COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
Spring 2013 INS 352/JUS352
PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE MIDDLE EAST
Instructors: Dr. Haim Shaked/Dr. Eugene Rothman
Dr. Shaked Dr. Rothman
Office Telephone: (305) 284-6882 (305) 284-8582
Office Fax: (305) 284-5274 (305) 284-5274
E-mail: hshaked@miami.edu erothman@miami.edu
Day/Time: Tuesday, 05:00-7:40 P.M. (Section T)
Location: The Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies – Merrick Building 105 (Auditorium)
Office Hours: Tuesday, 3:00-5:00 P.M. or (preferably) by appointment.
Dr. Shaked’s office has been instructed to always immediately inform him whenever a student wishes to see or speak to him, even if he is tied up in a meeting.
Course Description and Objectives
The course is designed to provide a comprehensive introduction to the Middle East and a basic understanding of the factors, forces and processes shaping developments in the modern and contemporary history of this important world region.
In particular, beginning with the region’s history and its human and physical environment, the course will examine the main internal and external forces that have shaped the history and politics of the Middle East. It will also provide an introduction to the domestic and external factors that contribute to, or undermine the Arab-Israeli peace process, as well as a context for understanding the evolution of U.S. policy toward the region.
Current Middle Eastern issues that capture world media headlines during the semester in which the course is taught will be explored as well.
This course will require extensive background reading in preparation for class discussions.
Course Requirements
The following are the course requirements:
* Attendance at all class meetings (unless excused by the teacher for cause). * Reading of the required text and other reading materials as will be listed from time to time. (Students would do well to also read the optional books listed below.) * Active participation in class discussions which are based on readings. * Preparation of a position paper as described below. * Exam on readings and classroom lectures and discussions. * Active participation in the final class which will be in the form of a roundtable discussion. Attendance is mandatory. Assignment: Position Paper The assignment is designed to enable students to understand recent and current developments in the Middle East from the perspective of either a country or a non-state actor. The assignment will be based on recent events in the Middle East. Early in his first term, President Obama travelled to the Middle East and delivered in Cairo, on June 4, 2009, his speech “A New Beginning” that was intended to redefine America’s relationship with the Arab and Muslim world and to express the support of the United States for liberal and democratic reform in the Middle East. (text: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/us/politics/04obama.text.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0) Shortly afterwards, a wave of seemingly liberal revolutions began in Tunisia and spread westward to Libya and eastward to Egypt. The “Arab Spring”, believed—correctly or not—by many to have been inspired by Obama’s speech, began with great optimism only to become 4 years later what many are now calling the “Muslim Winter”. Libya is now an unstable region fractured by militias and conflicting world views; Egypt is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood and its government is opposed by the moderate liberals who began the revolution; Syria is wracked by a bloody civil war; Yemen is unstable; Iraq and Afghanistan are barely functioning states; Iran is aggressively pursuing a policy that puts it at odds with much of the world; Jordan and Lebanon are shaky; and Israel and the Palestinians are stalemated. This was not what President Obama had expected to be “A New Beginning”.