This course is a narrative history of U.S. political involvement in the Middle East from World War I to the present day. Presented from an historian’s perspective, it is meant to strengthen your ability to place today’s events into historical context, evaluate what is most likely to happen next, and understand those oncoming events when they do occur.
Topics covered include:
- the Arab-Israeli conflict
- superpower rivalry
- decolonization and Arab nationalism
- Islamic revivalism
- the background and meaning of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The lectures also examine how the different agendas of Arabs, Iranians, Turks, Jews, Kurds, and other groups have affected their relationships with the United States.