History 250
Spring 2014
US Relations with the Middle East and North Africa
Place:
Day and Time:
BRNG 2291
Tuesday/Thursday, 9 am - 10:15 am
Instructor:
Office:
Office Hours:
Email:
Professor Holden
UNIV 127
Tuesday/Thursday, 10:30 am - 11:30 am
sholden@purdue.edu
Since 9/11, the US has engaged in military interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. In this
way, the US is now more intimately involved in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) than
at any other time in its history. This course surveys US foreign policy toward the Arab-Islamic
world since World War II. In doing so, it provides students with the background needed to
understand the decisions and policies of American leaders in the past and in the present. This
course responds to the following questions: Why has the US focused considerable attention on
the Arab-Islamic world over the past seven decades? How has US foreign policy toward the
Middle East and North Africa evolved over time? What role has the US played in shaping the
political history of the Arab-Islamic world? How do the preconceived notions of Americans-transferred through vehicles of popular culture, like film--influence foreign policy? Ultimately,
students reflect on continuity and change in US foreign policy toward the MENA since WWII.
Course Materials:
There are four textbooks used in this course. These are on reserve at the Undergraduate Library.
You may also purchase all these books at bookstores serving Purdue University:
1. Peter L. Hahn, Crisis and Crossfire: The United States and the Middle East since 1945
(Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2005.
2. David W. Lesch and Mark L. Haas, The Middle East and the United States: History, Politics,
and Ideologies, 5th Edition (Boulder, CO.: Westview Press, 2012).
3. Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror,
2nd Edition (Wiley, 2008).
4. Donovan Campbell, Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership and
Brotherhood (Random House, 2010).
Assigned articles and chapters that are not in these books can be accessed through Blackboard.
Course Evaluation will be based on the following:
Exam #1 15%
Exam #2 15%
Book Review #1 20%
Book Review #2 20%
Film Review 20%
Attendance and Participation 10%
There will be two exams during the course of the semester, and these will be held during normal
class hours. These exams will consist of IDs and also essay questions. I will provide you with a
review sheet one week before the exam date. There will NOT be a final exam for this course.
This class requires that you write two analytical book reviews. The reviews are to be between
two and three pages (not more, not less). You must write it in 12-point type-face, double-spaced,
with one inch margins. I will not accept book reviews emailed as an attachment. You will be
penalized five points for each day that the book review is late. We will spend a class discussing
each of these books in order to discuss the substance of the text and the guidelines for the review.
This class also requires that you analyze one film. You are free to choose the feature-length film
that you want to analyze and review. You may choose either "Exodus" or "Charlie Wilson's
War." Your review is due to me in class within one week of watching them. It is your
responsibility to decide which of these two films to analyze and to turn in your essay on time.
The reviews are to be between two and three pages (not more, not less). You must write it in 12point type-face, double-spaced, with one-inch margins. I will not accept essays sent as emailed
attachments. Guidelines for the film reviews will be distributed during the first week of class.
Attendance is a critical component of your final grade. I will take attendance consistently, but
not necessarily on set days. Further, I will also devote some of our class time to discussion. I
believe that a good college education should foster skills of verbal communication in graduates!
The class discussions provide students with an opportunity to talk about specific issues and to
raise questions about them. And so, students will be expected to come to class prepared to
discuss a designated topic and will be evaluated according to their participation in conversation.
Disclaimers
Plagiarism will not be tolerated at Purdue University: Plagiarism is a crime, and students can be
expelled for turning in a paper that they did not write. Copying a person’s work verbatim is not
the only form of plagiarism. In some cases, plagiarism involves paraphrasing the idea of another
without a footnote or the repetition of another author’s phrase. Students are advised to consult
Purdue
University’s
Guide
to
Academic
Integrity
for
guidelines
at:
http://www.purdue.edu/ODOS/osrr/integrity.htm. Plagiarized work will receive a 0, and the
professor reserves the right to forward the case to the administration.
In the event of a major campus emergency, the requirements, deadlines and grading policies set
down on this syllabus are subject to changes that may be required by a revised semester calendar.
Any changes will be posted, once the course resumes, on the course website. It may also be
obtained by contacting the instructor via email or phone.
