7AAJM220 The Politics of Business in the Contemporary Middle East
Credits: 20
Module tutor: Professor Rory Miller
Assessment: 1 x 5,000-word essay
Teaching pattern: TBA
The aim of this course is to provide an in-depth analysis and exploration of the relationship between economic power, socio-economic development and political influence in the contemporary Middle East. In particular, it examines how intangible infrastructure is increasingly a key factor in the distribution of political power across the region. It will provide a comparative analysis of how different states across the region and how external powers have embraced socio-economic development and how intangible issues like women in education and the workforce; technology transfer; building research capacity; excelling at entrepreneurship and innovation are increasingly the key determinants of regional and global influence as well as stability and prosperity at home.
The course begins with an examination of the ways that economics and power are interconnected in the contemporary Middle East. This is followed by a series of seminars examining how small states in the region—Israel and the GCC countries (notably Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia)—have attempted to turn, respectively, their leading role in the global knowledge economy and their huge financial resources into stability at home and political influence in the region and beyond. The next set of seminars assess the success or failure of emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and older powers in the region (the US, EU, Egypt and Iran) to use their economic power to consolidate and expand their influence in a time of rapid change.
Module aims
TBA
Learning outcomes
TBA