77918 - History and international Relations of The Middle East

Learning outcomes

The course examines the historical development of the International Relations of the Middle East from the early XIX century to current events. At the end of the course, students will acquire a better understanding of: The patterns of interaction between local institutions (Empires, nation-states, regional organizations, sub and trans-national groups) and their counterparts in Europe, North America, Asia and Africa; The interaction between regional and global patterns of economic development; The influence of international factors on the patterns of state-building in the Middle East. Eventually, students will acquire the necessary tools to analyze critically the interaction between the agency of local and regional forces and international and global dynamics affecting the region. Students will also master the historiographic and political debate concerning the region; and will be able to elaborate analytical and interpretative products about the Middle East and its role in international politics.

Course contents

For exchange students: the admission to optional courses of the LM/Master IR is allowed to incoming students at Master level.

As for undergraduate students, they must demonstrate to the Professor having already acquired competences in the disciplines of MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES and INTERNATIONAL HISTORY in their respective Transcripts of Records.

 

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. The aim is to enhance the interaction between the Professor and students.

Frontal lectures (16 hours) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars (12 hours) aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. For the seminar section of the course, students will be divided in 2 groups. Students attend a total of 28 hours of classes.

Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the class. Active participation through the discussion of existing scholarship and case studies is highly recommended.

Flexibility and changes on the structure of the course might take place due to emergency contingencies as well as suggestions from students.

Section A.

8 Lectures (2 hrs each) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline and the political chronology of the region.

Section B (Seminars SEM1 and SEM2)

B. Two alternative Seminars of 6 lectures (2 hrs each) aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of specific topics

 

Section A

An international history of political orders in the WANA region: topics and dynamics.

During the Section A students will be provided with an introduction to the international history of the Middle East. Here below the topics for each lecture:

1. Introduction to the Course and the Review of International Studies on the Western Asia and North Africa: Historiography and IR Literature
   
2. From Empires to European Colonialism, XIX century -WWI
3. From Early Independence and the Mandates to the "Liberal 1950s"
4. Popular Nationalism, Cold War and Non-Alignment , 1960s
5. Oil Boom, Integration and Fragmentation: 1970s-1980s
6. Political Islam: from the "Awakening" to the State, 1970-1980s
   
7. From the Washington to the Dubai "Consensus": 1990s-2000s
8. Uprisings, Wars and Uprisings again amid International Rivalries and Global Competition, 2011-2024
   

 

Section B

The Power and Politics of International Integration in the WANA

This section aims at analysing some patterns of integration of Western Asia and North Africa into the different political and economic orders of the XX and XXI centuries. Dynamics of hegemony and resistance within and without the area will be highlighted through the case-studies of:

SEMINAR 1. The Global Cold War in Western Asia and North Africa (12 hours)

SEMINAR 2. Power and Integration in the Mediterranean Space (12 hours)

Students MUST choose and attend ONLY ONE among the two SEMINARS of Section B.

 

SEMINAR 1. The Global Cold War in WANA (12 hours)

1. A Chronology and Literature Review of the CW in WANA
   
2. Anti-colonialism and Postcolonial Nationalism in WANA
3. The US and the Western Camp in WANA
4. The USSR and the Socialist Camp in WANA
   
5. Political Islam and CW in WANA
6. The end of CW and its Impact on WANA
   

 

SEMINAR 2. Power and Integration in the Mediterranean Space (12 hours).

1. The EU-Mediterranean Relations in International and Global History 1: XIX-XX centuries
2. The EU-Mediterranean Relations in International and Global History 2: XX-XXI centuries
3. The EU-Mediterranean space: Development and Socio-Economic Divisions
4. The Middle East in the Mediterranean: Frameworks and Policies by Middle East countries the XXI Century
5. The US in the Mediterranean: Frameworks and Policies in XXI Centuries
6. Russia and China in the Mediterranean: Frameworks and Policies in XXI Centuries

Readings/Bibliography

 

All students are required to study the Main Textbook.

