Fall 2011
Monday, 5:10-7:00 pm
Office Hours: by appointment
Nathan Brown
1957 E Street, Suite 512
(202) 994-2123 nbrown@gwu.edu
This course will concentrate on three aspects of the comparative politics of the Middle East:
Islam and politics; regime type and change; and ideology. These aspects will be woven together rather than addressed as separate topics.
There are three requirements for the course:

Regular attendance in class;

Completion of the assigned reading by the date indicated; and

Completion of eight short papers (no more than three pages in length) critically evaluating the reading for the week. I have indicated discussion questions that may serve as guides for those students writing the paper. Papers are to be submitted by e-mail 10 am the day of class. Late submissions will be penalized one half grade if submitted between 10 am and class time and one full grade if submitted after class begins.
 Please note that the readings and questions for November 14 will be announced later. I will try to develop readings that are current on political developments in the Arab world.
 Please note that I will NOT accept papers for November 28.
Grades will be calculated on the basis of the short papers. Failure to attend class regularly or to complete the assigned readings will be penalized.
:
As a result of completing this course, students will be able to:

Analyze political economy, political regimes, and political ideology in the modern Middle
East; and

Assess academic writings by political scientists on these subjects.
Page 1 of 5

August 29 Introductory meeting
September 12 Understanding Authoritarianism
Readings: (All links on Blackboard)

Comparative Politics, special issue, January 2004 on authoritarianism in the Middle East
(articles by Posusney, Lust-Okar, Bellin, Wickham, Angrist, Langhor)

Steven Hydemann “Upgrading Authoritarianism”
Questions:
 Do the authors in this collection mistake description for explanation?

Are culture and religion given too little attention?
 In light of Arab spring, did the authors miss the boat?
September 19
Readings:
Authoritarianism and Political Economy
Eva Bellin, Stalled Democracy
Questions:
 If Arab states were to democratize, would they have to go back to the 1960s and start over?
 Is Tunisia typical for the Arab world?
 Would Bellin have been surprised by the Tunisian Revolution?
September 26 Authoritarianism in the Arabian Peninsula
Readings:

Al-Rashid, Contesting the Saudi State

International Crisis Group, “Can Saudi Arabia Reform Itself?” (link on Blackboard)

Michael Herb, “A Nation of Bureaucrats, “International Journal of Middle East Studies,"
41, no. 3 (August 2009), 375-395 (on Blackboard)
Questions:

Does oil make a difference for governance?

Does authoritarianism work differently in the Arabian peninsula?

What are the prospects for either liberalization or democratization in the Arabian peninsula?
Page 2 of 5

October 3: Islam and Politics: Sunni Approaches
Readings:
 Sayyid Qutb, Milestones, posted on Blackboard. You need to read only the work itself
(in this edition, pp. 23-177)
 Nathan J. Brown and Clark Lombardi, “The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt on
Islamic Law, Veiling and Civil Rights: An Annotated Translation of Supreme
Constitutional Court of Egypt Case No. 8 of Judicial Year 17,” American University
International Law Review, 2006, Vol. 21 Issue 3, pp. 437-460 (posted on Blackboard)
Questions:
 Qutb’s argument presents itself as timeless. But why did it only appear in the recent past?
 To whom is Qutb’s argument most likely to appeal?

Does the view of the Constitutional Court on the Islamic shari`a differ with that of Qutb in any fundamental way?
October 10 Islamism in Egypt
Readings:

Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, Mobilizing Islam

Nathan J. Brown, Amr Hamzawy, and Marina Ottaway, “Islamist Movements and the
Democratic Process in the Arab World: Exploring the Grey Zones,” Carnegie Paper, 2006
(Blackboard)
Questions:

Are Islamists movements products of the modern world or reactions against it?

Is the organization of Islamist movements related to their ideologies?

How are the organizations of Islamist movements likely to be positioned for postauthoritarian politics?
October 17 Islam and Politics: Shi`i Approaches
Readings:
 Ayatollah Khomeini, Islamic Government (Blackboard)
 Look over the Q and A section on www.sistani.org (using the search function if necessary) to find instructions to followers on various topics.
Questions:
 Is Khomeini simply giving Shi`i form to Qutb’s arguments?
 Is Shi`ism inherently revolutionary?
 Does Sistani’s view of the role of the jurist differ from that of Khomeini?
Page 3 of 5

October 24 Radical Shi`ism in Iran
Readings
 Arjomand, After Khomeini
 United States Institute of Peace, “Iran Primer,” link on Blackboard. R ead selections from
"Politics"(8 entries), "Opposition" (4 entries), and "Military" (4 entries) on the left hand of the page.
Questions

Is wilayat al-faqih possible in practice?
 Is the Islamic revolution sustainable?
October 31 Democracy
Readings: Articles by Fish, Donno and Russett, Diamond, Yom, Ross, Jamal and Tessler, and
Cifty (Blackboard)
Questions:
 Is the Arab world simply hostile territory for democracy?
 Is explaining the absence of democracy an unpromising approach?
November 7 Egypt
Readings: Articles by Brownlee, Demmelhuber, El-Mahdi, ICG, and Kamrava (Blackboard)
Questions:
 What are the prospects for change in Egypt? And for specifically democratic change?

In the 1980s and 1990s, conventional wisdom was that most of Egyptian politics could be reduced to economics. Over the past decade, attention has shifted to political reform. By shifting focus in this way, are analysts missing the boat?
November 14
Readings: tba
Questions: tba
Arab Spring
November 21
Reading:
Nationalism
Nadav Shelef, Evolving Nationalism
Questions:

Is Shelef persuasive in explaining ideological change?

How transferrable is Shelef’s analysis of ideological change to the Arab world?
Page 4 of 5

November 28
Reading:
Islamist Movements
Nathan J. Brown, Participation Not Domination (Blackboard)
No paper this week
December 5 Political Economy
Reading: Alan Richards and John Waterbury, Political Economy of the Middle East
Questions:
 What explains the poor economic performance of Middle Eastern states in recent years?
 Is economic liberalization impossible in the Middle East?
Page 5 of 5