Political Science
2377W
Fall 2013
Comparative Politics of the Middle East |
Instructor: Nathan
J. Brown Professor of Political Science and International
Affairs |
Monday,
Wednesday 2:20-3:35 Corcoran
106 |
Teaching Assistant: Dorothy Smith Ohl Ph. D. Student, Department of Political Science |
This course offers an overview of
Middle East politics, focusing on issues of regime type, the politics of
religion, and political economy.
The first unit of the course probes the historical development of
politics in the region. The second
unit concerns religion and politics.
Subsequent units focus on particular political systems: Egypt, the Arab
states of the Gulf, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, and Israel. In the country studies, students will be
invited to consider the historical evolution of the political system largely in
terms of the broader themes of the course.
After completing the course, students
should have an understanding of the basic political institutions and dynamics
of major states in the region, an ability to follow regional debates about the
role of religion in politics, an understanding of the relationship between
economics and politics in the Middle East, an improved capacity to critically
assess information about regional politics, and a greater ability to write
analytically about politics in the Middle East.
Books
The following
books are all available in the GW Bookstore for purchase:
o Michele Angrist,
Politics and Society in the Contemporary Middle East
(second edition)
o L. Carl Brown, Religion and
State
o Marc Lynch, The Arab Uprising
o Said Arjomand,
After
Khomeini
o
Charles Tripp, History of Iraq
Many
other readings will be made available on line through Blackboard.
Requirements
The course grade will be based on the following
components:
The analytical paper (40%):
o
We will hold
a class session on October 3 to discuss how to make and substantiate a written
argument within the discipline of political science.
o
Students will
select one of two paper topics as the basis for an eight-ten page
essay. The first draft will be due at the beginning of a class discussion,
as indicated on the syllabus. Students will revise the paper in light of
the class discussion and the instructorÕs comments. The second draft will
be due one week after the papers are returned. Both drafts will count
equally toward the final grade. The second draft will be graded with the
expectation of improvement. There will be a significant penalty for late
papers.
o
Note: I will
grade and comment on the first draft of the paper. The second
draft will be graded by the teaching assistant.
o
Students must
sign up for one of the two paper topics in advance. No more than twenty-five
students may select any topic. Beginning September 10 (and not
sooner), I will accept e-mail requests (to nbrown@gwu.edu) to sign up for paper topics. I will assign
topics on a first-come, first-served basis.
o
Please
note: I expect the papers to be clearly written attempts to answer the
assigned questions. No outside research is necessary. In fact, it is
strongly discouraged.
o
Further
instructions on the papers will be given in class.
The comparison paper (20%):
o
Specialists in comparative politics analyze
politics by comparing cases, sometimes implicitly and sometimes explicitly. The
goal is generally to understand causation: what explains political
outcomes. Comparison is a critical
tool to help us narrow in on particular factors. For this paper, you will be
presented with two or three cases. You will then be asked to deploy your
knowledge of these Middle East cases to shed light on a general debate in
political science.
o
For instance, you may be asked to compare Iran
in 1979 to Iran in 2009, in order to explain what causes revolution—why
it occurs at some times and not others. Or, you may be asked to compare Egypt,
Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia in 2011, in order to assess the relationship between
regime type and political stability. The teaching assistant and I will provide
guidance on writing a comparison paper in political science.
o
The paper will be 8-10 pages.
o
You will be able to choose between at least
two prompts, but will be required to write on countries NOT covered in your
analytical paper.
o
Material supporting your paper's argument will
be drawn from course readings, lectures, and limited outside
of class research.
o
There will be a peer-review process; details
will be given in class. A session devoted to this peer review will be held
November 6.
The midterm examination (20%) October 23
The final examination
(20%)
o
Both the
midterm and the final will be short essay, in class examinations.
o
They will be
based primarily on the readings.
o
Both
examinations will be graded by the teaching assistant.
Required
meeting with TA
This
is a ÒWriting in the DisciplineÓ (WID) course. The assignments are therefore
designed to help develop your ability to write as a political scientist and to
draw on scholarship by political scientists in other forms of writings.
In
addition, a teaching assistant has been assigned to this course to help
students with their writing. Each
student should call on the TA when s/he feels it might be helpful. TA guidance is not only offered; it is
required in that each student must make an individual appointment with the TA
to discuss writing at least one point during the semester. FAILURE TO HOLD AT LEAST ONE INDIVIDUAL
MEETING WILL RESULT IN A FAILING GRADE FOR ONE WRITING ASSIGNMENT.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
Students should familiarize
themselves with GWÕs Code of Academic Integrity: http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html. The issue that has proven
most problematic in my past courses has been plagiarism. Students should
therefore take particular note of the definition of plagiarism and the
procedures for violation explicated in the Code.
