Islamism, terrorism, colonialism and foreign occupation, state-building, resistance and rebellion, and the Arab uprisings.
Readings
- Required readings:
- More resources:
- ———. “The First Intifada, 2000.” Chapter 6 in Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement. Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781107632493.
- ———. “Complicating Compliance.” Chapter 5 in Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria . University of Chicago Press, 2015. ISBN: 9780226333373.
- Ahmed, Leila. “The 1980s: Exploring Women’s Motivations.” Chapter 5 in A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence, from the Middle East to America . Yale University Press, 2011. ISBN: 9780300181432.
- Rubin, Jared. “Printing and the Reformation.” Chapter 6 in Rulers, Religion, and Riches: Why the West Got Rich and the Middle East Did Not . Cambridge University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9781108400053.
- ———. “The Politics of Infrastructure Provision.” Chapter 4 in Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt . Cambridge University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781107617018.
- ———.“Winning in the ‘Well-Run Casino’.” Chapter 4 in Counting Islam: Religion, Class, and Elections in Egypt. Cambridge University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780521279116.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Fall) Not offered regularly; consult department 3-0-9 units
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Spring 2017
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.