77918 - History and international Relations of The Middle East

Course contents

The course aims at analysing the interaction of the Middle East with international and global processes of development. The region has never been isolated from external forces and, arguably, it has been one of the “most penetrated” areas by foreign powers in modern and contemporary history. Such a permeability, though, has always implied a bilateral relationship where local and regional forces have shaped events as much as their foreign counterparts. The course will thus shed light on the process of interaction that has shaped Middle East politics and international relations, with a particular focus on the XX and XXI centuries.

The course is divided into three sections (10+15+15 hours each). At mid and end of every section, students (individuals or in group) will present and debate their papers on the topics they chose at the beginning of course, and the bibliography provided by Professor at the AMS Campus Alma DL.

The first section (10hrs) deals with the different theoretical approaches that the discipline of International Relations has formulated and adopted so far in order to analyse and understand the IR and politics of the Middle East. Different IR approaches will be compared with other disciplines like History or Economics in order to offer multiple perspectives on the complexity of the Middle East.

The second section (15hrs) will focus on the Cold War in the Middle East. At the crossroad of the end of European empires, post-colonial independence and superpower rivalry, the interaction between regional forces and rising or declining foreign powers will shed light on the impact of a set of international processes on o the region and, conversely, the agency of local actors in shaping their projects. Case studies from the US, USSR and their allies on the one side, and the Arab world and Iran on the other side will be analysed as for the topics of armed conflicts, economic and institutional development. The study of the patterns of foreign interventions in the Middle East during the Cold War will be useful to compare and assess successive interventions after 1991.

The third section (15hrs) will focus on the relations between Europe and the Middle East from the end of WWII till today, with a special focus on the European Communities, and later European Union. This section will analyse the main political and economic factors that have featured the controversial relationship, and have fuelled either conflict or cooperation among Europe, North Africa and the Middle East at large.

Bibliography 

Section I, 1-2 weeks: IR and the Middle East

Fred Lawson, “International Relations Theory and the Middle East”, in Louise Fawcett (ed.) The International Relations of the Middle East, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013

Raymond Hinnebusch and Anoush Ehteshami, “Policy-Making in the Middle East: Egypt, Saudi Arabia,Iran and Turkey” in Louise Fawcett (ed.) The International Relations of the Middle East, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013

Raymond Hinnebusch, “The Middle East in the World Hierarchy: Imperialism and Resistance”,  Journal of International Relations and Development, 2011, vol. 14, pp. 213–246

 

Section II, 3-6 weeks: the Cold War and the Middle East

Odd Arne Westad, The Global Cold War. Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times, Cambrdige University Press, 2005, Chapters I, II, III.

David Painter, “Oil, resources, and the Cold War, 1945–1962”, in Odd Arne Westad, Melvin Leffler (eds.) Cambridge History of the Cold War, vol. I, pp. 486-506.

Michael Latham, “The Cold War in the Third World, 1963–1975”, in Odd Arne Westad, Melvin Leffler (eds.) Cambridge History of the Cold War, vol. II, pp. 258-280

Ennio Di Nolfo, “The Cold War and the transformation of the Mediterranean, 1960–1975” in Odd Arne Westad, Melvin Leffler (eds.) Cambridge History of the Cold War, vol. II, pp. 238-257

Douglas Little, “The Cold War in the Middle East: Suez Crisis to Camp David Accords” in Odd Arne Westad, Melvin Leffler (eds.) Cambridge History of the Cold War, vol. II, pp. 305-326

Peter Sluglett, “The Cold War in the Middle East” in Louise Fawcett (ed.) The International Relations of the Middle East, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013

Massimiliano Trentin, “Tra sicurezza e sviluppo. La guerra fredda nel medio oriente post-coloniale”, in Mauro Campus (eds.) Sviluppo, crisi, integrazione. Temi di storia delle relazioni internazionali per il XXI secolo, Bruno Mondadori, Milano, 2013, pp. 145-168

Rashid Khalidi, Sowing Crisis. The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East, Beacon Press, Boston Mass. 2009, Chapters IV-VI.

Nigel J. Ashton (eds.), The Cold war in the Middle East: regional conflict and the superpowers, 1967-73, Routledge, London, 2007, Chapters I-IV

Nathan J. Citino, “The Crush of Ideologies: the United States, the Arab world, and the Cold War modernisation”, Cold War History, vol. 12, n. 1, 2012, pp. 89-110

Duccio Basosi, Finanza e Petrolio. Gli Stati Uniti, l'oro nero e l'economia politica internazionale, Studio LT”, Venezia, 2012, Chapters I, II, II

Claudia Castiglioni, “I can start a revolution, but you won't like the results”: the United States and Iran in the Decade of Development”, in Massimiliano Trentin, Matteo Gerlini (eds.), The Middle East and the Cold War. Between Security and Development, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2012, pp. 105-128

William D. Graf, “The Theory of the Non-Capitalist Road” in Brigitte Schulz, William Hansen (eds.), The Soviet Bloc and the Third World, Boulder CO, Westview Press, 1989

Massimiliano Trentin, Engineers of Modern Development. East German Experts in Ba'thist Syria: 1965-1972, CLEUP, Padova, 2010, Chapters I, II. 