January 14 (Tu)
Course Introduction
January 16 (Th)
American Orientalism
--Film, "Valentino's Ghost"
January 21 (Tu)
American Orientalism
Class Preparations
Laura Fokkena, “Are you a terrorist or do you play one on TV,” www.poppolitics.com
Douglas Little, American Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East since 1945
(University of North Carolina Press, 2002), 9-42
January 23 (Th)
The Barbary Wars (& Some Foreign Policy Precedents)
Class Preparations
Frank Lambert, “Tribute or Arms,” in The Barbary Wars: American Independence in the
Atlantic World (Hill and Wang, 2005), 49-78.
Joseph Wheelan, “Prologue,” in Jefferson’s War: America’s First War on Terror, 1801-1805
(Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2003), xvii-xxvi.
C. Hitchens, “To the Shores of Tripoli,” Time Magazine
(See http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,994562-1,00.html)
January 28 (Tu)
The Barbary Wars, Cont'd
--Film, "The Battle of Tripoli"
January 30 (Th)
WWII, & the Emergence of US as a Superpower in the MENA
Class Preparations
Hahn, Crisis and Crossfire, 1-18 and 137-139.
Rashid Khalidi, “The Superpowers and the Cold War in the Middle East,” in Lesch and Haas,
The Middle East and the United States, 157-174.
“The Truman Doctrine,” in Marvin E. Gettleman and Stuart Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic
World Reader (Grove Press, 2003), 245-247.
February 4 (Tu)
The CIA Coup in Iran, 1953
Class Preparations
Hahn, Crisis and Crossfire, 143-144.
Mark Gasiorowski, “US Foreign Policy toward Iran during the Mussadiq Era,” in Lesch and
Haas, The Middle East and the United States, 55-69.
Sir Sam Falle, “The Mussadiq Era in Iran, 1951-1953,” in Lesch and Haas, The Middle East and
the United States, 70-78.
February 6 (Th)
The CIA Coup in Iran, 1953
Class Preparations
Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
(Wiley, 2003).
****Your analysis of Kinzer’s All the Shah’s Men is due in class on February 25th.****
February 11 (Tu)
The US and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1948-1982
Class Preparations
Hahn, Crisis and Crossfire, 19-34 and 47-67 and 140-142 and 160-162.
Fawaz A. Gerges, “The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: US Actions and Arab Perceptions,” in Lesch and
Haas, The Middle East and the United States, 177-196.
February 13 (Th)
The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Pop Culture
--Film, "Exodus"
February 18 (Tu)
The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Pop Culture
--Film, "Exodus"
February 20 (Th)
The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Pop Culture
--Film, "Exodus"
February 25 (Tu)
The Suez Crisis, 1956
Class Preparations
Hahn, Crisis and Crossfire, 35-46.
Peter Hahn, “National Security Concerns in US Policy Toward Egypt,” in Lesch and Haas, The
Middle East and the United States, 79-89.
Malik Mufti, “The United States and Nasserist Pan-Arabism,” in Lesch and Haas, The Middle
East and the United States, 128-147.
“The Eisenhower Doctrine,” in Marvin E. Gettleman and Stuart Schaar, The Middle East and
Islamic World Reader (Grove Press, 2003), 247-248.
*****Your review of Kinzer's All the Shah's Men is Due in Class Today.*****
February 27 (Th)
Exam #1
March 4 (Tu)
The US and the Iranian Revolution, 1979
Class Preparations
Hahn, Crisis and Crossfire, 69-85 and 144-146.
Ervand Abrahamian, “Democracy or Theocracy: Iran’s Islamic Republic,” in Marvin E.
Gettleman and Stuart Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader (Grove Press, 2003),
257-261.
March 6 (Th)
The US and the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)
Class Preparations
Peter L. Hahn, "From Tension to Rapprochement: US-Iraqi Relations in a Turbulent Decade,
1979-1989," in Missions Accomplished?: The United States and Iraq since World War I (Oxford
University Press, 2012), 67-86.
March 11 (Tu)
The US and Afghanistan in the 1980s
--Guest Lecture, Professor Atkinson
Class Preparations
Marvin G. Weinbaum, “The United States and Afghanistan: From Marginality to Global
Concern,” in Lesch and Haas, The Middle East and the United States, 412-433.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, “’Some Stirred-Up Muslims’: Reflections on Soviet Intervention in
Afghanistan (1998)” in Marvin E. Gettleman and Stuart Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic
World Reader (Grove Press, 2003), 273-274.