The Readings of Section 1 are recommended as a further integration to the main Textbook.

Instead, the Readings of the Seminars are compulsory before each, related class.

All the Readings will be available on the Unibo online platform VIRTUALE (https://virtuale.unibo.it [https://virtuale.unibo.it/) since early September.

 

Main Textbook

James Gelvin, The Modern Middle East. A History, Oxford, Oxford University Press, III ed., 2011 and later editions

Readings

Readings, which relate to the specific topics of single lectures, will be uploaded on the online platform VIRTUALE (https://virtuale.unibo.it [https://virtuale.unibo.it/) since next early September.

These readings will provide students with more differentiated analysis on the topics under scrutiny, with two aims: first, to let them acknowledge the current scientific debate; second, to stimulate active participation to in-depth discussions during classes, both with Professor and colleagues.

 

List of Readings

 

Sections A

Lecture 1:

• Fred Lawson, "International Relations Theory and the Middle East" in Louise Fawcett (eds.), International Relations of the Middle East, 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2013
• Raymond Hinnebusch, "The Middle East in the world hierarchy: imperialism and resistance", Journal of International Relations and Development, 2011, 14, (213–246)

Lecture 2:

• Amira Bennison, "Muslim Universalism and Western Globalization" in A.G. Hopkins (eds.), Globalization in History and History in Globalization, Pimlico, London, 2002
•  Einar Wigen, "Ottoman Concepts of Empire", Contributions to the History of Concepts, 8, 1,2 2013, 44–66

Lecture 3:

• Raymond Hinnebusch, The International Politics of the Middle East, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2003 and 2015, chp 4, "State Formation and International Behaviour"
  
• Nazih Ayubi, Over-stating the Arab State. Politics and Society in the Middle East, London, IB Tauris, chp 3
• Yezid Sayigh, "Armed Struggle and State Formation", Journal of Palestine Studies, 26, 4, Summer, 1997, pp. 17-32

Lecture 4:

• Peter Sluglett, "The Cold War in the Middle East" in Louise Fawcett (eds.), International Relations of the Middle East, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Matthieu Rey, "How Did the Middle East Meet the West? The International United Nations Agencies’ Surveys in the 1950s", Middle Eastern Studies, 49:3, 477-493.

Lecture 5:

• Roger Owen, “The Arab Economies in the 1970s”, Middle East Research Project, n.100, October/December 1981
• Nazih Ayubi, "Bureaucratization as Development: Administrative Development and Development Administration in the Arab World", International Review of Administrative Sciences, vol. 52, 1986, pp. 201-222
• Francesco Saverio Leopardi, Massimiliano Trentin, "The international ‘debt crisis’ of the 1980s in the Middle East and North Africa: a review, an outline", in Middle Eastern Studies Vol. 58, N.5, 2022

Lecture 6:

• William Cleveland, Martin Bunton, A History of the Modern Middle East, Boulder CO: Westview Pres (at least since the Fifth edition), chp 20 (The Iranian Revolution and the Resurgence of Islam)
• Keddie, Nikki R. "Iranian revolutions in comparative perspective." The American Historical Review, 88.3 (1983): 579-598.

Lecture 7:

• Raymond Hinnebusch, The international politics of the Middle East, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2015, II ed. chp.8
  
• Adam Hanieh, "Khaleeji-Capital: Class-Formation and Regional Integration in the Middle-East Gulf", Historical Materialism, 18, 2010, pp. 35–76

Lecture 8:

• Asef Bayat, "Activism and Social Development in the Middle East", International Journal of Middle East Studies, 34, 1, 2002, pp. 1-28
• Raymond Hinnebusch, The international politics of the Middle East, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2015, II ed. chp. 9
• Ruth Hanau Santini, "A New Regional Cold War in the Middle East and North Africa: Regional Security Complex Theory Revisited", The International Spectator, 52, 4, 2017, pp. 93-111
  

 

