Fall 2012, University of California, Berkeley
History 109C:
History of the Middle East from the 18th Century:
From Ottoman Rule to the Arab Spring
Dr. Thomas W. Hill
3108 Echeverry
MWF 11-12P
Office hours 3120 Dwinelle TBC
Reader: TBC
What are the root causes of the Arab Spring? How was the US occupation of Iraq related to
the Islamic Revolution in Iran? What are the origins of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and
how have they impacted other developments in the region? This course focuses on these and
other issues fundamental to understanding the modern Middle East from the age of Empires in
the 19th century to the era of Pax-Americana and the Arab Spring. Some familiarity with the
general history of this region as covered in lower-division survey courses, such as History 12,
is helpful but not a pre-requisite.
Goal
This course surveys the key processes, events and personalities that have shaped the societies,
states and economies of the Middle East since the 18th century. It is designed to help
contextualize current developments, to identify various interpretative frameworks for
approaching history in general and for understanding the Middle East in particular, and to
acquaint students with a variety of useful sources ranging from film to specialized academic
articles.
Requirements
Students are expected to attend every class to hear the lecture, ask questions and participate in
discussion. The grade consists of an in-class quiz (20%), a take-home mid-term essay (30%)
and a final exam (50%).
Description
The ongoing Arab Spring that began in 2011 has shaken the world and the entire Middle East,
toppling dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and perhaps, by the end of this course,
Syria. It shocked a world used to analyzing the persistence of authoritarianism in a putatively
frozen region, opening a new chapter whose contours will be evolving during this course.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 had heralded the emergence of a new world
order dominated by a single power, the United States. For a variety of reasons, not least of
which is oil, the Middle East, has become the geographical center for an intense struggle over
the shape of this new global order: by way of illustration, the first two decades of the post
Cold-War era began with the US-Iraq war of 1991 and ended with the formal end of the US
occupation of Iraq in 2011 after eight years of war and occupation. The Middle East also
became the primary symbolic theater for the still open-ended ‘war on terror’ that President
George W. Bush declared in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001. In the minds of
millions of Americans, Muslims and Arabs, the majority population in the Middle East,
1 replaced communists and Russians as the enemy in a struggle between good and evil both
abroad and at home. In the decade since, the future direction of the new world order as well as
the future of civil liberties at home has seemed to depend on what happened in Iraq, the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the ruling regimes in the oil-producing countries, especially
Saudi Arabia. The stakes are high and the choices stark: at one end of the spectrum is an
apocalyptic clash of civilizations that erodes civil liberties at home and drives a foreign policy
characterized by unilateralism, militarism and neo-liberal economic policies; on the other, a
utopian world of universal human rights, international law, multilateralism, and redistributive
economic policies. In the ongoing wake of the Arab Spring, rarely has it been more relevant
to ask: how did the modern Middle East come into being? And why does it seem to be so
central to the underlying forces shaping current events?
Part I of the course is a brief introduction to competing frameworks for understanding
the place of the Middle East in the imaginations of peoples in Europe and the United States.
Part II traces the historical evolution from empires to states by outlining the forces behind the
emergence of new states and identities after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire that, until the
First World War, had ruled much of this region for over 400 years. Part III examines how the
social structures, economic dynamics, state institutions and ideological worldviews of the
peoples of the region were shaped and transformed by nationalist struggles against British and
French colonial rule and by state-led nation-building projects. Part IV looks at the postindependence period which was marked by ambitious economic development and social
engineering projects on the one hand, and, on the other, devastating regional conflict in the
context of the Cold War. The causes and effects of increasing US economic and military
interventions in the region are analyzed in Part V which begins with the Islamic Revolution in
Iran and ends with the US occupation of Iraq and the Arab Spring. This general outline will
be filled in through case studies, thematic comparisons with other regions, and thorough
attention to the everyday lives of ordinary men and women as they struggle for survival,
economic advancement, justice and human dignity. The social and cultural dimensions will be
highlighted through film, fiction, biographies and articles on women and gender.
Requirements
Students are expected to attend every class to hear the lecture, ask questions and participate in
discussion. An in-class quiz counts for 20% of the grade. In addition, there will be a takehome mid-term essay (30%) and a final exam (50%).
Readings
All readings are compulsory; optional readings are marked *.
