Comparative Politics of the Middle East

American University in Cairo, Fall 2016-17

Comparative politics of the Middle East

PS 3408-02

Fall 2016

Date and time: Monday- Thursday 10:05-11:25

Location: C148 HUSS

Instructor: Amal Hamada

Contact Info:

Office hours: Monday: 11:30-12:30, Thursday 11:30-12:30 or with appointment.

Office: HUSS 2011

Course content:

This course aims at introducing students to the politics of the Middle East from a comparative perspective. For the last 5 years hundreds of articles, editorials, reports, documentaries and books have been produced and published discussing the recent political developments in the region. Labeling what happened in the Arab World since late 2010 as great social revolution or part of a greater conspiracy is not the question in this course. The course philosophy is based on acknowledging the profound transformations unfolding not only in the Middle East but also rather around the globe. Thus, the course will focus on discovering different factors affecting the turbulent future of democracy in the region within the perspective of these transformations.

The course will start with a brief history and discussion of the political history of the region and its implication on the political/ social and economic developments of building modern nation states. The second part will focus more on discussing certain issues and their developments in case studies. Gender, sectarianism and social movements will be the lenses through which we will discuss different cases in the region. Our scope goes beyond focusing on the so-called “Arab Spring” to focus on more comprehensive interactions.

Our approach to the study of politics of the Middle East will cover the interaction of the society and the state in terms to the three-abovementioned themes. Gender relations and women status in different countries of the region are reflective of more than one dimension of the country. Moreover, democratization, social transformation and /or revolution are intertwined with women issues and gender relations.

Some observers tend to over- emphasize the importance of ethnic/sectarian component of the region, while others undermine its existence and tend to stress the “unitary” dimension of the Arab World versus the “Mosaic” character attached to the term “Middle East”. Our focus throughout the course will be an attempt to understand the ethnic and sectarian factor and its implication on the political/ social/ economic make- up of different cases.

The academic and political debates about political developments in the last five years are not going to end soon. Yet, we can all agree on the significant and important roles played by social movements in the overall developments/ transformations in the region. The interaction between social movements and their respective societies and ruling regimes would help us acquire a better ability to their evaluation and potential future.

The course will end with a focus on what we may call a Stand Alone Case; political economic and social developments in a very complicated violent situations. The case of Yemen and Libya (not to exclude Syria) present a real challenge to academia and observers in terms of analyzing and understanding. The last part of the semester will pay special attention to one of these cases in order to enhance our understanding of the complexities of political/social/economic map of the region.

It is important to note that these themes and others as well are intertwined, our attempts to study each one of them separately from the greater context is not going to succeed; hence, we have to bear in mind that there is an element of intersectionality necessary for understanding politics of the region.

Course outcomes:

By the end of this course, successful students should be able to:

-  Acquire a better understanding of the developments of different cases in the region.

-  Understand the internal dynamics of the region and the course of developments taking place.

-  Develop critical understanding of literature available related to theoretical concepts and their interpretations.

Attendance and cell phone policy

Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. A student who misses more than the equivalent of three weeks of class meetings during a semester for any reason may be assigned a reduced grade for the course — including the grade of “F” — solely on the basis of inadequate attendance, regardless of excuse... Students who miss fewer than three weeks of class sessions may not be penalized on the grounds of attendance alone... Students are personally responsible for making up any academic tasks and assignments missed due to their absence.

Your physical attendance in class is not enough, you need to pay full attention and participate in discussions. Therefore, cell phones are not allowed in class. Kindly, turn them off or put them to mute mode.

Blackboard

All members of the class must enter their AUC email addresses on Blackboard.

Course readings

Roger Owen (2004). State, Power, and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East. London: Routledge.

In addition to other readings assigned for every session. All readings will be posted on Blackboard accordingly.

Assignments:

There will be four assignments on weeks 6,9,13 and 15 on the assigned readings stand for 20% of the grade. Two mid-term exams on weeks 5 and 11 that stand for 20%, class participation and attendance stand for 10%.

A final paper to be based on the assigned readings augmented by some independent research stands for 50% (10% of the grade is allocated for the oral presentation in class and 40% for the final draft submitted by the end of the semester). The paper due date is to be decided later.

What is expected in your assignments: a well-developed argument based on a critical reading of the assigned readings. How do you respond to the ideas\ concepts and or analysis in these readings? Each assignment should be around 500 words.

