31709 - International Relations of The Middle East

Course contents

The course is divided into two sections (20h each). At the end of every week, a seminar will be held where students (single or in group) will present and debate their papers on the topics they chose at the beginning of course.

The first section deals with the relationship between processes of economic and social development and the Arab uprisings since 2011. Such events will be analyzed through an historical and comparative perspective in order to detect the continuities and discontinuities of the current set of transformations as well as the role of international factors.

The second section of the course will focus on the case-study of Syria: the history of the international relations of the Arab country, the construction and development of the Ba'thist regime across time and the eruption of the conflict since 2011

Readings/Bibliography

For all students:

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

2. James L. Gelvin, The Modern Middle East: A History, Third Edition. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press,  2011 (only for those who did not attend any course on the history of the Middle East before)

 

For Attender students one monograph, for Non-Attender students one monograph for every Focus to choose from:

Focus on Economy,  Society and Revolts

Maria Cristina Paciello, Intorduzione all'economia del mondo arabo, Nuova Cultura, Roma, 2010

Samir Aita, Le travailleurs arabes hors-la-loi, l'Harmattan, Paris, 2011

Charles Tripp, Islam and the Moral Economy. The Challenge of Capitalism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006

Joel Beinin, Workers and Peasants in the Modern Middle East, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001

James L. Gelvin, The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming in 2011

Massimiliano Trentin (eds.) "I conflitti nel mondo arabo all'epoca delle rivolte", Dossier, Afriche e Orienti, n. 1/2, 2013

Leonardo Paggi (a cura di), Le Rivolte Arabe e le repliche della storia, Ombre Corte, Verona, 2014

Focus on Syria

Lorenzo Trombetta, Siria. Dagli ottomani agli Asad. E oltre, Mondadori Università, Milano, 2013

Raymond Hinnebusch, Syria: Revolution from Above, Routledge, 2001

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 (90% of lessons, at least)

The final result is the sum of the Course Attendance (25%), Oral Presentation+written essay (25%) and the final Oral Exam (50%): the questions will deal with the the text-book (1 question) and the monograph chosen (1 question).

Non-Attenders

The evaluation exam will consist on an Oral Exam of 4 questions: relating to the main text (2 questions) and the two monographs (2 questions)

Teaching tools

Other bibliography for the Seminars will be provided by the professor and uploaded on the AMS Campus Alma DL, Power Points presentations, Audiovisual documentaries

Office hours

See the website of Massimiliano Trentin