Course syllabus: Politics of the Middle East
POLS 4375/5375
Tuesday 6:00-8:30 pm
Classroom: RH 215
Dr. Jacek Lubecki
Office: Stabler Hall, 603E
Office Telephone: (501) 683-7029
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm (and by appointment)
E-mail: jxlubecki@ualr.edu
Class objectives:
The course is an upper-level introduction to the politics of the Middle East indented for Political Science advanced majors,
Middle Eastern Studies minors, and advanced students with a good social sciences background, and serious pre-existing
interest in the Middle East. The course will be probably too difficult for students who do not meet the above conditions.
The reading schedule is heavy, and
We will integrate empirical overview of the region with an examination of relevant theoretical and conceptual issues. As
we proceed with our investigation, your conceptual skills should grow and find their final embodiment in a research
project on the topic of your choice. It is hoped that you will come away with a basic understanding of political dynamics of
the Middle East, a conceptual apparatus necessary for further analysis of the region, and an in-depth knowledge of an issue
of special interest to you.
Graduate students taking the course will read additional class readings and will be expected to show graduate-level
competence in their exams, class essays and the final research projects. We will also have weekly or bi-weekly seminarstyle meetings and discussions about the readings for graduate students, but undergraduate students will be also welcome
to these meetings on volunteer basis.
Course Description:
The Middle East (that for our purposes includes: North Africa, Asia Minor, countries of the Levant, Arabian Peninsula,
and Persian Gulf) has been the area of one of the world’s most captivating political dramas since the breakup the Ottoman
Empire (1918-1922). Ee will cover the entire region and focus on certain key issues and concepts: natural resources, state
power, economic development, Arab nationalism, secularism, democracy and Islamic revival. We will also discuss the
U.S. (Western) policies in the region, but our focus will be Middle East’s internal and comparative politics.
The course will begin with an overview of political economy of the region. We will study how factors of economic growth
and structure, demography, natural resources, and economic development policies pursued by Middle Eastern states since
independence, have shaped the region, and how economic factors determine the regional politics. Alan Richards and John
Waterbury’s book A Political Economy of the Middle East (third edition, 2008, Westview) will be our guide for this part of
the class.
Second, we will examine of the region with an emphasis on the experience of particular countries and their unique
histories and cultures. Discussion of country cases will allow us to examine in-depth different variants of societies and
political regimes/institutions in the region. We will speculate about the future of existing regimes as they face
socioeconomic pressures, domestic opposition, and global challenges. David E Long, Bernard Reich, and Mark
Gasiorowski, ed., The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa (fifth edition Westview, 2007) will be
our guide in this part of the class.
In the third part of the class we will focus on the interaction of politics and religion in the region focusing on case studies
of Iran, Egypt, Israel, and Turkey. Robert D. Lee’s Religion and Politics in the Middle East (2010 Westview Press) will be
our reading in this part of the class.
Finally, you will take over the class and presents the results of your own research. This, and the final reflection discussion
and essays will cap our class experience.
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Texts :
There are three required textbooks available at UALR bookstore:
Alan Richards and John Waterbury, A Political Economy of the Middle East (third edition, 2008, Westview) (Richards)
David E Long, Bernard Reich, and Mark Gasiorowski, ed., The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North
Africa (fifth edition, Westview, 2007) (Long)
Robert D. Lee’s Religion and Politics in the Middle East (first edition, 2010, Westview Press) (Lee)
Additional suggested readings for graduate students (the final decision will be based on consultation with them):
Oliver Roy, The Failure of Political Islam, Harvard University Press, 1996
There will also be additional readings –mostly vailable online (on Blackboard).
Evaluation and grade:
Your presence and preparation for our meetings is absolutely crucial for the class. Attendance will be taken. After one
unjustified absences, your grade will drop 5 percent for each unjustified absence. An excused absence is only an absence
having a doctor's note or is a university-sanctioned absence. If, through our discussions or quizzes, I detect lack of
preparation for the class, 5 percent of your grade will be taken off. In other words, come to the class prepared. The
grading scale for the final grade is given below:
A = 90-100%
B = 89-80%
C = 79-70%
D = 69-60%
The percentage points for detailed grades are as follows:
A = 93-100%
A- = 90-92%
B+= 87-89%
B = 83-86%
B- = 80-82%
C+ = 77-79%
C = 73-76%
C- = 70-72%
D+ = 67-69%
D = 63-66%
D- = 60-62%
F = 0-59%
If you simply meet the requirements of the course, that is, do the projects and readings and master the basic concepts; you
should expect the grade of C. In order to get a B you need to get beyond what is simply required. An A student’s work
should be truly outstanding.
I assume little previous knowledge of the topic from you but expect hard work during the course. I am available during my
office hours and by appointment. If you need to schedule an appointment, e-mail me or call me.
Persistent tardiness in coming to class will not be tolerated – especially since we will start every class with a reading quiz.
If I student chronically comes significantly late to the class, the class grade will be dropped by at least one letter grade.
Conduct of the course:
The course is designed to maximize your active participation. We will discuss the content of our readings using provided
discussion questions, both in class and online, using Blackboard. As it comes to online discussion, I expect at least two
substantial, informed online posts from each of you in order to give you full credit for the discussion.
