Module SGIA2311: MIDDLE EAST IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA2311: MIDDLE EAST IN THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM

Prerequisites

• Any Level 1 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• The aim of the module is to provide an empirical and theoretical overview of the Middle East and its interaction with the international system. Students will complete the course having gained an insight into an often misread region that is not only central to understanding a number of the world’s longest running conflicts, but is also home to the world’s greatest oil exporters, and now plays a key role in the War on Terror.

Content

• This module will begin by providing a brief historical background to the Middle East and its interaction with the international system. Particular emphasis will be placed on Britain’s informal empire in the Gulf, the Anglo-French mandates in Egypt, Iraq, and the Levant, the period of Arab nationalist revolutions, and the Middle East’s role in the Cold War.
• The module will consider various theories of international relations and their applicability to the Middle East before assessing the impact of the contemporary international system on the region.
• The module will consider the role of Israel, Arab nationalism, and political Islam in the international relations of the Middle East. Particular emphasis will be placed on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Iran-Iraq War, the Kuwaiti Crisis, the Iraq War, and the War on Terror.
• The module will then consider the various foreign policy processes and determinants in contemporary Middle East states, with a number of key foreign policy case studies of regional powers, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Iran. These case studies will be followed by an analysis of the foreign policies of smaller Middle East states, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, and an examination will be made of their efforts to safeguard neutrality, make diplomatic interventions, and accumulate soft power.
• The module will consider the Middle East’s interaction with superpowers, most notably the United States and the European powers, before concluding with a study of the region’s rapidly strengthening economic and political relations with the Pacific Asian powers, notably China, Japan, and South Korea.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to understand the problematic nature of research on Middle East states.
• Students will be able to distinguish patterns of development and appreciate the heterogeneous nature of politics and international relations in these nascent states.

• Students will be able to synthesize and evaluate primary and secondary sources relating to the international history and politics of the Middle East.
• In particular, students will learn to source information from a range of books, journal articles, international newspaper articles, and English-language Middle East newspaper articles.
• Students will learn to differentiate the quality and reliability of official sources based on the government or organization of origin.
• Students will learn the basic Arabic or Persian terminology for key institutions and organizations that are often encountered in English language texts relating to the international politics of the Middle East.

• Retrieve and utilise resources they have been directed to and demonstrate written competence in their understanding.
• Demonstrate their ability to assess the suitability and quality of resources for research purposes and use this knowledge under examination conditions.
• Review, reinforce and integrate knowledge independently and within time constraints.
• Demonstrate these and the above acquisitions in written form under pressure of time and without supporting materials

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The teaching and assessment methods of the module are intended to provide the framework for the required synthesis of theories across a long historical period (lectures) and to promote the required evaluative skills
• The structured report (formative) will provide a review of the first half of the module and will formally identify the skills and issues required for the summative assessment.
• Students will be required to prepare and deliver oral presentations to the tutor and their classmates, expecting feedback and questions from the audience.
• Formative assesssment will provide students with the opportunity to write essays with both empirical and theoretical content, and allow the opportunity for written feedback which will be helpful for revision towards the examination.
• The summative assessment will test skills of synthesis and evaluation with reference to material drawn from all or most of the module.
• Lectures are retained in order to provide a framework for the long chronological range of the module.
• It will be made clear that in other aspects of the module student autonomy is expected.
• Students will be required to select readings from the module handbook in advance of tutorials and prepare responses to other students’ presentations in addition to making informed comments during class discussions.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two 1,500 word essays to be submitted at the end of the Michaelmas Term and Epiphany Term

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University