What is expected in your final paper?

-  Come to see me to discuss the topic and approve it.

-  Word count is around 5000 words; format and font are up to you.

-  Introduction to the research question and the importance of the topic to you\the course.

-  What is the approach\methodology you are using to research your topic

-  A clear division of the idea and parts of the topic.

-  Full and scientific citation and documentation of all material used in the paper.

-  A conclusion

-  A bibliography (scientifically documented).

-  A presentation in class; you are advised to be as creative as possible, use whatever material you want in order to impress the class including me.

Grades

All grades are based on a 100 point scale where 96-100=A, 91-95=A-, 86-90=B+, 81-85=B, 76-80=B-, 72-75=C+, 69-71= C, 66-70=C-, 56-65=D+, 50-55=D, less than 50=F, etc. In case of late submissions, penalties will be applied.

Academic Integrity Policy: The Political Science Department has a policy of zero-tolerance for plagiarism and academic dishonesty. Read the University Code of Ethics and check the webpage on academic integrity at: http://www.aucegypt.edu/resources/acadintegrity/. Trip Gabriel, in an article entitled “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age” for The New York Times August 1, 2010 wrote that these days “many students simply do not grasp that using words they did not write is a serious misdeed.” He saw a disconnect “growing in the Internet age as concepts of intellectual property, copyright and originality are under assault.” Not only does digital technology make it easy to copy and paste, he argued, but the internet “may also be redefining how students — who came of age with music file-sharing, Wikipedia and Web-linking — understand the concept of authorship and the singularity of any text or image.“ Yet students and professionals need to respect authorship and the importance of citing sources. As Patrick Pexton wrote in the Washington Post on January 18, 2013 about a case of (perhaps inadvertent) plagiarism by a reporter for his newspaper, even though it sometimes seems that “technology made us all plagiarists,” it is a firm principle of research, writing, and fact checking that “we give credit where credit is due. Every day, every time.” We will attend to these issues not only to avoid accusations of cheating but in order to appreciate and implement the high standards of documentation in academic and professional writing. Sources of information and methodologies for gathering and analyzing information matter a great deal.

In other words: full correct citations are required on all work submitted, and the paper you submit must be in your own words except as credited to other authors.

