HIST 3632: America and the Middle East in the Age of Nation-States

Course Description

This course will examine the expanding role of the United States in the Middle East from the aftermath of World War I through 21st Century attempts to reduce America’s “footprint” in the region. This is a complex history of nation-states emerging from the disruptions of European imperialism only to be embroiled in the Cold War, the “War on Terror”and the uneven impacts of globalized trade and energy markets dominated by influence of the United States. Each society in the Middle East has had to embrace, resist, or co-copt American power as part of managing even the most local of modern challenges. We will compare key episodes that illustrate this range of responses. (YR).