HISTORY OF US-MIDDLE EAST RELATIONS

AMST 224--SPRING 2008

Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D. Course Room No.: S17-229

Class SMW: 9:30-10:45 INTERNET: cscpo@arts.uob.bh

Office Hours: By appointment Office No.: S17-263

VOICE: 17438775 (W) 17729091 (H)

The historical development of the US approach and policies toward the Middle East since the colonial era, with special emphasis on the relationship from World War I to the present.

Grading Policy: 20% for Attendance*; 20% for the Class Presentation; 20% for the Midterm Exam; 20% for the Research Paper; and 20% for the Final Exam. A Guidelines sheet will be distributed outlining the requirements for your Class Presentation and for your Research Paper.

Grading Scale: 93-100=A; 90-92=A-; 88-89=B+; 83-87=B; 80-82=B-; 78-79=C+; 73-77=C; 70-72=C-; 68-69=D+; 63-67=D; 60-62=D-; 0-59=F

Attendance Policy*: Attendance in class is mandatory. It is the student’s responsibility to sign the attendance sheet each day of class; failure to sign the attendance sheet—even if in attendance—will be counted as an absence. If your unexcused absences exceed 25% of the total number of lectures of the course in this semester, you will be automatically withdrawn from the course and be given a grade of (WF) which will be counted towards your GPA. As well, you are expected to follow the syllabus and accordingly be prepared for each day's class. This means that you must read the pre-assigned readings before class so that you will be prepared to discuss and debate in class the subject matter scheduled for that day and answer questions related to the issues being covered.

* Absence from class may be made up by preparing a two-page, typed (i.e. using maximum 12 point font size and maximum double-spaced text with one-inch margin on all sides), summary on the missed material scheduled to be covered the day(s) of your absence. The summary must be in your own words and must not be copied material from the text(s), the internet, or any other source(s). All summaries must be turned in to me by the last day of classes if you want credit for your absences.

Cell Phone Policy: TURN OFF all cell phones during class. Any student whose cell phone rings, sounds alarm, or makes any noise whatsoever during class must immediately leave the classroom for that day. This policy applies to any electronic device students carry with them.

Required Texts:

Lesch, David W., Ed. 1999. The Middle East and the United States: A Historical and Political Reassessment. Second Edition. New York, NY: Westview Pess. [ISBN 0-8133-3940-5]

Melani McAlister. 2001/2005. Epic Encounters: Culture, Media and U. S. Interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000, Second Edition. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. [ISBN 0-520-24499-0]

Supplemental Readings can be accessed at the class webpage at: <http://userspages.uob.edu.bh/cscpo/amst224.htm>.

Feb. 27: Introduction to U.S.-Middle East Relations

Mar. 3: The Cultural Politics of Encounter

Required Readings: McAlister, Preface, Introduction: “Middle East Interests,” pp. xi-xv & pp. 1-4

Mar. 5: Middle East Interests, Moral Geographies and the Cultural Field, Orientalism and Beyond, The Middle East as “Holy Land”

Required Readings: McAlister, Introduction, “Moral Geographies and Cultural Field,” “Orientalism and Beyond,” “The Middle East as ‘Holy Land’,” pp. 4-20

Mar. 6: [Last day for dropping courses]

Mar. 9-Apr. 30: Withdrawal Period with (W)

Mar. 10: Shopping the Orient, Expanding Interests, Defining the Middle East and Its People, Contested Encounters—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

Required Readings: McAlister, Introduction, “Shopping the Orient,” “Expanding Interests,” “Defining the Middle East and Its People,” “Contested Encounters,” pp. 20-42

Mar. 12: “Benevolent Supremacy”

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 1, “Benevolent Supremacy: The Biblical Epic at the Dawn of the American Century, 1947-1960” pp. 43-47

Mar. 17: “Benevolent Supremacy”

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 1, “The Moment of NSC-68,” pp. 47-55