Week / Topic and readings / Comments
Week 1
September 1 / No class. Syllabus will be available on Blackboard. / No class
Week 2
5,8 September / - No class on the 5th
-  Roger Owen (2004). State, Power, and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East. London: Routledge. Chapter 1 / No class on 5th
One class
Week 3
12,15 September / Eid Week http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2007/10/arabworld/10arabworld.pdf / Eid Week
Week4
19, 22 September / Owen Chapter 2 and 3 / Two classes
The HeyDemann article is useful in understanding the cracks in the Arab systems prior to 2011.
Week 5
26, 29 September / -  Owen, Chapter 5 (Israel, Turkey, Iran)
-  Steven HeyDemann (2007) Upgrading Authoritarianism in the Arab World, The Saban Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the Brookings Institution, No13, October. Available on the following link:
-  Marlies Glasius and Geoffrey Pleyers (2013), The global moment of 2011: Democracy, Social Justice and Dignity”, in Development and Change, Vol. 44, No.3, pp.547-567 / First Mid-term
In class answer a question on Owen Chapters 1,2 and 3
Week 6
3, 6 October,
6 October (No Class, Army Day) / Ethnic and sectarian relations in the Middle East
Watch the movie: West Beirut on the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9v5Ws3AJXA
In class we will watch clips of the movie and discuss it. Watch it before hand and come prepared for discussion / No class on 6th / One class
first assignment
Watch the movie at home and write 500 words discussing the movie in terms on sectarian relations.
Week 7
10,13 October / -  Ceren Belge and Ekrem Karakoc (2015), Minorities in the Middle East: Ethnicity, Religion and support for Authoritarianism”, in Political Research quarterly, Vol. 68, No.2, pp 280-292. Available on the following link: http://tr6rt9pf7u.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Minorities+in+the+Middle+East%3A+Ethnicity%2C+Religion%2C+and+Support+for+Authoritarianism&rft.jtitle=Political+Research+Quarterly&rft.au=Ceren+Belge&rft.au=Ekrem+Karako%C3%A7&rft.date=2015-06-01&rft.pub=SAGE+PUBLICATIONS%2C+INC&rft.issn=1065-9129&rft.eissn=1938-2758&rft.volume=68&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=280&rft.externalDocID=3718686261&paramdict=en-US
-  Saba Mahmoud (2012), Religious Freedoms, the Minority Question and the Geopolitics in the Middle East, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol.45, No.2, pp 418-446. Available on the following link: http://tr6rt9pf7u.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Religious+Freedom%2C+the+Minority+Question%2C+and+Geopolitics+in+the+Middle+East&rft.jtitle=Comparative+Studies+in+Society+and+History&rft.au=Saba+Mahmood&rft.date=2012-04-01&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.issn=0010-4175&rft.eissn=1475-2999&rft.volume=54&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=418&rft_id=info:doi/10.1017%2FS0010417512000096&rft.externalDocID=2620172331&paramdict=en-US / Two classes
Week 8
17,20 October / -  Paul Kingston (2013), Reproducing Sectarianism, Sectarian Democracy in Modern Lebanon: its emergence, Consolidation and Reproduction, State University of New York Press, Chapter 2
-  Fredric Wehrey (2015), Saudi Arabia’s Anxious Autocrats, in Journal of Democracy, Vol.2, No.2, April 2015, pp. 71-85
Week 9
24,27 October / -  Hamad H. Albloshi(2016), Sectarianism and the Arab Spring: The Case of The Kuwaiti Shi’a, the Muslim World
-  Cody Mcclain Brown (2015), Mobilizing the Caliphate: ISIS and the Conflict in Iraq and Syria, Croatian Political Science Review, Vol., 52, No 4-5, pp. 203-214 / 2 classes
Second assignment
Week 10
31 October, 3 November / Social Movements and resistance
-  Charles Tripp (2013), the Power and the People: Paths of Resistance in the Middle East, Cambridge. Chapter 6
-  Maha AbdelRahman (2015), Social Movements and the Question of Organization: Egypt and Everywhere, LSE Middle East Center / 2 classes
Week 11
7,10 November / Social movement under occupation in Palestine
-  Re-cap on history of occupation.
-  Sara Helman (2015), Challenging the Israeli Occupation Through Testimony and Confession: The Case of Anti-Denial SMOs Machson Watch and Breaking the Silence, in International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, Vol. 28, pp. 377-394
-  Sibille Merz Missionaries of the New Era: Neoliberalism and NGO in Palestine” in Race and Class, available on the following link:
http://rac.sagepub.com.library.aucegypt.edu:2048/content/54/1/50.full.pdf+html
-  / 2 classes
Second Mid-term on 10 November
Week 12
14,17 November / Gender in the Middle east
-  Mounira M. Charrad, Gender in the Middle East: Islam, State and Agency, Annual. Rev. Sociology. 2011. 37:417–37
-  Laura Sjoberg and Jonathon Whooley (2015), The Arab Spring For Women? Representations of Women in the Middle East Politics in 2011”, Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, Vol.36, No.3Available on the following link:
-  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1554477X.2015.1050902 / 2 classes
Week 13
21,24 November
24 November (Thanksgiving, No class) / -  Asef Bayat (2007), A women’s non movement: what it means to be a woman activist in an Islamic State, “Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vo.27, No. 1, pp. 160-172 / One class
Third assignment
Prepare a list of top 15 women organization in a country of your choice. Top in terms of membership and history
Week 14
28 November,
1 December / -  Loes Debuysere (2016), Tunisian Women at the Crossroads: Antagonism and Agonism Between Secular and Islamist Women Rights Movements in Tunisia, Mediterranean Politics, Vol21, No. 2. Available on the following link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2015.1092292
-  Yesim Arat (2010), Religion, Politics and Gender Equality in Turkey: Implications of a Democratic Paradox?, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 31, No 6, pp. 869-884. / 2 classes
Week 15
5,8 December
Week 16
12 December (Prophet Day)
15 December
Last Day of Class / Stand alone case studies
Libya or Yemen?
Readings will be assigned later upon choosing the case study.
Rap- Up and final papers submission / Three classes
Final assignment: before class search and read about the country assigned and come to class sharing the information
Three extra classes for final presentations.

Make up for 3 cancelled classes will be determined later, kindly check your emails and blackboard regularly for information. The three make up classes will be allocated for paper presentations; hence they would be at the end of the semester.

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