IMES 105A 1
SYLLABUS - DRAFT
IMES 105a: War and Revolution in the Middle East
A seminar that considers the impact of wars and revolutions in the shaping of the modern Middle East with a
particular focus on the 1979 Iranian Revolution, the Iraq-Iran war, the Lebanese civil war and the two Gulf wars
of 1991 and 2003. The course assumes no prior requirements.
Professor: Kanan Makiya.
Office:
Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:00-5:00pm
Tel: (781) 736-2967; e-mail: kmakiya@brandeis.edu
Description
This course will combine a lecture and seminar format, meeting twice weekly. It will begin with a general
introduction to the themes of war and revolution as these have presented themselves in the post WWII Middle
Eastern context. Then it will examine in depth the June 1967 Arab-Israeli war and how the legacy of that war
continues to bedevil the contemporary Middle East. The focus will shift to the Iranian revolution of 1979 and the
rise of political Islam with an emphasis on what made the overthrow of the monarchy in Iran a genuine revolution as
opposed to a mere change of regime. Does the experience of the 1979 revolution in Iran shed new light on the
phenomenon of revolution. A brief consideration of the Lebanese civil war of 1975-89, followed by the Iraq-Iran
war of 1980-88, will be followed by a more in-depth look at the 1991 Gulf war and its successor in 2003
accompanied by regime change in Iraq. The course will end with a week devoted to the implications of the current
civil war raging in Syria. The focus of the course is always on the seminal violent turning points that have changed
the lives of millions of men and women in the Middle East.
Requirements
Please note use of laptops and smartphones for any purpose, are discouraged by this
instructor. Exceptions are for disability reasons alone and by prior permission.
(1) Regular class attendance, doing the reading, watching required films, and participation in class. Assigned
reading must be completed before the class in which it is discussed. During the semester, each student is
expected to make at least two 15 minute presentations based on the reading, and lead the class discussion
that follows.
(20% of grade)
(2) Each student is expected to submit eight weekly 500-word commentaries in e-mail form on the reading or
on written class assignments handed out in class. These must engage closely with the week’s reading.
Think of these as your own running commentary on the course material. Keep a copy. At the end of the
semester, all previously submitted commentaries should be collected and grouped and printed in
chronological order. Each commentary must be received no later than midnight on the Sunday night before
our assigned class meeting on Tuesday. That gives me Monday to read through them. They will then form
the basis of class discussion that Tuesday. Always identify yourself, the reading being commented upon,
and the date of the class during which it will be discussed. The commentaries are not individually graded.
But students lose grades by doing them sloppily or not submitting them. There is no point to a late
submission. This IS NOT a requirement that can be compensated for at a later date.
(30% of grade)
(3) Undergraduates will have a midterm exam in October. Precise date to be announced.
(20% 0f grade)
(4) Undergraduate students will have a final Take-Home Exam during the exam period.
(30% of grade)
(5) Graduate students taking this course must write a 20 page (exclusive of Bibliography) carefully worded
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research paper. The topic and reading list for papers need to be approved in advance by the instructor.
Concept, preliminary outline & bibliography of the research paper is due early in November. Final Paper
due in class as hard copy on last day of classes.
(50% of grade)
Films
The 3 films below are part of the course material. They are either on reserve in the library or available online.
Undergraduate students will be expected to see all four films and write “Film Reports” for two of them (one from
each group). A “Film Report” is 1000 words long and describes the political context in which the events of the film
unfold, including all relevant dates. It does not describe the film, nor does it engage with the aesthetics of the work.
The films are:
• Riklis and Lai’s The Syrian Bride, 2006. Set in a village divided in half by the border between Syria and Israel.
• Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers, 1967. A classic on the Algerian war of independence, and the battle between the
French army and the FLN over the Casbah.
• PBS Frontline, Saddam’s Killing Fields, 1992, Reported by K. Makiya.
(10% of final grade)
Attendance Required at Following Three Brandeis Events
• The presentation of the Documentary " ONE ROCK THREE RELIGIONS, and the discussion following it, which
begins at Brandeis University on Thursday, September 3, at 7:00pm. Place to be announced.
• Students must visit the Kniznick Gallery of WSRC, which is exhibiting the work of Scholar and artist Linda Bond.
