The course concentrates on the contemporary politics of the Arab world, Iran, Turkey and Israel, with some reference to Afghanistan. It examines the political development and dynamics of the major countries involved at national and regional levels. This is done in the context of four major variables - Islam, oil, the Arab-Israeli conflict and other regional disputes, and major power involvement - and the consequences of the interaction of these variables for the region in world politics.

3,000 word essay (50%), two-hour examination or 2,000 word essay (40%) and tutorial assessment [based on attendance, reading, performance] (10%).

Two x 1 hr lectures and one x 1hr tutorial per week

Two first-year courses in Political Science, or with the permission of the lecturer

Mansfield, P., A Brief History of the Middle East (2nd ed), Penguin, 2003.

Saikal, A., The Rise and Fall of the Shah: Iran from Autocracy to Religious Rule, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009.

Palmer, M., The Politics of the Middle East (2nd ed), California: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007.

This course is considered compatible with Security Studies and Asian Politics and International Relations fields of study.