Hafta 1
Cleveland, pp.1-37 Discussion Question: Why was Arabia an unlikely spot to produce a world religion and empire?
Hafta 2
Cleveland, pp.37-61 Discussion Question: In what ways was Ottoman rule adaptable and pragmatic?
Hafta 3
Cleveland, pp.61-103 The Hatt-i Serif Degree of Tanzimat, November 3, 1839. An Ottoman Government Decree Defines the Official Notion of the “Modern” Citizen, June 19, 1870. Discussion Question: Reforms in nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire and Egypt possessed an institutional dualism in Middle Eastern society; most traditional institutions were retained alongside the newly established ones. Provide several examples of this pattern.
Hafta 4
Cleveland, pp.103-149 Mirza Khan Malkum Satirizes Iran’s Central Government and Religious Elites, 1880s. An Egyptian Khedival Decree Establishes a European-Controlled Public Debt Administration, May 2, 1876. Development Concessions, the D’Arcy Concession for Iranian Oil, 29 May 1901. Discussion Question: What is Colonialism meant for the Middle East? How the Middle Eastern countries should have financed their modernization attempts?
Hafta 5
Cleveland, pp.149-175 The Ottoman Home Front, A German Correspondent’s Remarks, 1917. The Husayn-McMahon Correspondence, Negotiating the Establishment of an “Arab Kingdom” in the Middle East, 1915-1916. Division of the Ottoman Empire: The Treaty of Sevres, August 10, 1920 Discussion Question: How did Sharif Husayn ibn Ali, leader of the 1916 Arab Revolt, make his actions appealing to Muslims of the Ottoman Empire? What did the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire end for the Arab peoples living within those domains?
Hafta 6
Cleveland, pp.175-193 Mustafa Kemal [Ataturk] on the Abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate, 3 March 1924. The Turkish ‘Modern Woman’: two press articles, 1924 and 1926. The Brigadier and the Imam: two commemorative poems from Iran, 1928 and 1989. Crime and society in Iran: press and court transcripts, 1934. Discussion Question: How did secularism in Ataturk’s Turkey affect official institutions and religious practices alike?
Hafta 7
Cleveland: pp.193-239 The American King-Crane Commission Report Summarizes the Popular Ideas of Nationalism in the Middle East, 1919. Wahhabi ‘ulama and the State in Saudi Arabia, 1927. ‘Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq, an Egyptian Religious Scholar, Argues for the Separation of State and Religion, 1928. Discussion Question: Elizabeth Monroe has described the interwar period as “Britain’s moment in the Middle East.” To what extant is this an accurate description of the era?
Hafta 8
Cleveland: pp.239-273 Leo Pinsker, Proposes a “Jewish Homeland,” 1882. Sephardic Zionism in the Ottoman Empire: ‘The Time is Here’, Ha-Herut, 1 April 1914. The Balfour Declaration, Stating the British Government’s Support for a Jewish Homeland in Palestine, and Discussions Leading to Issuing It in 1917. Discussion Question: Describe the organizational prowess (or lack thereof) of the Arab and Jewish communities in Palestine in the 1920s/1930s. Compare it with Zionist movement in the West, what is striking, and how do explain the differences?
Hafta 9
Cleveland: pp.273-301 Recommendation for assistance to Greece and Turkey by the President of the United States, Harry Truman joint session of US senate and the US house of representatives, 12 March 1947 Iran and the National Front, a speech by Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq, 27 September 1951. Asadollah Alam’s Diary Details Some Elements of the Shah of Iran’s Rule in 1976 and 1977. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini Denounces the Rule of the Shah of Iran, 1971 Discussion Question: Why and how Turkey opted for the Western camp rather than remaining a non-aligned state like many regional powers in the Cold War era? How different was the Western & Soviet attitude towards Iran when compared to Turkey?
Hafta 10
Cleveland: pp.301-345 Hasan al-Banna Proclaims Egyptian Nationalism and the Religious Basis for an Islamic State, 1949. Gamal Abd al Nasser’s speech announcing the nationalization of the Suez Canal, 1953. The Program of the Ba’at (Arab Socialist Resurrection) Party, 1963. Muslim State participation in UN human rights debates, 1946-1966. Sadiq Al-‘Azm, an Arab Intellectual, Critiques the Arab State and Clergy for Their Use of Religion, 1968.
Hafta 11
Cleveland: pp.345-397 The Arab Case for Palestine and the Case for a Binational State, March 1946. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser Resigns from Office Following the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, June 9, 1967. The Prime Minister Rabin’s Speech to Knesset on Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories, April 18, 1994. Discussion Question: One historian argues that “The question of the relationship between religion and the state in Israel is probably the most complex, the most vexing, and potentially the most explosive problem bequeathed to Israel by Jewish history and by the country’s own more recent background.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Hafta 12
Cleveland: pp.397-451 American Consular Documents Reveal U.S. Diplomats’ Assessment of the Revolution in Iran, 1978. Iraq’s Saddam Hussein Proclaims History as a Tool for Education the Masses about the Revolution and Comments on the Role of Women in the Revolution, 1975, 1978. The Constitution of Saudi Arabia Bases the Legitimacy of the Ruling House of Saud on Religion, 1992. Discussion Question: What factors led to the growing prevalence of political Islam in the 1970s and 1980s.
Hafta 13
Cleveland: pp.527-557 Don’t Attack Saddam, by former U.S. National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, August 15, 2002. Christina Asquith Discusses Globalization and Education in the Middle East, June 1, 2006. Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and Gezi Protests of Istanbul & Screening of The Square (2013). Discussion Question: Is Middle East is a living museum of ‘failed’ states? Explain.
Hafta 14
Presentations & Wrap-up