Section B. SEMINAR 1

Lecture 1: A Chronology and Literature Review of the CW in WANA

• Peter Sluglett, "The Cold War in the Middle East" in Louise Fawcett (eds.), International Relations of the Middle East, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Nathan Citino, "The Middle East and the Cold War", Cold War History, 19, 3, pp. 441-456

Lecture 2: Anti-colonialism and Postcolonial Nationalism CW WANA

• 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
• Ljubica Spaskovska, "Crude’ Alliance – Economic Decolonisation and Oil Power in the Non-Aligned World", Contemporary European History, 30, 2021, 528–543
• Paul Chamberlin, "The Struggle Against Oppression Everywhere: The Global Politics of Palestinian Liberation", Middle Eastern Studies, 47, 1, pp. 25-41
  

Lecture 3: The US and the Western Camp in WANA

• Nathan Citino, "The Ottoman Legacy in the Middle East", International Journal of Middle East Studies, 40, 2008, pp. 579–597.
• Salim Yaqub, "Imperious Doctrines: U.S.-Arab Relations from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush", Diplomatic History, 26, 4, 2002, pp. 571-591
• Roham Alvandi, "Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: The Origins of Iranian Primacy in the Persian Gulf", Diplomatic History, 36, 2, 2012, pp. 337-372
  

Lecture 4: The USSR and the Socialist Camp in WANA

• David C. Engerman, "The Second World's Third World", Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History, 12, 1, 2011 (New Series), 183-211
• Galia Golan, "The Cold War and the Soviet attitude towards the Arab–Israeli conflict" in Nigel Ashton (eds.), The Cold War in the Middle East. Regional Conflicst and the Superpowers, 1967-73, London: Routledge, 2007, pp. 59-73
• Massimiliano Trentin, "Tough negotiations'. The two Germanys in Syria and Iraq, 1963-74", Cold War History, 8, 3, 2008, pp. 353 — 380

Lecture 5: Political Islam and CW in WANA

•  Amin Saikal, "Islamism, the Iranian revolution, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan", in O.A. Westad, M. Leffler (eds.), Cambridge History of the Cold War, vol. 3, 2010
• Lorenz Lūthi, Cold Wars. Asia, the Middle East and Europe, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020, chp. 13

Lecture 6: The end of CW and its Impact on WANA

• Lorenz Lūthi, Cold Wars. Asia, the Middle East and Europe, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2020, Part 3, chp. 20
• Massimiliano Trentin, "The 1980s ‘debt crisis’ in the Middle East and North Africa: framing regional dynamics within the international stage at UNCTAD", Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 58, 2022.
• Mark Kramer, "The decline in Soviet arms transfers to the Third World, 1986–1991", in Artemy Kalinowsky, Sergei Radchenko, The End of the Cold War and the Third World, London: Routledge, 2011

 

Section B. SEMINAR 2

Lecture 1:

• Massimiliano Trentin, "Power and Integration. An Historical Overview on Euro- Mediterranean Relations", Marmara University Journal of Political Science, 6, 2018, DOI: 10.14782/ipsus.421020
• Raymond Hinnebusch, "From Imperialism to Failed Liberal Peace. How Europe contributed to MENA’s failing states system and how MENA blowback threatens Europe", Routledge Handbook of Mediterranean Politics, 2017, I ed. 

Lecture 2:

• Richard Gillespie and Frédéric Volpi, "Introduction: the growing international relevance of Mediterranean politics" in Richard Gillespie and Frédéric Volpi eds., Routledge Handbook of Mediterranean politics, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon, 2018
• Raffaella Del Sarto, Borderlands, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2021, Introduction, conclusions, chp 4
  

Lecture 3:

• Andrea Teti,"Democracy Without Social Justice: Marginalization of Social and Economic Rights in EU Democracy Assistance Policy after the Arab Uprisings", Middle East Critique, 24,1, 2015, pp. 9-25
• Daniela Huber, Asma Nouira, Maria Cristina Paciello, "The Mediterranean: A Space of Division, Disparity and Separation", MedReset Policy Papers, 2018
• Samir Aita, "Well-Being Societies in the Arab Region. Fighting All Kinds of Inequalities", IEMED Mediterranean Yearbook, 2022
  