March 13 (Th)
Afghanistan in US Popular Culture
--Film, "Charlie Wilson's War"
March 18 (Tu)
No Class! (Spring Break)
March 20 (Th)
No Class! (Spring Break)
March 25 (Tu)
Afghanistan in US Popular Culture
--Film, "Charlie Wilson's War"
March 27 (Th)
The Persian Gulf War, 1991
Class Preparations
Hahn, Crisis and Crossfire, 105-131 and 170-173.
Gary Sick, “The United States in the Persian Gulf: From Twin Pillars to Dual Containment,” in
Lesch and Haas, The Middle East and the United States, 327-343.
Hadani Ditmars, “The Deletrious Effects of Sanctions on Women and Children,” in Stacy E.
Holden, A Documentary History of Modern Iraq (University Press of Florida, 2012).
April 1 (Tu)
The Arab-Israeli Peace Process, 1982-2005
--Guest Lecture, Timothy Olin
Class Preparations
Hahn, Crisis and Crossfire, 87-104 and 162-169.
Jeremy Pressman, “From Madrid and Oslo to Camp David: The United States and the ArabIsraeli Conflict, 1991-2001,” in Lesch and Haas, The Middle East and the United States, 244261.
April 3 (Th)
US Policy and Emerging Terror Networks
--Film, Looking for Answers (Frontline)
Class Preparations
Ahmed Rashid, “Osama bin Laden: How the US Helped Midwife a Terrorist,” in Fredrik
Logevall, Terrorism and 9/11: A Reader (Houghton Mifflin, 2002), 50-60.
Heather S. Gregg, “US Relations with al-Qa’ida,” in Lesch and Haas, The Middle East and the
United States, 491-506.
April 8 (Tu)
9/11 and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan)
Class Preparations
Osama bin Laden, “To the Americans, October 6, 2002,” in Bruce Lawrence, Messages to the
World: The Statements of Osama Bin Laden (Verso, 2005), 160-172.
Saba Gul Kattak, “Afghan Women: Bombed to Be Liberated,” Middle East Report 222 (spring
2002): 20-28.
George Bush, “The United States Has Contributed to Afghanistan’s Stability and Progress, in
Jann Einfeld, Is America Helping Afghanistan? (Greenhaven Press, 2005), 11-17.
John Pilger, “The United States Has Betrayed the Afghan People,” in Jann Einfeld, Is America
Helping Afghanistan? (Greenhaven Press, 2005), 18-29.
April 10 (Th)
The Military-Industrial Complex
--Film, "Why We Fight"
Class Preparations
(Web) Andrew J. Bacevich, “The Tyranny of Defense Inc.,” The Atlantic (January/February
2011). [You can access this article at the following site:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/the-tyranny-of-defense-inc/8342/]
April 15 (Tu)
The Military-Industrial Complex
--Film, "Why We Fight"
April 17 (Th)
Exam #2
April 22 (Tu)
The Invasion and Occupation of Iraq (2003-2004)
Class Preparations
Steve A. Yetiv, “The Iraq War of 2003: Why Did the United States Decide to Invade,” in Lesch
and Haas, The Middle East and the United States, 359-378.
Ali R. Abbootalebi, “What Went Wrong in Iraq?” in Lesch and Haas, The Middle East and the
United States, 379-393.
April 24 (Th)
Fighting the Iraq War: The Surge
--Guest Lecture, Professor Keith Shimko
Class Preparations
James Baker and Lee Hamilton, et. al., The Iraq Study Group Report, Executive
Summary,
xiii-xviii.
(http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/WSJiraq_study_group.pdf)
Frederick Kagan, Choosing Victory: A Plan For Success in Iraq, 1-23 and 4045. (http://www.aei.org/files/2007/01/05/20070111_ChoosingVictoryupdated.pdf)
April 29 (Tu)
US Policy in Iraq from One Marine's Perspective
Class Preparations
Donovan Campbell, Joker One
*****The review of Campbell's Joker One is due in my mailbox (2nd fl. UNIV) by 7 May.****
May 1 (Th)
A Marine in Ramadi
--Guest Speaker, Major Charles Anklam