- If unable to find the cited latest version of a textbook, previous versions are authorized;
online catalogs will provide respective anitables of contents to identify the equivalent pp.
- The following books can be purchased or checked out from Library Reserve
James Gelvin, The Modern Middle East. A history, 3rd ed. (Oxford UP, 2011)
Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, 2nd ed. (Cambridge UP, 2005)
Charles Tripp, A History of Iraq, 3rd ed. (Cambridge UP, 2007)
Charles Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. A history with documents, 7th ed.
(Bedford/St Martin’s, 2009)
Ali Ansari, Modern Iran since 1921. The Pahlavis & after, 2nd ed. (Longman, 2007)
Resources
2 Lectures & Events – The Center for Middle Eastern Studies hosts a lecture series every
semester, which attracts some of the best scholars on the Middle East. For information,
check out the CMES web site at: www.ias.berkeley.edu/cmes
Films on the Middle East – In addition to the holdings at Moffitt & the Pacific Film
Archives, take advantage of the Arab Film Festival (in San Francisco October 11th-14th ,
arabfilmfestival.org ) and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival ( sfjff.org )
News websites – News about the Middle East is reported by the corporate media in the US in
ways that are strikingly different from the coverage in Europe, Asia or the Middle East itself.
Check out the corporate media, such as the New York Times & CNN, but also try to become
familiar with alternative media coverage. In addition, take a look at websites of news
organizations in other country to get a taste of what the rest of the world reads about the
Middle East. The following is but a small sample:
Britain: Guardian ( guardian.co.uk ), BBC ( bbc.co.uk/news )
Egypt: Al-Ahram Weekly ( ahram.org.eg ), Egypt Independent ( egyptindependent.com )
France: Le Monde Diplomatique in English ( mondediplo.com )
Israel: Haaretz ( haaretz.com )
Lebanon: Daily Star ( dailystar.com.lb )
Additional sources:
Jadaliyya ( jadaliyya.com )
MERIP ( merip.org )
The Forward ( forward.com )
Al-Jazeera (aljazeera.com )
Schedule
Part I: Introduction
Week 0: Introductions
August 24
Week 1: Knowledge & Power: Covering the Modern Middle East
August 27, 29, 31
• James Gelvin, “The Middle East & the Modern World System,” Ch. 3 in The Modern
Middle East, 33-44
• Juan R. Cole & Deniz Kandiyoti, “Nationalism & the Colonial Legacy in the Middle
East & Central Asia: Introduction,” International Journal of Middle East Studies 34:2
(May 2002), 189-203
• Margaret L. Meriwether and Judith E. Tucker, “Introduction,” in Margaret L.
Meriwhether and Judith E. Tucker, eds., Social History of Women & Gender in the
Modern Middle East (Westview Press, 1999), 1-24
• Bernard Lewis & Edward W. Said in “The Historical Context: the West & Islam”, Ch.
8 in Marvin Gettleman and Stuart Schaar, eds., The Middle East and Islamic World
Reader, 3rd ed (Grove Press, 2011), 344-353
§
3 Part II: From Empires to States
Week 2: The Ottoman Legacy: The View from the Centre
September 5, 7 (no class September 3: Labor Day)
• Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922, 2nd ed. (Cambridge UP, 2005), 112, 54-110
• James Gelvin, “The Question of Modernity,” in The Modern Middle East, Chs. 5-7,
69-132 (inc. photo essay 111-32)
Week 3: Land & Labour: The View From Below
September 10, 12, 14
• Judith Tucker, “Decline of the Family Economy in Mid-19th-Century Egypt,” Arab
Studies Quarterly 1:3 (1979), 245-271
• Akram Khater, “Assaf: A Peasant of Mount Lebanon,” in Edmund Burke III & David
N. Yaghoubian, eds., Struggle & Survival in the Modern Middle East, 2nd ed. (UC
Press, 2005), 35-47
• Sherry Vatter, “Journeymen Textile Weavers in 19th-Century Damascus: A Collective
Biography” in ibid., 64-79
• Beshara Doumani, “The Political Economy of Olive Oil” in Beshara Doumani,
Rediscovering Palestine: Merchants & Peasants in Jabal Nablus 1700-1900
(Cambridge UP, 1995), 131-81
• Timothy Mitchell, “Can the Mosquito Speak?” in Timothy Mitchell, Rule of Experts:
Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity (UC Press, 2007), 19-53
• Salim Tamari, “Wasif Jawhariyyeh, Popular Music & Early Modernity in Jerusalem”
in R. Stein & T. Swedenburg, eds., Palestine, Israel & the Politics of Popular Culture
(Duke UP, 2006), 27-50
• * Erika Friedl, “Tribal Enterprises & Marriage Issues in 20th-Century Iran” in Beshara
Doumani, ed., Family History in the Middle East: Household, Property & Gender
(SUNY Press, 2003), 151-70
Week 4: The Encounter with Europe & the Formation of the Modern State System
September 17, 19, 21
•
•
•
•
•
•
Gelvin, “The Question of Modernity”, Chs. 8-10, 143-179
Quataert, 111-202
C. Smith, Palestine & the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Chs 1-3, 13-164
Roger Owen, “Egypt & Europe: From French Expedition to British Occupation” in
Roger Owen & Bob Sutcliffe, eds., Studies in the Theory of Imperialism (London:
Longman, 1972), 195-209
Alexander Scholch, “European Interest in Palestine” in Scholch, Palestine in
Transformation 1856-1881 (Washington, DC: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1993),
47-75
* Gershon Shafir, Land, Labor & the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 18821914 (UC Press, 1996), 1-44
Week 5: Nation-Building in Turkey & Iran
4 September 24, 26, 28
•
•
Gelvin, “WW1 & the Middle East State System”, 171-196
Ali Ansari, Modern Iran, 1-158
§
Part 3: Colonialism, Nationalism & the Social Question
Week 6: “To Reign but not to Govern.” The Colonial Experience in Egypt & Iraq
October 1, 3, 5
•
•
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•
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Gelvin, “The Introduction & Spread of Nationalism,” Chs. 11-12, 184-207
Gelvin, “The Contemporary Era”, 233-9
Khaled Fahmy, “Mehmed Ali’s Army & the Egyptian Nation” in All the Pasha’s Men
(Cambridge UP, 1997), 239-277
Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes & Revolutionary Movements in Iraq (Saqi,
2004), Chs. 2, 17
Hanna Batatu, The Egyptian, Syrian & Iraqi Revolutions (Georgetown, 1984)
Joel Beinin & Zachary Lockman, “1919: Labor Upsurge & National Revolution” in
Workers on the Nile (AUC Press, 1998), 83-120
Ellen Fleischmann, “The Other “Awakening”: The emergence of women’s movements
in the modern Middle East, 1900-40” in Meriwhether & Tucker, 89-134
Tripp, History of Iraq, Chs. 2-3, 30-104
* Juan Ricardo Cole, “Feminism, Class & Islam in Turn-of-the-Century Egypt”,
International Journal of Middle East Studies 13 (1981), 387-407
Week 7 (& beginning of 8): Mandate Syria, Lebanon, Palestine; Republican Iraq
October 8, 10, 12
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•
•
•
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Elizabeth Thompson, Colonial Citizens. Republican Rights, Paternal Privilege &
Gender in French Syria & Lebanon (Columbia UP, 2000), 19-57
Tripp, A History of Iraq, Ch. 5, 143-84
Gelvin, “The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Dispute”, Ch.14, 217-31
Zeev Sternhell, The Founding Myths of Israel (Princeton UP, 1999), 3-46
Avi Shlaim, “The Debate About 1948”, International Journal of Middle East Studies
27:3 (August 1995), 287-304
Ted Swedenburg, “The Role of the Palestinian Peasantry in the Great Revolt (193639)” in Burke & Lapidus, eds., 169-204
* Benny Morris, ‘Survival of the Fittest’, interview with Ari Shavit, Haaretz, 8
January 2004, http://www.logosjournal.com/morris.htm [15pp.]
§
Part IV: Economic Development & Regional Conflicts in the Cold War Era
Week 8: Arab Nationalism & the Politics of the Cold War
5 October 15, 17, 19
• Yezid Sayigh & Avi Shlaim, eds., The Cold War & the Middle East (Oxford UP,
1997): Introduction, Ch 1, Conclusion: 1-26, 279-92
• Malcolm Kerr, The Arab Cold War: Gamal Abd al-Nasir & his Rivals, 1958-70, 3rd
ed. (Oxford UP, 1971), 1-43
Week 9: Oil & the State: From Import Substitution to Structural Readjustment
October 22, 24, 26
•
•
•
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Gelvin, “State & Society”, “Oil”, Chs. 15-16, 240-65
Alan Richard & John Waterbury, A Political Economy of the Middle East, 3rd ed.