Lecture 4:

• MedReset Papers on the Mediterranean and Israel + Turkey + Gulf States + Iran
• Mustafa AYDIN, Cihan DİZDAROĞLU, "Levantine Challenges on Turkish Foreign Policy", ULUSLARARASIiLiŞKiLER, Cilt 15, Sayı 60, 2018, 89-103
• Sanam Vakil, "Understanding Tehran’s Long Game in the Levant", ULUSLARARASIiLiŞKiLER, Cilt 15, Sayı 60, 2018, 105-120
  

Lecture 5:

• MedReset Paper on the Mediterranean and the USA
• Evrim GÖRMÜŞ and Soli ÖZEL, "US Policies Adrift in a Levant in Turmoil", ULUSLARARASIiLiŞKiLER, Cilt 15, Sayı 60, 2018, 135-151
  
  

Lecture 6:

• MedReset Papers on the Mediterranean and Russia and China
• Massimiliano Trentin, "Unlikely, wary … and yet coordinated: the “Innovative Conservatism” of Russia and China in the Middle East and North Africa", in Reconfiguration of Power, Authority and Territoriality, Elgar Publishing, 2023, 31-45
  
• Irina Zvyagelskaya, "Russian Policy in the Levant", ULUSLARARASIiLiŞKiLER, Cilt 15, Sayı 60, 2018, 121-134
  

Teaching methods

The course is based on a combination of Frontal Lectures, Discussions and Guest Lectures.

1. Frontal Lectures by the Professor: paying attention to the un-exceptional complexity of the area, the aim of the frontal lectures is to provide a consistent line of historical interpretation of the patterns of change in Western Asia and North Africa.

2. Discussion in Seminars: students will present and debate in class the topics of the readings they studied at home before. The aim is to stimulate cooperation and discussion among students on bibliographical research, as well as to improve their capabilities in public speeches.

3. Lectures by guests-scholars: these will integrate with further different perspectives and competences the topics under scrutiny.

Assessment methods

ATTENDING STUDENTS.

The final result is made out of two written exams, along the "Take Home" modality:

1. Participation in Class Discussions (33,3% of final grade), in particular during Classes of Section B: there, students will review at least 2 of the readings the followed by discussion with colleages and Professor.

2. Intermediate Exam (33,3% of final grade) - Take Home: One Open question (max 4 pages) concerning Section A and the related readings. Exam date: just after the end of the course before Christmas Holidays.

3. Final Exam (33,3% of final grade):

Elaboration of an Essay (max 10 pages) on topics of either Seminar 1 or 2: details on the topic to be agreed with the Professor in class.

Alternatively, the review of a monograph on topics of either Seminar 1 o 2.

Exam Date: one of the 6 exam dates (appelli) available during the regular Exam sessions (Winter; Summer)

 

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS.

The final result is made out of One written exam, along the "Take Home" modality:

Two Open Questions:

First and Second questions pertaining Section A (textbook and suggested readings): max 4 pages for two answers

The review of a monograph on topics of either Seminar 1 o 2, agreed with the Professor, and comparison with the readings of the related Seminar: max 6 pages. Contact the Professor to agree the Monograph by email or chat in MS Teams before starting studying.

Exam Date: One of the 6 exam dates (appelli) available during the regular Exam sessions (Winter; Summer)

 

Criteria for evaluation:

• 1. Ability to elaborate synthesis of the topics
• 2. Ability to locate and connect local events and dynamics with international and global processes
• 3. Ability to provide in depth-analysis of case-studies
• 4. Proficiency in writing in academic English language 

 

Procedural STEPS:

1. Before the Appello (Exam Date) Enroll to Alma Esami.

2. You will receive an invitation by Microsoft Teams to participate to the exam on the related date a few hours before.

3. On the exam date, students will access the webpage of EOL (Esami On Line), where the exam questions are located. The Professor will provide you and explain the Exam: text, questions and rules of delivery. Time for Q&A

4. Student Upload their answers in pdf files on the online platform EOL (esami-on-line) of Unibo, within 48 hours.

5. In order to control the originality of your work, every essay will be checked against any form of plagiarism by the softwares of the University of Bologna. The full bibliography (books and readings) of the course are included; Exam of previours years and major online databases are included.

