This course is designed to introduce students to the international relations of the states of the Middle East during the past one hundred years. Although the course will develop along a chronological path from World War I to the present, special emphasis will be placed on analytical approaches to the understanding of such issues as changes in the regional balance of power, causes of conflict and war, methods of conflict resolution, the role of outside powers and domestic politics in the determination of regional outcomes, the part played by economics and technology in inter-state relations, and the particular importance of oil.
We will focus briefly on the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of the modern state system, paying attention to the colonial period of rule and the rise of nationalism. If this is your first course on the modern Middle East, you may need to do extra background reading to catch up. Most of the course will be devoted to the Arab-Israeli conflict, inter-Arab relations, politics in the Gulf region, including the Iranian revolution, the Iran-Iraq war, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, and the current crises in the region - especially the situation in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The policies of the United States and other outside powers toward the Middle East will also be studied.

No prerequisites, but preference given to third and fourth year majors in Foreign Affairs and Middle East studies