Mar. 19: “Benevolent Supremacy”

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 1, “The ‘History’ of Epics,” “The People of the Epics,” pp. 56-67

Mar. 20: Prophet’s birthday [No classes]

Mar. 24: “Benevolent Supremacy”—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 1, “The Gendered Logics of the Slave State,” “The Middle East and Benevolent Supremacy,” pp. 67-83

Mar. 26: African American Cultural Politics

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 2, Introduction, “‘That Marvellous Movement’,” “The Nation and Its Limits,” pp. 84-91

Mar. 31: African American Cultural Politics

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 2, “One Black Allah,” “Communities in Conflict,” pp. 101-115

Apr. 2: African American Cultural Politics—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 2, “Beyond Islam,” “And Beyond the Black Atlantic,” pp. 115-124

Apr. 4-6: Bahrain Grand Prix (Possible Holiday) Otherwise In-Class Presentation Day

Apr. 7: King Tut, Commodity Nationalism

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 3, Introduction, pp. 125-127

Apr. 9: King Tut, Commodity Nationalism

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 3, Introduction, “Making Art at the Met,” “Oil and the Universal Heritage,” “The Blackness of Egypt,” pp. 127-149

Apr. 14: King Tut, Commodity Nationalism

Required Readings: McAlister, Ch. 3, “Selling Blackness, American Style,” pp. 149-154

Apr. 16: Midterm Exam

Apr. 20-24: Mid-semester Break [No classes]

Apr. 28: From Idealism to Realism: Wilsonian Intent to Cold War Practice

Required Readings: Lesch, Preface to the Third Edition, Note on the Text, Introduction, Ch. 1, “The Ironic Legacy of the King-Crane Commission,” pp. xi-29

Apr. 30: From Idealism to Realism: Wilsonian Intent to Cold War Practice—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 5, “The Mussadiq Era in Iran, 1951-1953: A Contemporary Diplomat’s View,” pp. 78-86

May 1: International Labor Day [Holiday—No Classes]

May 5: The Cold War in the Middle East

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 6, “National Security Concerns in U.S. Policy Toward Egypt, 1949-1956,” pp. 89-99

May 7: The Cold War in the Middle East [Research Papers Due]

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 7, “The Perils of Ambiguity: The United States and the Baghdad Pact,” pp. 100-119

May 12: The Cold War in the Middle East—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 10, “U.S. Policy and Military Intervention in the 1958 Lebanon Crisis,” pp. 149-167

May 14: The Cold War in the Middle East—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 11, “The United States and Nasserist Pan-Arabism,” pp. 168-187

May 19: War and Peace, War and Peace

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 12, “The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: U.S. Actions and Arab Perceptions,” pp. 191-210

May 21: War and Peace, War and Peace—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 14, “The United States and Israel: The Nature of a Special Relationship,” pp. 233-251

May 26: American Held Hostage

Film: American Held Hostage (In “Becoming Free, Episode 16), VHS (17 minutes) (Start at 34:00)

May 28: The Gulf Crisis and War [Last Day for In-Class Presentations]

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 17, “The United States in the Persian Gulf: From Twin Pillars to Dual Containment”

June 2: The Gulf Crisis and War—Guest lecture by Fulbright Scholar Julia Kirby

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 20, “From ‘Over the Horizon’ to ‘Into the Backyard’: The U.S.-Saudi Relationship and the Gulf War,” pp. 357-370

June 4: The Gulf Crisis and War

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 21, “The Soviet Union, the Gulf War, and Its Aftermath: A Case Study in Limited Superpower Cooperation,” pp. 371-393

June 9: Retrospective and Reassessment; Last day of class; Review

Required Readings: Lesch, Ch. 27, “Islamist Perceptions of U.S. Policy in the Middle East”, Postscript, “Americans and the Muslim World—First Encounters”, pp. 467-501

June 21: Final Exam 14:30-16:30

June 28: Last day for submitting grades