6. Results will be published within the next 15 days by EOL. You will have 7 days to accept or refuse the result. Afterwards, results will be registered. Only and exclusively, those who refuse their results must write an email to the professor before 7 days.

7. ANY DELAY BEYOND THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE AS WELL AS ANY FORM OF PLAGIARISM WILL INVALIDATE THE FULL ESSAY AND WILL BE NOTIFIED TO AUTHORITIES IN CHARGE. PLAGIARISM IS A CRIME IN ITALIAN LAW AND WILL BE PUNISHED ACCORDINGLY.

Teaching tools

The course will make use of ppt and audio-visuals whenever necessary.

Public collections of Primary sources (State and Int. Org. documents):

Databases:

The Middle East and North Africa (la 71a in stampa),Taylor & Francis

 

1.International Organizations

UN and UN Agencies Archives:

https://archives.un.org/content/explore-archives

https://digitallibrary.un.org

https://documents.un.org/prod/ods.nsf/home.xsp

 

World Bank Group:

http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/160371587056386053/69356-Open-Archives-Brochure-April-2020-update.pdf

https://oralhistory.worldbank.org

International Monetary Fund:

https://www.imf.org/en/About/Archives

 

2. National and Regional Sources:

European Union

https://www.eui.eu/Research/HistoricalArchivesOfEU

https://ec.europa.eu/historical_archives/index_en.htm

http://www.archivesportaleurope.net/home

Italy:

Foreign Policy and History

http://www.farnesina.ipzs.it/series/

Senato della Repubblica

https://patrimonio.archivio.senato.it

Partito socialista italiano

https://patrimonio.archivio.senato.it/inventario/fondazione-turati/partito-socialista-italiano-psi-direzione-nazionale

Fondazione Lelio Basso e Sezione internazionale

https://www.fondazionebasso.it/2015/archivio-storico/fondi-archivio/archivi-istituzionali/

Fondazione Gramsci - Partito Comunista italiano

https://www.fondazionegramsci.org/archivi/inventari-degli-archivi/

https://www.fondazionegramsci.org/archivi/inventari-degli-archivi/

Istituto Luigi Sturzo - Archivo Storico e Democrazia Cristiana

http://old.sturzo.it

http://old.sturzo.it/archivio-andreotti/l-archivio

United States of America:

Foreign Relations of the United States of America:

https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments

National Security Archives of the United States of America

https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/

United Kingdom's National Archives:

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk [https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/]

Federal Republic of Germany:

https://www.ifz-muenchen.de/aktuelles/themen/akten-zur-auswaertigen-politik/

https://www.ifz-muenchen.de/aktuelles/themen/akten-zur-auswaertigen-politik/open-access/

German Democratic Republic:

https://www.ifz-muenchen.de/aktuelles/themen/akten-zur-auswaertigen-politik/zusatzdokumente-zur-edition-die-einheit/

France:

https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/archives-diplomatiques/

 

3. Topics and other Sources:

Sources on the Cold War:

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/program/cold-war-international-history-project

Sources on the Contemporary International History:

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blogs/sources-and-methods

Sources and database on Armed Conflicts Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI):

https://www.sipri.org

Sources on International and Social History:

International Institute of Social History

https://iisg.amsterdam/en

 

Sources on Non Aligned Movement et al. 

https://ris.org.in/en/documents-non-aligned-movement

https://www.nam-globe-exchange.org/online-resources

 

Sources on the Middle East and North Africa:

https://www.unescwa.org

https://hazine.info/

https://merip.org

https://www.jadaliyya.com

Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question: https://palquest.org

Office hours

See the website of Massimiliano Trentin