Course Outline
and calendar (subject to minor modifications)
Date |
Subject |
Reading/Assignment |
|
Aug 26 |
Modern Politics I |
|
|
Aug 28 |
Modern Politics II |
|
|
Sep 4 |
Modern Politics III |
By this date, finish
reading Angrist, Politics and Society, the following chapters: o Angrist, The Making of Middle East Politics o El-Ghobashy,
Governments & Oppositions o Moore, Political Economy o Carapico, Civil Society o Schwedler, Religion and Politics o Patel, Identity and Politics o Singerman, Gender and Politics |
|
Sep 9 |
Modern
Politics III |
|
|
Sep 11 |
Islam and Politics I |
|
|
Sep 16 |
Islam and Politics II |
|
|
Sep 18 |
Islam and Politics III |
By this date, finish
reading: o Brown, Religion
and State o Qutb, Milestones (Blackboard; in this edition, the
text is on pp. 23-177; all the other supplementary material is optional) o Brown and Lombardi, ÒTranslation: The Supreme
Constitutional Court of Egypt on Islamic Law, Veiling and Civil Rights: An
Annotated Translation of Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Case No. 8 of
Judicial Year 17 (May 18, 1996)Ó (Blackboard) |
|
Sep 23 |
FIRST CLASS DISCUSSION
AND WRITING WORKSHOP |
All students should come
prepared with an answer to two questions: 1.
Does the
existence of an Islamic legal tradition affirm or undermine state authority? 2.
Qutb presents his
ideas as timeless, but Brown argues that the dominant approach among Islamic
scholars historically showed deference to state authorities. Why have radical
ideas gained greater currency in the modern era? |
|
Sept 25 |
Egypt I |
|
|
Sep 30 |
Egypt II |
|
|
Oct 2 |
Egypt
III |
By this date, finish
reading: o Angrist, chapter on Egypt o Lynch, Arab
Uprising o Egypt readings on Blackboard o
Mandaville,
"The Unexceptional Islamists" o
Brown,
"Egypt's Transition Imbroglio" o
Brown,
ÒEgyptÕs Wide State Reassembles ItselfÓ o
Van
Antwerp, ÒPost Soviet Lessons for EgyptÓ o
Hanna,
ÒBlame MorsiÓ o
Brown,
ÒEgypt Official Declares What Is and What IsnÕt ImportantÓ |
|
Oct 7 |
FIRST PAPER/DISCUSSION |
|
|
Oct 9 |
Security Services |
By this date, finish
reading: o
Owen, ÒThe
Military in and Out of PoliticsÓ (Blackboard) o
Barany,
ÒThe Role of the MilitaryÓ (Blackboard) |
|
Oct 14 |
Arabian Peninsula I |
|
|
Oct 16 |
Arabian Peninsula II |
By this date, finish
reading: o Angrist o
chapter on Kuwait
and UAE by Herb o
chapter on Saudi
Arabia by Okruhlik o Readings on Blackboard: o Herb, "Nation of Bureaucrats" o Paul Salem, "Kuwait: Politics in a
Participatory Emirate"
o Looney, "The Window is Closing" o Brown, "Why Won't Saudi Arabia Write Down
Its Laws?" o Wehrey, ÒA New Saudi Arabia?Ó o Kinnimont, "Bahrain's Still Stuck" o Brown, "Kuwait's Short Nineteenth
Century" o Diwan, ÒThe Politics of Transgression in KuwaitÓ |
|
Oct 21 |
Iran I |
|
|
Oct 23 |
MIDTERM |
|
|
Oct 28 |
Iran II |
|
|
Oct 30 |
Iran
III |
By this date, finish
reading: o
Angrist, chapter on Iran by Keshavarzian o Khomeini, Islamic
Government (Blackboard) o Arjomand, After
Khomeini o Iran Primer (links on Blackboard): o Sadjapour, "Supreme Leader" o Bakhash, "Six Presidents" o Farhi, "The Parliament" |
|
Nov 4 |
Iraq I |
|
|
Nov 6 |
COMPARISON PAPER
SESSION |
|
|
Nov 11 |
Iraq II |
|
|
Nov 13 |
Iraq III |
By this date, finish
reading: o Angrist, chapter on Iraq by Lawson o Trip, History
of Iraq o International Crisis Group, ÒFailing Oversight,Ó
Blackboard o International Crisis Group, ÒDŽjˆ vu All Over
Again: IraqÕs Escalating Political Crisis,Ó Blackboard |
|
Nov 18 |
SECOND PAPER/DISCUSSION |
|
|
Nov 20 |
Palestine I |
|
|
Nov 25 |
Palestine II |
By this date, finish
reading: o Angrist, chapter on Palestine by Brown o Articles on Blackboard:
|
|
Dec 2 |
Israel |
Angrist, chapter on Israel by Dowty |
|
Dec 4 |
Israel and Palestine
compared |
Read, print out, and
bring to class the Declarations of Independence of the United States, Israel,
and Palestine. (Copies posted on
Blackboard) |
|