I will also make sure that you are prepared for our class discussion through reading quizzes that will be distributed at the
beginning of each class period.
Preparation for and active participation in the class (reading quizzes and discussion) will account for 30 percent of your
grade.
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There will also be two reflection essays and a final reflection essay, which would test your ability to think about the
region in sophisticated terms. Each of this will be worth 10 percent of the grade, for the total of 30 percent of the grade.
Together, the essays and the mid-term will account for 30 percent of the grade.
In order to put our knowledge of particular countries in the region into action, we will simulate the proceeding of the Arab
League, where you will be asked to represent (individually, or as pairs) countries of the Arab League covered by our
textbook. Your preparation (resolution and position paper) will be worth 10 percent of the grade. For more information
about the topics and rules of the procedure that we will follow, please check out the national Model Arab League Website
at http://www.ncusar.org/modelarableague/
Finally, you will write and present your research paper. This will be worth 30 percent of the grade – 10 for the presentation
(which will be graded by your classmates) and 20 percent for the paper. Drafts of the paper are required, and their
absence will result in lowering the grade for the paper by one letter grade. Likewise, I will require your research topics,
and preliminary bibliographies in advance. The deadlines are given in the course schedule.
Discussion questions posts and reading quizzes
30%
3 reflection essays (including the final essay)
30% (10 points each)
Research project
30% (10% for the presentation, 20% final product)
Model Arab League participation and preparation
10%
Countries to be represented at the Arab League: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UEA, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Iraq,
Morocco, Algeria, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Morocco, Libya (17 countries altogether)
Disability Support Services
It is the policy of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to create inclusive learning environments.
If there are aspects of the instruction or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion or to
accurate assessment of achievement–such as time-limited exams, inaccessible web content, or the use of noncaptioned videos–please notify the instructor as soon as possible. Students are also welcome to contact the
Disability Resource Center, telephone 501-569-3143 (v/tty). For more information, visit the DRC website at
http://ualr.edu/disability/.
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Date
01-12
Theme/Topic
Introduction
2
01-19
3
01-26
Natural resources, economic
growth, demographic
conditions, labor markets,
health and human capital
(education)
Food and agriculture, stateled development, and its
crisis
CLASS SCHEDULE
Readings
Richards, chapters 3-5
pp. 43-143
Assignment/Activity/Concepts
Overview of the course
Viewing of “Death in Teheran”
Discussion
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
Richards, chapters 6-8
pp. 144-227
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
3
4
02-02
Market-reforms and
remaking of the Middle East.
Crisis of urbanization. Forms
of regimes
Current crisis and the future
Conclusion
Discussion of the first part
of the class
Regimes and political
cultures in the Middle East
5
02-09
6
02-16
7
02-23
Arab North African
republics. Varieties and
semi-autoritarianism, and of
the Islamic challenge
8
03-02
Democracy and
authoritarianism in
fragmented states. Syria,
Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon.
9
03-09
Monarchies. Oil and Non-oil
Richards, chapters 9-11
pp. 228-324
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
Richards, chapters 12-16
pp. 325-384
Thomas Friedman, From
Beirut to Jerusalem, ch.
4”Hama Rules” pp. 77-105
and
Marina Ottaway, Democracy
Challenged, pp. 3-50 (posted
on the blackboard)
Long, ch. 13 Egypt (pp. 403431), ch. 16. Algeria (487516) ch. 17 Tunisia (516548) and, ch. 14, Libya (432455)
Long, ch. 5, Iraq (114-152),
7 Yemen (1997-226), ch. 8
Lebanon (226-258) and ch. 9
Syria (249-291)
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
First reflection essays are due
Long, ch.. 4 Saudi Arabia,
(pp. 83-114), ch. 6, Eastern
Arabian States pp. 153-196,
ch. 10, Jordan 292-314, and
ch. 15, Morocco, 456-486
Long ch. 2, Turkey (pp. 1244), ch. 3 Iran (44-82), ch.
11 Israel (315-367), and ch.
12 Palestinians (368-402)
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
Deadline for research paper topics
A question sheet and short answers/posts
Reading quiz
Discussion
Deadline for research paper
bibliographies
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
10 03-16
Non-Arab states and the
Palestinians
Preparation for the Model
Arab League
11 03-30
Model Arab League
Religion and Politics –
conceptual framework
Lee, ch. 1 and 2, pp. 1-75
Second reflection essay due
and resolutions/position statements for
the Arab League
11 04-06
Religion and politics. Egypt,
and Israel,
Religion and Politics,
Turkey, Iran, and conclusion
Presentations (15 minutes
each))
Lee, ch. 3 and 4, pp. 81-162
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
Presentations of research papers and
discussion
First version of research papers due
Presentation of research papers and
discussion
Final essays and research papers are
due
12 04-13
13 04-20
14 04-27
15 05-04
Presentations (15 minutes
each)
Presentation (if remainining)
Final discussion
Lee, ch. 5-7, pp. 167-292
A question sheet and short answers/posts,
reading quiz – discussion
4