Her work addresses issues of political and social concern and primarily explores the mediated experience of
wartime. Students are expected to write 500 words or so on the artists’ intent and manner of depicting that intent
following their visit and the Saturday October 31 event entitled “Home Within.” (See below)
• Brandeis is hosting Syrian visual/flim/music artists. They will attend my class Political Cultures of the ME starting
at 2:00 pm on Thursday October 29. IMES students are welcome and strongly encouraged to attend the discussion
and the viewing of clips from their work, and explore issues that are expressed through the art: political issues,
social issues, issues of identity, etc.
• Students are required to attend the live painting/ music collaborative work “Home Within,” a powerful, passionate
and deeply personal artistic response to conflict. The full live performance of the work, and other pieces as well, will
culminate the artists weeklong visit to Brandeis, and take place on, Saturday, Oct. 31. Students are required to
attend and write a 500-word piece centered on the performance.
On The Reading
The reading is either in the bookshop, or on reserve or on LATTE. Some books are available for purchase in the
bookstore. The reading entered under each week is intended for discussion the following week.
Note: If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a
reasonable accommodation made for you, please see the instructor immediately after class.
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Syllabus
DEPENDING ON CLASS PROGRESS, INSTRUCTOR MAY CHANGE READINGS
Week 1: Thursday, August 27 - Introduction
Outline of the idea of the course, its content and the character of the reading. Definitions and fundamental concepts.
Discussion of requirements and course mechanics. Assigning dates for class presentations.
Reading (for Week 2):
• Carl Friedrich, ‘A Note on Revolution,’ in Revolution, edited by C. Friedrich. ON LATTE
• Hannah Arendt, ‘Introduction,’ and ‘The Meaning of Revolution,’ in On Revolution (Penguin), pp.1-58. ON
LATTE
• C. B. Macpherson, ‘Revolution and Ideology in the Late 20th Century,’ in C.J.. Friedrich, ed., Revolution
(Atherton Press, 1967), pp.139-154. ON LATTE
• Fouad Ajami, ‘Demise of the Dictators,' (on The 2011 Arab Revolutions),’ Newsweek, February 14, 2011
• Roger Owen, ‘The Cumulative Impact of Middle Eastern Wars,’ S. Heydemann, ed., pp.325-335. ON
LATTE
• FILM: Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers, 1967
• OPTIONAL: Steven Walt, ‘Revolution and War,’ in World Politics, vol.44, no.3 (April 1992)., p.321-368.
Question: Was the Algerian war against France a revolution? Or was it a war that turned into a revolution? What is
the difference? Discuss.
Week 2: Tuesday, Sept. 1 & Wed Sept. 3 - Definitions & General
Considerations
How are wars and revolutions different from one another? Are they related? Is the Middle East exceptional in
relation to these two phenomena? Discuss Arendt and the Algerian case.
Reading (for Week 3):
• Avi Shlaim, chapter 6, of The Iron Wall (Norton),. ON LATTE
• J. Goldberg, ‘Did Israel Lose the 1967 War,’ NYT Book Review, Nov 18, 2011. ON LATTE
Question for week 3: Contrast the Herzog and the Shlaim interpretations of the causes of the 1967 war
Week 3: Tuesday, Sept. 8 & Thurs Sept. 10 - The 1967 Arab-Israeli War
This week's class will discuss the importance of narrative in describing wars in general and the 1967 war in
particular. We will examine the buildup to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the scale of the Arab defeat. Student
presentations of Shlaim and Herzog. Arab reactions and consequences on state authority and legitimacy.
Reading (for week 4):
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• Fouad Ajami, Introduction through Part 1, The Arab Predicament (Cambridge University Press). pp.1-75.
ON LATTE
• Yezid Sayigh, ‘War as Leveller, War as Midwife: Palestinian Political Institutions, Nationalism, and Society
since 1948,’ in S. Heydemann, pp.200-239. ON LATTE
Question: Discuss the connections between the 1967 war and the rise of the Palestinian National Movement.
NO CLASS ON SEPTEMBER 15.
Week 4: Thursday, September 17 - Aftermath and Consequences of 1967
The rise of the organizations of the PLO. The demise of Arab nationalism. 1967 and the consolidation of
authoritarianism in the Arab world. The Palestinian national movement saw itself as leading a revolution. What are
the different sides of that claim? How did ideas of ‘armed struggle’ change politics? What happens to some of
Arendt’s general claims about the nature of revolution as a consequence of these changes?
Reading (for week 5)
• Samir Kassir, Beirut (University of California Press, 2010). Read Foreword by Robert Fisk on the
writer and his book. Then read Kassir, Part V, ‘The City of Every Danger,’ pp. 439-520. ON LATTE
• Mai Ghoussoub, Leaving Beirut (Saqi Books).
• Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Civil Wars. ON LATTE. Skim through book.
Question: Think about the transforming power of wars to transform individuals, identities, communities, nationstates, whole regions.
Week 5: Tuesday, Sept. 22 & Thurs Sept. 24 - The 1975-89 Lebanese Civil
War
We will discuss the nature of civil war and the forms of violence to which it gave rise in the case of the 13 year
long Lebanese civil war. Civil war versus organized warfare. The personal and the impersonal in this kind f
war.
No Classes on Feb 22 & 25
Reading (for week 6):
• Start Roy Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet. Finish through chapter 6
Question: Contrast the two systems of education described by Mottahedeh. Write about their relevance to what
happened in Iran in 1979. Discuss education and revolution.
Week 6: Tuesday, Sept. 29 & Thurs Oct. 1 - The 1979 Islamic Revolution in
Iran
Concept (3 pages) plus preliminary outline & annotated bibliography of final paper due from all graduate students
This week we discuss change through violence versus revolutionary change. We will discuss the cultural and
political origins of the 1979 revolution in Iran. Who were the agents of that revolution? How were they formed?
What was the old system of values symbolized by the Shah’s regime that were being undermined by them?
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Reading (for week 7):
• Finish Roy Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet (whole book)
• Paul Salem, 'The Rise and fall of Secularism in the Arab World,' Middle East Policy, vol. iv, no. 3, March
1996, pp. 147-160. ON LATTE.
Question for week 7: Contrast the secular realm of Iranian opposition politics with the Islamic one. And what
happens to them by the late 1970s. What is Paul Salem saying in your own words?
Week 7: Tuesday, Oct 6 & Thurs Oct 8 - Islamic Revolution Concluded
How did the Iranian revolution change the language and politics of the whole Middle East? Consider the rise of
political Islam elsewhere in the Middle East and its roots in the authenticity of the Iranian revolutionary experience.
The rise of Saddam Hussein and the phenomenon of Iraqi Ba’thism.
Undergraduate Midterm During Week 7
Reading (for week 8):
• Shaul Bakhash, “The Troubled Relationship: Iran and Iraq, 1930-80,” in Lawrence C. Potter and Gary G.
Sick, eds., Iran, Iraq and the Legacies of War (New York: PalgraveMacmillan, 2004), pp. 11-28. ON
LATTE.
• Dilip Hiro, “The Iran-Iraq War,” in Hooshang Amirahmadi and Nader Entessar, eds., Iran and the Arab
World (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993). ON LATTE
• Kanan Makiya,‘The Final Catastrophe,’ Republic of Fear (UC Press, 1989), pp.258-290. ON LATTE
Commentary Question for week 8: Make a list of each author's account of the causes for the outbreak and
continuation of the Iraq-Iran war. End with an argument for which are, from your point of view, the most persuasive.
Week 8: Tuesday, Oct 13 & Thurs Oct 15 - The Iraq Iran War
From revolution to war: discussion of the connections between the successful revolutionary overthrow of the Shah’s
regime in 1979 and the outbreak of an eight-year-long war which left a legacy of one million casualties. What kind
of a war was this? What were its long term consequences?
Reading (for week 9):
• Kanan Makiya, Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World. Read the Introduction
and Part One, ‘Cruelty.’
• FILM: PBS Frontline, Saddam’s Killing Fields, 1992, Reported by K. Makiya.
Week 9: Tuesday, Oct 20 & Thurs Oct 22 - The Aftermath of War
The Iraq-Iran war is unlike all previous wars in the Middle East. We will discuss if, how and why that proposition
holds. The Anfal: what it is and how it began.
Reading (for week 10):
• Kanan Makiya, Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World. Read ‘Whither Iraq?’ and
Part Two, ‘Silence.’
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• Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline, Saqi Books, London. Edited by Malu Halasa, Zaher
Omareen and Nawara Mahfoud. Skim through whole book as preparation for the visit of the Syrian artists
visiting Brandeis during week 10.
Question for week 10: Is the Iraq-Iran war a manifestation of the "fall of secularism" as argued by Paul Salem?
Week 10: Tuesday, Oct 27 & Thurs Oct 29 - From War to War
We will discuss the roots of the 1991 Gulf war in the many wars of the 1980s. We will also discuss the reaction of
Arab intellectuals to the Iraqi regime’s occupation of Kuwait and subsequent defeat. How was the 1991 intifada or
uprising in Iraq a departure from the norms of post 1967 Arab politics? Are these wars related to the decline of
secularism?
This week my class, Political Cultures of the ME, will host Syrian visual/flim/music artists visiting Brandeis. The
class conversation will revolve around art and the Syrian civil war. Students taking IMES 105a are welcome to
attend my Political Cultures class (meeting at 2pm this Thursday, Oct 29) and participate in the discussion. Do the
arts have a role in response to violence? Students are required to attend the live painting/ music collaborative work
“Home Within,” a powerful, passionate and deeply personal artistic response to conflict. The full live performance
of the work, and other pieces as well, will culminate their weeklong visit to Brandeis, and take place on, Sat, Oct.
31. Students are required to attend this event and write a commentary centered on the performance. Class visits will
show clips from the work, and explore issues that are expressed through the art: political issues, social issues, issues
of identity, etc.
Reading (for week 11).
• Dexter Filkins, The Forever War (Knopf, 2008), Prologue, pp.-12, and skim through Part Two, pp. 71-238.
Read a section of your choice carefully and write your weekly commentary on it.
• Students must visit the Kniznick Gallery of WSRC before class, which is exhibiting the work of Scholar
and artist Linda Bond. Her work addresses issues of political and social concern and primarily explores the
mediated experience of wartime. Students are expected to write 300 words or so on the artists’ intent and
manner of depicting that intent.
Week 11: Tuesday, Nov 3 & Thurs Nov 5 - Narratives of War & Revolution
The 1991 Gulf war is often been called the "unfinished war." We will critically examine that statement, considering
both the sense in which it is true and not true. What are the political implications, if any, of that argument. What
does good war reporting, for example in the writing of Filkins on the 2003 war that overthrew Saddam Hussein, tell
us about all wars?
Undergraduate Students: A 500 word commentary on the live painting/ music collaborative work named “Home
Within,” is due.
Graduate Students: Progress Reports on papers due, including a written section of not less that 5 pages, required.
Revised concept of final paper, if applicable, also due.
Reading (for week 12).
• Rodenstock, ‘Volcano of Rage,’ NYRB. ON LATTE
• MERIP Reports, ‘The 18 Days of Tahrir.’ ON LATTE
• Graeme Wood, ‘What ISIS Really Wants,’ The Atlantic Monthly, Feb 17, 2015. ON LATTE
Week 12: Tues Nov 10 & Thurs Nov 12- The Arab Spring of 2011
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We will look at the Arab Spring and its aftermath from a variety of different perspectives, and try to characterize it
by comparison with the wars of national liberation of the past, and the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Reading (for week 13).
• ISS, Arab Futures Report 22, February 2015. Read whole report. ON LATTE
Week 13: Tues Nov 17 & Thurs Nov 19 – The New Landscape of the ME
All commentaries must have been submitted by this date. Students having problems with their papers should
arrange individual meetings with instructor to discuss and review their papers.
No Reading for Week 14. Students are expected to review course material as a whole and come to class on
November 24 with questions addressed to the instructor based on course. Every student must pose at least
one well thought out questions in written form.
Week 14: Tues Nov 24– Course Review Week
NO CLASSES THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26
Week 14: Tues Dec 1 and Thurs Dec 3–Final Paper Presentations
Date of Take-Home Final Exam is set and nature of exam discussed. Graduate students to continue presenting their
Final Papers today.
Week 15: Tues Dec 8 – The Future of War & Rev in the ME Considered
FINAL GRADUATE STUDENTS PAPERS DUE TODAY. NO EXCEPTIONS.