(Westview Press, 2007), Chs. 7-9 [173-250 in 2nd ed, 1996]
Excerpts from speeches by Jamal Abd al-Nasser & Anwar Sadat in Marvin Gettleman
& Stuart Schaar, eds., The Middle East & Islamic World Reader, 3rd ed. (Grove Press,
2012), Ch.7, 31 (a) & (b): 289-293
Albert O. Hirschman, “The Political Economy of Import-Substituting
Industrialization”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 82 (1968), 1-29
Week 10: The Palestinian National Movement & the Arab-Israeli Conflict to the Oslo
Accords
October 28, 31, November 2
•
•
C. Smith, Palestine & the Arab-Israeli Conflict, Chs. 7-9, 300-432
J. Migdal, “Changing Boundaries & Social Crisis: Israel & the 1967 War” in
Hydemann, 174-99
Week 11: The Lebanese Civil War
November 5, 7, 9
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MERIP Primer, “Lebanon’s 15-year War: 1975-90,” Middle East Report 162 (Jan-Feb
1990), 23-25
Salim Nasr, “Lebanon’s War: Is the End in Sight?,” Middle East Report 162, 5-8
Ussama Makdisi, “The Modernity of Sectarianism in Lebanon,” Middle East Report
26:3 (Summer 1996), 23-26
Sune Haugbolle, War & Memory in Lebanon (Cambridge UP, 2010), 161-193
Elizabeth Picard, “The Political Economy of Civil War in Lebanon” in Steven
Hydemann, ed., War, Institutions & Social Change in the Middle East (UC Press,
2000), 292-322
§
Part V: The Middle East & the US/The US in the Middle East
Week 12: The Islamic Revolution in Iran & the US
November 14, 16 (No class November 12: Veterans’ Day)
6 •
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Gelvin, Chs. 17-20, 266-318
Ansari, Modern Iran, 159-345
“US Presidential Policies 1947-2002” in Gettleman & Schaar, Ch.7, §27 (a)-(e)
Ervand Abrahamian, “Ali Shariati: Ideologue of the Iranian Revolution” in Edmund
Burke III & Ira Lapidus, eds., Islam, Politics & Social Movements (IB Tauris, 1988),
289-97
Week 13: Israel Over Palestine: the Political Economy of Occupation
November 19, 21 (No class November 23: Thanksgiving)
•
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Charles Smith, Chs. 10-11, 333-536
Beshara Doumani, “Family & Politics in Salfit” in Lockman & Beinin, 143-54
http://history.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/family_and_politics.pdf
Peter Lagerquist, “Privatizing the Occupation. The Political Economy of an Oslo
development project”, Journal of Palestine Studies 32:2 (Winter 2003), 5-20
Jeff Halper, “The 94% Solution: A matrix of control,” Middle East Report 30:3 (Fall
2000), 15-19
Benny Morris, Ehud Barak, Robert Malley & Hussein Agha, “Camp David & After:
An exchange”, The New York Review of Books, June 13 & 27, 2002
Week 14: The US & the Middle East from 9/11 to the ‘Arab Spring’
November 26, 28, 30
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Tripp, A History of Iraq, Ch.7
Gelvin, “The Middle East in the Age of Globalization”, 319-337
Asef Bayat, “Activism & Social Development in the Middle East”, International
Journal of Middle East Studies 34:1 (Feb 2002), 1-28
Joel Beinin & Joe Stork, “On the Modernity, Historical Specificity & International
Context of Political Islam” in Beinin & Stork, eds., Political Islam. Essays from
Middle East Report, 3-25
“President Obama’s Vision for New Beginnings in the Middle East: Cairo University,
Egypt, June 4 2009” (Ch. 8, §36) in Gettleman & Schaar
Ahmed Kanna, “Dubai in a Jagged World”, Middle East Report 243 (Summer 2007),
23-9
Perry Anderson, “On the Concatenation in the Arab World”, New Left Review 68
(March-April 2011), 5-15
7