IREn5022 Middle East Crossroads

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Eva Taterová, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Zdeněk Kříž, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Supplier department: Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Thu 12:00–13:40 U34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 3/30, only registered: 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The Middle East went through turbulent political and socio-economic changes during the second half of the 20th century which fundamentally affected not only geostratical situation of the region but in some cases also had the significant impacts on global politics. The issues such as decolonization, military conflicts, religious radicalism and extremism, and last but not least the oil shocks have shaped the current international relations. This course aims to introduce and to discuss some of these important crossroads in a context of the development of the region in 20th and 21st centuries.
Syllabus
  • 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.
  • 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: Movie + discussion
  • 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
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussion, position papers, final exam.
Assessment methods
10 position papers: max. 30 points
Activity in class: max. 20 points
Final exam: 50 points (5 open questions)

Grades
A: 92 - 100
B: 84 - 91
C: 76 - 83
D: 68 - 75
E: 60 - 67
F: less than 60 points
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Teacher's information
Education at FSS MU assumes that students are familiar with study regulations and they refrain from fraudulent fulfilment of their obligations, especially plagiarism, that is, appropriation of somebody else’s thoughts for one’s own and publication of thoughts of other authors without proper quotation. Plagiarism represents a most serious offence in the academia as it contradicts the mission of the university and meaning of studying. From legal point of view, plagiarism equals a theft of someone else’s intellectual property. Fraudulent fulfilment of students’ obligations is not tolerated under any circumstances and each such case will be punished by conditional expelling from the university. Students are strongly encouraged to familiarize themselves with the issue of plagiarism and the ways how to avoid it.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2023/IREn5022