Comparative Politics of the Middle East (NS 3330)

This is a survey course putting the Middle East in comparative perspective, using social scientific categories to analyze the Middle East. Students will learn the most important factors influencing the political course of the Middle East today, especially what makes the Middle East seemingly “impervious” to worldwide trends. Topics will include: regime types, their bases and causes, influential political trends such as Arab nationalism, Ba’thism, and political Islam, the role of kinship, religion, and tribe in opposition and regime politics, the regional oil economy and economic crisis, democratic liberalization, and the growth of civil society.