MIDDLE EAST CROSSROADS
Mgr. Eva Taterova, M.A., Ph.D.
Faculty of Social Studies
Masaryk University
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JRDA

COURSE OVERVIEW
•Online MS Teams:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/channel/19%3a72a3caf32d2d473da3a4c9173aa29238%40thread.tacv2/Obecn%25
C3%25A9?groupId=2ec1f2ff-ba5b-404b-8a06-00de9f4a6667&tenantId=11904f23-f0db-4cdc-96f7-390bd55fcee8
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•Credits: 4 ECTS
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•Lecturer: Mgr. Eva Taterova, M.A., Ph.D. (evataterova@gmail.com)

COURSE SCHEDULE
•March 4: Introduction: scope of the course, organization
of the course, and course requirements
•March 11: Looking Back: Middle East in last 100 years.
•March 18: Carving up the Middle East in and after WWI: Was Europe lucky, evil, or smart?
•March 25: The Pragmatic Superpowers: Winning the Cold War
in the Middle East.
•April 1: The Suez Crisis: New Saladin of the Arab World
and a final confirmation of European decline.

COURSE SCHEDULE
•April 1: The Suez Crisis: New Saladin of the Arab World and a final confirmation of European
decline.
•April 8: Iranian Revolution 1978: Great Satan, Little Satan demonizing epithets and the spread of
anti-western propaganda
in the Middle East.
•April 15: Kurdish Issue and Palestinian Issue: Do all nations deserve their own state?
•April 22: 1990s as the Decade of Hope: Does peace even have
a chance in the Middle East?
•April 29: Online essay

COURSE SCHEDULE
•May 6: Global Jihadism: Clash of civilization confirmed?
•May 13: Interpreting the Arab Spring: Can democracy work in the Middle East?
•May 20: Current events in the Middle East
•May 27: Final exam

COURSE ACTIVITIES
•Presentation: The topics will be chosen by the students from the list available in IS. (30 points)
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•Online essay: April 29, 2021 (20 points)
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•Final Exam: May-June, 5 open questions (60 points)
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PRESENTATION
•Each presentation is about 20 minutes long.
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•Consists of a short summary/background to the given topic, critical analysis of the problem,
questions for in-class discussion, and literature and sources.
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PRESENTATION TOPICS
•April 1 Anwar Saddat
•April 8 ayatollah Ali Khamenei
•April 15 Yasser Arafat
•April 22 Binyamin Netanyahu
•May 6 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
•May 13 Bashar Assad
•May 20 Mohammed bin Salman
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ONLINE ESSAY
•The students shall provide critical assessment of the perspectives to the given topic based on
classes and readings. The students are expected to integrate the readings in a thoughtful way, not
just summarize them.
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•Sample question: Discuss the consequences of Arab Spring
for the Middle East.

GRADES
•A 92 - 100
•B 84 - 91
•C 76 - 83
•D 68 - 75
•E 60 - 67
•F less than 60 points
page 10

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•THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION