7AAJM202 The US & the Middle East: Intervention & Mediation since 1945
Credits: 20
Module tutor: Dr Stacey Gutkowski
Assessment: one x 5,000-word essay
Teaching pattern: one two-hour class weekly over ten weeks
The United States has become the pre-eminent power in an area that stretches from the western Mediterranean to central Asia. Americans have had an enduring fascination with the region beginning with the arrival of missionaries on Middle Eastern shores in the 19th century, but it is only relatively recently—slightly more than 50 years—in which Washington has become an important political actor in the region. The goal of this course is to examine and explain the determinants of U.S. involvement in the Middle East. In order to ground the subject matter in firm analytical foundations, the course applies general concepts and theories of international politics to illuminate Washington’s role in the region.
The module begins with an introduction to historic US intervention & mediation in the Middle East region. It then proceeds to look at the involvement of the United States in the Middle East in the Cold war and the post-Cold War eras. It will look at America’s bilateral relations with key regional players including Israel/Palestine, Iraq and Iran. It will also examine Washington as an intervening power throughout the region, its role in facilitating Arab-Israeli peacemaking since the 1970s, and its reaction to the Arab Spring.
Module aims
This module will examine the evolution of the evolving military, political and economic role of the United States (US) in the Middle East region since 1945. Specifically the module is designed to:
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provide an in-depth historical analysis of the major themes and trends in the evolution of US involvement in the politics and the mediation of conflicts of the Middle East and wider Mediterranean.
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familiarize students with the parameters of scholarly debate on the subject of US involvement in the Middle East.
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provide students with the tools to address the theoretical approaches, and historical methodologies, used in historical research and writing, and their effect on, and potential uses, when looking at the past.
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continue to develop the student’s analytical, research and writing capabilities.
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give students the opportunities to develop further their oral presentation skills by participation in class, reviewing the work of their peers and making presentations themselves.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate intellectual, transferable and practicable skills appropriate to a Level 7 module and in particular will be able to demonstrate:
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An understanding of the historical, political, religious and economic factors that have led to US involvement in the Middle East over the last half century.
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An understanding and recognition of the use and applications of theory, as well as philosophies concerning objectivity, historical method and narrative.
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A capacity to develop empirical and normative research skills.
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A capacity to develop analytical, written and presentational skills using primary sources through the discussion and presentation of original work.
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A capacity to develop and improve tools of the craft—research, analysis, writing and presentation skills.
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A capacity to ask relevant, new and significant questions on the US role in the Middle East and the relationship between the US and various countries in the region over the last sixty years.
Preliminary reading
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Baeman, John, Bremner, Robert H. & Brody, David, Twentieth Century American Foreign Policy, Ohio, 1971.
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Dallek, Robert, The American Style of Foreign Policy: Cultural Politics and Foreign Affairs, New York, 1983.
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Kagan, Robert, Dangerous Nation, New York, 2006
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Kennan, George F., American Diplomacy, 1900-1950, London, 1952.
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LaFeber, Walter, The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad since 1750, New York, 1989.