INTRODUCTION

         This course examines the history of the Arab world (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the states along the periphery of the Arabian Peninsula), Israel, Iran, and Turkey from approximately 1945 to the present.
         The objective of the course is to familiarize students with the most crucial political, social, and economic factors shaping the history of the Middle East and North Africa since the end of the Second World War.  Among other issues, the course will deal with the Palestine question and the Arab-Israeli conflicts that have emerged from it; the      termination of the last vestiges of European colonial rule, particularly in North Africa; the formulation of new ideologies by Middle Eastern leaders and the problems arising from them in both global and regional terms; the nature of the political systems that have evolved in the region in the post-war period; and the consequences of the rapid political, social, and economic changes that have occurred in many Middle Eastern and North  Africa states.
         A related objective is to increase students' awareness of current issues in the     Middle East and North Africa and to establish a historical context for those events.  Consequently, students are encouraged to keep abreast of current events, which will be linked to lecture topics, class discussions, and video materials as appropriate and        feasible.

TEXTBOOKS

The required books for this course are:
  William Cleveland, History of the Modern Middle East
  The Hammond Atlas of the Middle East
  Jabra I. Jabra, Hunters in a Narrow Street
  Aicha Lemsine, Beneath a Sky of Porphyry
  Charles Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING SYSTEM
The final grade for the course will be determined as follows:
  1 map quiz, 10%
  2 hour tests (mid-term and final), 25% each
  2 essays (4-5 pages), 15% each
  4 reaction papers (1 page), 10%