Berthold Unfried, Eva Himmelstoss (eds.) Create One World. Practices of “International Solidarity” and “International Development”, Akademische Verlagsanstalt, 2012, pp. 7-18

Tina Zintl (eds.) Syria during the Cold War. The East European Connection, St. Andrews Papers on contemporary Syria, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder CO, 2014

Joseph Sassoon, “The East German Ministry of State Security and Iraq, 1968-1989”, Journal of Cold War Studies, Vol. 16, N. 1, Winter 2014, pp. 4-23

Jeffrey J. Byrne, “Algiers between Bandung and Belgrade: Guerrilla Diplomacy and the Evolution of the Third World Movement, 1954-1962”, in Massimiliano Trentin, Matteo Gerlini (eds.), The Middle East and the Cold War. Between Security and Development, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2012, pp. 11-28

Matthieu Rey, «"Fighting colonialism" versus "Non-Alignment", two Arab points of view on the Bandung Conference.», in Nataša Mišković, Harald Fischer-Tiné (eds.), Nada Boškovska Delhi—Bandung—Belgrade: Non-Alignment between Afro-Asian Solidarity and the Cold War, 2012 

Rami Ginat, Syrian and the Doctrine of Arab Neutralism. From Independence to Dependence, Sussex Academic press, Portland, 2010, pp. 1-20, 234-237

Section III, 7-10 weeks: Europe and the Middle East

Georges Corm, L'Europe et l'Orient. De la Balkanisation à la Libanisation. Histoire d'une modernité inaccomplie, La Découverte, Paris, 2002

Pierre-Jean Luizard, La choc colonial et l'Islam. Les politiques religieuses des puissances coloniales en terre d'Islam, La Découverte, Paris, 2006, Part I, IV, V.

James Gelvin, The Modern Middle East. A History, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011. Part I, II, III.

Gustavo Gozzi. Umano, non umano. Intervento umanitario, colonialismo “primavere arabe”, il Mulino, 2015, cap. II, IV, VIII

Rosemary Hollis, “Europe in the Middle East” in in Louise Fawcett (ed.) The International Relations of the Middle East, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013

Daniel Mockli, Victor Mauer (eds.), European-American Relations and the Middle East, Routledge, London, 2011

Massimiliano Trentin, “Le distanze del Mediterraneo. Europa e mondo arabo tra sviluppo e nazionalismo” in Ennio di Nolfo, Matteo Gerlini (eds.), Il Mediterraneo attuale tra storia e politica, Marsilio. Venezia, 2012, pp. 283-304

Houda Ben Hamouda, Mathieu Bouchard (eds.), La construction d'un espace euro-méditerranéen, PIE Peter Lang, Bruxelles, 2012

Sandro Mezzadra, Breit Neilson, Border as Method, or the Multiplication of Labor, Duke University Press, Durham, NC and London, 2013

Samir Aita, Les travailleurs arabes hors-la-loi. Emploi et droit du travail dans les Pays arabes de la Méditerranée , L'Harmattan, Paris, 2011, Part II, III, IV

Gustavo Gozzi (eds.), The Future of Euro-Mediterranean Relationships, il Mulino, Bologna, 2012

Francesco Cavatorta, Paola Rivetti, “EU–MENA Relations from the Barcelona Process to the Arab Uprisings: A New Research Agenda”, Journal of European Integration, vol.36, n.6, pp. 619-625

Riccardo Alcaro, Miguel Haubrich-Seco, Rethinking Western Policies in Light of the Arab Uprisings, IAI Research papers, Edizioni Nuova Cultura, Roma, 2012

Andrea Teti, “Democracy Without Social Justice: Marginalization of Social and Economic Rights in EU Democracy Assistance Policy after the Arab Uprisings”, Middle East Critique, vol.24, n.1, 2015, pp.9-25

Readings/Bibliography

For ALL students:

1. Only One of the three Parts of Louise Fawcett (eds.) International Relations of the Middle East, Third Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013. 

For those who have not already approached the history of modern Middle East before, it is highly recommended the study of James L. Gelvin, The Modern Middle East: A History, Third Edition. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Alternatively, Marcella Emiliani, Medio Oriente: una storia dal 1918 al 1991 e Medio Oriente: una storia dal 1991 a oggi, Laterza, Bari, 2012.

 

For Non-Attender students  TWO monographs. For Attender students  ONE monograph to choose from:

Section II: the Cold War in the Middle East

Rashid Khalidi,  Sowing Crisis. The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East, Beacon Press, Boston Mass, 2009.

Section III: Europe and the Middle East

Daniel Mockli, Victor Mauer (eds.), European-American Relations and the Middle East, Routledge, London, 2011.

According to individual requests, other monographs, which fit better with the specific interests of the student, might be discussed and agreed with the Professor.

Teaching methods

The course will adopt a multiple set of teaching instruments: Frontal lectures and Seminar, Power Points presentations, Analysis of Archival documents, Films and Documentaries

Assessment methods

Attenders (80% of lessons, at least)

The final result is the sum of: 

Course Attendance (20%)

Voluntary Oral Presentation (plus written essay) (30%)

Final Written Exam (50%): three questions concerning the course programme (1 question), the Textbook (1 question) and the monograph (1 question). Those students who made their Oral Presentation (plus written essay) will answer to two questions.

 

Non-Attenders

The evaluation exam will consist on an Written Exam of 5 questions related to the Textbook (3 questions) and the two monographs (2 questions)

Teaching tools

Bibliography for the students' presentations will be provided by the Professor and uploaded on the AMS Campus Alma DL.

Audiovisuals materials will be used in class teachings as well as external experts will be invited for lecturing on specific topics of interest.

Office hours

See the website of Massimiliano Trentin